The Official 2025 New England Patriots Thread | Page 3 | The Boneyard

The Official 2025 New England Patriots Thread

HuskyHawk said:
Nope. He’s a good player. There’s a reason Buffalo wanted him gone and why he was about the 5th option for Pats as a free agent. He will show up on Sundays though.
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Oh he could show up on Sundays. But he should be at camp with his new team and new WR roster and his new coaches and his new young QB.
 
You just know that LT wasn't messing the pink stuff. I'm sure the Gmen would have cut him if they knew.
 
Waquoit said:
You just know that LT wasn't messing the pink stuff. I'm sure the Gmen would have cut him if they knew.
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He was smart enough to not be on camera and he's LT and not a wr coming off a torn ACL on his 4th team.
 
Very disappointing loss to the Raiders. I posted some thoughts in the Jets thread. In addition to those I do think Carrol has the Raiders playing classic Carrol football, so they will be a tough out all year.

Maye made some bad throws (mostly high) and bad decisions (mostly out of frustration). The run blocking was awful. People getting on Mondre, but he was regularly touched behind the LOS. Henderson didn't do anything with his chances either and every pass wide to him was smothered. They have to do better. The blocking was awful, including by TEs and WRs on the edge.

My main concern with the offense was Josh. I think that was validated. I love what Vrabel brings, but I wanted some creativity on offense and Josh's game plan was awful. Once we abandoned the run, Maye was seeing double coverage on almost every receiver, nobody got open and hence the bad throws. On defense, the run D was excellent. The pass D really missed Gonzalez and the two TEs (best TE group in football by far, Mayer would start for a lot of teams) torched us.
 
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Huge win yesterday. Always tough to win in Miami in early season. Or for the Pats, ever. The offense came looking great, much better balance, much more creative. Maye was excellent. Stephenson showed he's still got it. The OL did a solid job as well. Defense had a rough stretch in the middle of the game. Spillane had a bad game, and can't be asked to cover someone like Achane. Mapu was a clear upgrade once he took that 3rd down role. DL had an excellent game, got a lot of pressure, controlled the run for the most part. Even the rookie kicker redeemed himself. It was his home stadium, lots of family and friends and I think he just choked early. Should be fine now.
 
Looks like the Patriots are a 5.5 favorite at home this weekend. They need this win. Even with 5 turnovers, they still had a shot to win last week, but...well, let's just leave last week in the past and give Henderson an even larger role in gameplan.

The defense has been fairly decent and the offense is coming around.
 
Thoughts on Diggs so far?

3 targets, 3 catches, 23 yds
5 targets, 4 catches, 32 yds
7 targets, 6 catches, 57 yds

Looks to be the 4th or maybe 5th option behind Henry, Boutte, Stevenson and Henderson.
 
Deepster said:
Thoughts on Diggs so far?

3 targets, 3 catches, 23 yds
5 targets, 4 catches, 32 yds
7 targets, 6 catches, 57 yds

Looks to be the 4th or maybe 5th option behind Henry, Boutte, Stevenson and Henderson.
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Diggs' 15 targets is 2nd on the team so far. Henry is a solid pass catching TE and, as expected, Maye's binky.

We'll have to see this week, but I see Stevenson taking more of a backseat to Henderson. Those fumbles were killers.
 
Husky25 said:
Diggs' 15 targets is 2nd on the team so far. Henry is a solid pass catching TE and, as expected, Maye's binky.

We'll have to see this week, but I see Stevenson taking more of a backseat to Henderson. Those fumbles were killers.
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I'm very curious about the RB split. Henderson had three holding calls and allowed a sack against Miami. He is supposedly a good pass blocker but is scoring pretty low so far there. You know the old saying "No block, no rock".
 
1758901530360.png


Henderson is a rookie and still developing. He is only slightly behind Stevenson in terms of touches, but other than having a better handle through three games, is a bit less productive.

Be that as it may, offenses generally still have the ball and overcome penalties and sacks far more frequently than turnovers in the endzone.
 
