The Patriots beat the Jets 26-19, and somehow I left thinking more about what they left on the field than the win itself. That is frustrating, but it also shows where expectations are headed. This offense has enough talent that 26 points can feel like a missed opportunity, even while New England stacks another win.
There is plenty to clean up. Nobody needs to pretend otherwise. But between the A.J. Brown discussion, the injuries, and another encouraging Drake Maye performance, I think we are missing how much this team overcame. The Patriots kept finding answers while giving themselves plenty of problems, and the guys stepping into bigger roles deserve some damn credit.
Listening to the postgame questions, you would think Brown needed an intervention. How will he respond? What happens to his confidence? Is his involvement affecting the offense? He is a professional who had a tough game. He knows he needs to catch those footballs, and he said exactly that afterward.
What matters to me is that he was getting open. The Patriots’ film review noted that only one of his 10 targets qualified as a tight-window throw. He finished with three catches for 27 yards and two official drops, but the opportunities were there. I would run those plays again 10 out of 10 times.
You can criticize the execution without questioning whether Brown belongs at the center of this offense. Keep giving a great receiver chances when he is beating coverage. I am much more interested in that separation than turning one frustrating afternoon into a weeklong discussion about whether he remembers how to play football.
Romeo Doubs, Alijah Vera-Tucker, Morgan Moses and Ben Brown all left this game. Losing a receiver and three offensive linemen should make finishing an NFL game considerably harder. Yet the Patriots kept protecting Maye and finding ways to move the ball. That says something about the backups’ preparation and the coaches’ ability to get them ready.
The closing possession gave us the clearest example. New England put together a 13-play field-goal drive that consumed more than six minutes and restored a two-score lead. I never felt the Jets were the better team, though the Patriots gave them plenty of chances to hang around. Finishing that drive with a battered line mattered.
We have spent years asking whether DeMario Douglas could become the slot receiver this offense needs under Josh McDaniels. Over these last two weeks, I finally feel like we are seeing the answer. He looks more comfortable against zone, and the production followed Sunday: seven catches, 86 yards, and a touchdown.
The crossing routes were especially encouraging. Douglas caught four of them for 67 yards, including the 39-yard gain that ended with his fumble. That mistake absolutely matters, but so does everything that happened before it. He was creating a huge play. Keep developing that understanding of space and keep working on ball security, because something good is taking shape here.
Maye finished with 235 passing yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions. Watching the game, it felt like there was a much bigger performance available. Drops and fumbles kept interrupting an afternoon when he consistently put the offense in position to succeed. He looked comfortable letting plays develop instead of forcing something that was not there.
He was not perfect, and he acknowledged missed throws and protection issues afterward. That is fair. But his patience against the Jets’ coverage stood out, particularly with all the movement along the offensive line. There is a difference between a quarterback surviving a messy game and one giving his teammates repeated chances to take it over. Maye was doing the latter.
The ball security is getting ridiculous. TreVeyon Henderson and Douglas both fumbled, and Brown’s drops added to the feeling that every promising stretch needed an unnecessary complication. Obviously, a drop is not a turnover. But watching opportunities disappear over and over makes it feel like this offense keeps volunteering to make its own job harder.
This felt like a potential 40-point afternoon that never came together. That does not mean every missed opportunity automatically becomes a touchdown, but the chances were there to create separation. Better opponents will make these mistakes hurt more. The Patriots have enough offensive talent now that protecting the football should let them put games away much earlier.
I am tired of the “it was only the Raiders” response when Maye lights somebody up. He threw for 374 yards and four touchdowns, added another score on the run, and led a 45-17 win. A week later, Allen threw for 255 yards and two touchdowns in a 33-30 win against that same team. Both deserve credit, but Maye’s performance should not need defending.
After Buffalo’s win, Sal Capaccio wrote that Allen “played like an MVP.” Allen made an incredible touchdown throw, and it is fair to praise it. My issue is with anyone celebrating that performance while brushing off Maye’s because of the opponent. Las Vegas cannot be a measuring stick for greatness one Sunday and an automatic disqualifier the Sunday before. www.audacy.com
Maye received national praise, too. PFF graded his passing performance at 93.5, with five big-time throws and zero turnover-worthy plays. This is aimed at people who still move the goalposts (Mainly Felger and Mazz). If beating an inferior opponent counts for Allen, completely dismantling that opponent needs to count for Maye. Pick a standard and stick to it.
If this team gets healthy—and apparently “if” is doing some heavy lifting—it could be an absolute unit. The weapons are there. The line keeps finding ways to function through injuries. The defense is nasty, and I trust the coaching staff to keep finding answers. We are watching players grow into roles that make the whole thing more dangerous.
Brown will have better games. Douglas is giving us reasons to believe. Maye keeps showing why the ceiling is so high. Clean up the giveaways and finish the plays that are already available, and this becomes a very different conversation. The Patriots are fucking back, baby. For real this time.
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