Patriots’ quick turnaround caught Milton Williams by surprise

Milton Williams had been in this situation before. As a member of the Philadelphia Eagles the first four years of his career, he advanced to the conference championship on two occasions. Both times, he and his team came out on top.

On Sunday against the Denver Broncos, he extended his record to 3-0. Williams and the New England Patriots celebrated a 10-7 victory in wintery conditions at Denver's Mile High Stadium, punching their ticket to the Super Bowl just a year removed from back-to-back 4-13 seasons.

Williams, who arrived in Foxborough in March on a four-year, $104 million free agency pact, played a crucial part in the team's turnaround. And yet, even for him, its speed came as a surprise.

Man, not this fast," Williams said when asked about it during his postgame presser. Not this fast."

Against Denver, Williams was a menace. Playing his usual starting role along the New England's interior defensive line, he and fellow DT Christian Barmore had their way with the Broncos' highly-touted offensive line. When all was said and done the first-year Patriot had notched eight pressures of quarterback Jarrett Stidham.

It was a continuation of what had been an impressive season up until that point. Williams is one of the most disruptive players in all of football this year, and the Patriots' investment in him is already paying dividends.

That is true for both sides.

I'm blessed just to have the opportunity to be here," said Williams. Blessed to have coaches in an organization that believed in me, that brought in here and just believed in what I bring to the table, my talent, who I am as a person. They just believed in me from Day 1.

I just came in and tried to be me and rally the guys, and tell them it's about work, showing up every day, making sure we do what we got to do and all season just staying consistent, not changing up anything, keep showing, keep dominating when you have the opportunity. And, man, we're going to the Bowl."

Judging by his postgame statements, Williams did not expect that to happen in 2025. Then again, so did a lot of people.