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That was the game I was waiting for, and expecting. Finally cut down the mistakes and after those initial possessions, played solid football. Marcus Jones is the best PR in the NFL and a real weapon. I think he's probably a better 2nd string slot WR than Pop. Diggs is clearly the main slot guy now and feasted. I like that lineup, as both Hollins and Boutte can block, which helps the screen and outside run game.

Huge game in Buffalo coming up. I can't expect a W, but I expect a one score game that the Pats could win if things go their way.
 
Statement Win. Maye looks like what he’s been so far this season, the best QB in the NFL. Diggs is back, the D is legit and this team is ready to take on what comes. Really wish they could find somebody to cover Tight Ends, I think it’s Mapu but they won’t give him the chance. Gibson injury means Mondre has to stop fumbling.
 
Very impressive win yesterday. Heard some Buffalo fans pre-game saying they were worried it was a "trap game". I don't see how a long time division rival with a team on the rise is a trap game and would find that insulting.

And if that's the Diggs you're getting the rest of the way, that will turn out to be a great signing.
 
Deepster said:
Very impressive win yesterday. Heard some Buffalo fans pre-game saying they were worried it was a "trap game". I don't see how a long time division rival with a team on the rise is a trap game and would find that insulting.

And if that's the Diggs you're getting the rest of the way, that will turn out to be a great signing.
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I think Diggs is fully healthy now, but was also clearly extra motivated in his return to Buffalo. So it may not quite be that Diggs, but maybe 90% of it.

New England came in with one of the top defenses against the run and Buffalo with a top rushing offense, so that matchup was somewhat more challenging for Buffalo than the fans may have believed. Pass D is better now too with Gonzalez. Credit Buffalo's normally weak run D for stepping up but that opened some things up for Maye.
 
I got curious with all the talk about Maye's arrival and some commentary about him being the best QB in the NFL through the first 5 weeks.

Here are the stats for Maye and Mac Jones through their first 17 games:

1759843265500.png
 
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Deepster said:
I got curious with all the talk about Maye's arrival and some commentary about him being the best QB in the NFL through the first 5 weeks.

Here are the stats for Maye and Mac Jones through their first 17 games:

View attachment 112142
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Well counting last year's stats doesn't reflect the leap he's made with an actual OL not made up of practice squad guys and with a competent staff and receivers. Last year he showed some promise under dire circumstances. This year, he's easily been a top 10 passing QB. NFL 2025 Player Stats | passing Stats | NFL.com
 
Deepster said:
I got curious with all the talk about Maye's arrival and some commentary about him being the best QB in the NFL through the first 5 weeks.

Here are the stats for Maye and Mac Jones through their first 17 games:

View attachment 112142
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Mac Jones had a very good rookie year. Then McDaniels left and Belichick thought his genius, combined with a special teams coordinator, turned failed head coach (Though it was the Giants, so who knows if he still can't do the job?) and defensive coordinator, turned failed head coach could run the offense, merely because one of them is literally a rocket scientist.

As sophisticated as NFL offenses have become, they evidently are not rocket science and I don't know they realized how far they broke Jones before Bill O'Brien came back to town by overthinking it.

All that said, I think we'll find that Drake Maye's starts under Josh McDaniels will be a better body of work than Mac Jones' under McDaniels' tutelage
 
Husky25 said:
Mac Jones had a very good rookie year. Then McDaniels left and Belichick thought his genius, combined with a special teams coordinator, turned failed head coach (Though it was the Giants, so who knows if he still can't do the job?) and defensive coordinator, turned failed head coach could run the offense, merely because one of them is literally a rocket scientist.

As sophisticated as NFL offenses have become, they evidently are not rocket science and I don't know they realized how far they broke Jones before Bill O'Brien came back to town by overthinking it.

All that said, I think we'll find that Drake Maye's starts under Josh McDaniels will be a better body of work than Mac Jones' under McDaniels' tutelage
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Well, I would expect that you would think that seeing how Maye is here and Jones is not. Let's not forget, McDaniels was also there with Jarret Stidham and they thought he was Brady's replacement until he proved he wasn't and you were stuck with a past his prime Cam Newton.
 
Deepster said:
Well, I would expect that you would think that seeing how Maye is here and Jones is not. Let's not forget, McDaniels was also there with Jarret Stidham and they thought he was Brady's replacement until he proved he wasn't and you were stuck with a past his prime Cam Newton.
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I'm not exactly sure what you are driving at. Even in college, Maye was statistically head and shoulders above Stidham.

(Late) 4th round quarterbacks are projects and the Patriots had at least a year to see what they had. When Stidham relieved Brady his rookie year vs. the Jets, he threw a pick-6, forcing Brady to come back in. That may have been an indication. Cam Newton not only beat him out in 2020, so did Brian Hoyer. Stidham was the "emergency" 3rd QB. That may have been another. A good chef can only go so far. He's got to have quality ingredients as well.

Maye was drafted #3 overall and was seen from the beginning to become the eventual starter.

By the way, Jones is better than Stidham too. He's revived his career and is playing pretty well in San Francisco. I think if the '9ers are being fair, they will have a tough decision when Purdy comes back. Jones may not be Steve Young, but Purdy is no Joe Montana either.
 
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Husky25 said:
By any objective messure, the officiating crew in the Pats-Saints game is not having their best day.
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I saw an explanation on the first Diggs OPI, meh, maybe. The second was simply a horrible call. Glad those clowns didn't change the outcome, but the NFL has a problem with all these flags on iffy, marginal penalties.
 
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HuskyHawk said:
I saw an explanation on the first Diggs OPI, meh, maybe. The second was simply a horrible call. Glad those clowns didn't change the outcome, but the NFL has a problem with all these flags on iffy, marginal penalties.
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Normally Dean Blandino is deferential to his former charges. If he disagrees with a call, his typical answer is, "I can see what they were going for there, but it could have gone either way."

Yesterday's response on the Diggs penalty was more, "Yeah, um, well. They were both a little handsy. The ball went to the other side of the field. That's not the call I'd make right there."

He was this close to saying outright that it was a bad call.
 
Well here we sit at 7-2 with an Atlanta team that just lost at home to a bad Miami team on deck. Things look pretty good. Offense did the job against a tough Brown's defense. Defense was as usual, terrible in the 1st quarter and then toughened up. Boutte has emerged as a legit 1st down machine and deep threat. Henderson finally got a few outside runs, well schemed against an aggressive pass rush. Run defensive continues to be exceptional. The zone pass D is soft although Gonzalez seems to finally be playing at his prior level.
 
HuskyHawk said:
Well here we sit at 7-2 with an Atlanta team that just lost at home to a bad Miami team on deck. Things look pretty good. Offense did the job against a tough Brown's defense. Defense was as usual, terrible in the 1st quarter and then toughened up. Boutte has emerged as a legit 1st down machine and deep threat. Henderson finally got a few outside runs, well schemed against an aggressive pass rush. Run defensive continues to be exceptional. The zone pass D is soft although Gonzalez seems to finally be playing at his prior level.
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Will Campbell got a series of "Attaboys" from Myles Garrett. The Patriots are on the right trajectory. I still have to watch the 2nd half, but it looks like The browns were a victim of a do nothing offense and the Defense being on the field too long.
 
Dove said:
Drake Maye is God.
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I think it is safe to say that Drake Maye is Good. Not his best game. Back pick. Made some really bad reads looking deep when intermediate routes were open. But still made enough plays to get the win against a very good pass defense.
 
Bittersweet NFL weekend. The Commanders', my chosen childhood team, performance is not remotely living up to the optimism, and now Jayden Daniels is out indefinitely. His elbow is "only" dislocated and the x-rays were negative, but I'd guess the timeframe is about a month.

On the other hand, my hometown team is playing some really entertaining football and winning while doing it. I will continue to enjoy the Patriots' good fortunes, but it would be nice if both the franchises were good at the same time. It's only happened a couple times in history, and only once in my lifetime (Mid 80's).
 
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