As the fourth quarter came to a close and the Boston media contingent was escorted to the Patriots locker room - nearly a planes, trains, automobiles situation thanks to the current construction of EverBank - I saw a Pats fan with hands on his knees, spitting, knowing full well what was coming next (yep, it happened. Disgusting).
On one hand, I can’t blame him. He likely came a long way to watch his team play what was supposed to be a competitive football game. Instead, it was over before reaching the 4th quarter. On the other hand, moderation ain’t a bad thing, my brother. But I digress…
I rewatched the game from an uncomfortable seat at gate 4 at the Jacksonville airport. It turned out to be a borderline epic screwjob by my airline of choice for this trip, so if Musings this week feels salty, between the Pats performance and my travel, you know why.
Here we go…
For those of you saying this is a small sample size for Drake Maye, he has now had 7 straight games with a negative EPA. That coincides with what our eyes told us - he started his descent when the playoffs kicked off. He still hasn't found his way out of that morass. Maye had six - count ‘em, six - turnover-worthy plays and did, in fact, give it to the Jags on three occasions. He now leads the league in turnovers, and his half-dozen interceptions are just two shy of the number he threw in the 2025-26 regular season. Maye is a mess, as I detailed in the postgame story. He doesn’t trust what he’s seeing; he doesn’t trust his protection, and he doesn’t trust his receivers. Oh, and his answers about the shoulder, both postgame and on the radio Monday, were not good. You’re either hurt or you’re not, and based on my intel, he’s not doing any treatment. But other than that…
Buffalo doesn’t have what I consider a good defense, but the Patriots don’t have what I’d consider a good offense, so I’ll pass on predicting a breakout on Sunday. I need to see it before I believe it.
Mike Vrabel mentioned Morgan Moses’ age - he said 36 when Moses is actually 35 - while talking about why he took the right tackle out of the game earlier than the other starters. I would argue perhaps it was an ankle injury that he appeared to suffer on the second snap of the game. But if they’re not going to use that as an excuse, Moses looked older than that on Sunday. He got beat early and often, both in pass protection and as a run blocker. Only Maye had more minus snaps by my charting. I don’t know that Moses’ job is in jeopardy because a) I thought he was fine the first two weeks and b) Caleb Lomu didn’t look like he was ready, but this is the kind of performance that gets my attention.
It didn’t matter who was playing right guard - starter Greg Van Roten or backup Walter Rouse - neither will want to save the press clippings from this one. Van Roten surrendered a couple of quick pressures that put the play call in a horrible spot a second after snapping the football, and after he left with the thigh injury (I didn’t see him in the locker room postgame), Rouse was out of his depth (four pressures, 6 minus plays total). That’s no surprise, considering he had never trained to be a guard until this summer (while in Minnesota). “I thought Walter had a few mistakes, but he competed and will have to improve,” Vrabel said on Monday.
This speaks to a larger problem: the Patriots can’t get any movement in the run game. I see the comments. ‘Why do they keep running straight into the line?’ Trust me, the plays are designed to go that way. I had the running backs combining for 5 yards before contact. That is gross, and it's a September trend (Pats are 29th in average rushing yards before contact). I can’t get too irritated at TreVeyon Henderson, even though I still don’t see any maturation as a runner. He had a couple of chances to bounce and didn’t.
The two interior defensive tackles, Milton Williams and Christian Barmore, are being paid a lot of money. They did not earn that money in Jacksonville. With a chance to bury rookie guard Emmanuel Pregnon (he allowed 6 QB pressures the week before against Denver), neither guy did. Williams had no pressures. Barmore had one. They weren’t even sacrificial lambs who freed others in two-man games (Pats’ pressure rate was just 18%). Overall, the four-man rush was nonexistent, with just one pressure on 12 drop-backs. Williams did see a fair amount of double-teams (9 times by my count) but the great ones still find a way.
Bhayshul Tuten and Chris Rodriguez looked like a hell of a 1-2 punch running the football, but perhaps the Pats were complicit. The run reps from Cory Durden and Joshua Farmer were not nearly strong enough - Durden also fell flat on his face on the first play of the game - and linebacker Robert Spillane was either out of position, being covered up at the second level or whiffing on tackles (I had him for 3, including one where he had a chance to nail Tuten for a 5- or 6-yard loss). He also went back to being a liability in coverage (I’m pretty sure he overreacted to motion on the first TD and helped create the void over the middle).
We invariably praise the head coach when his team is disciplined and not taking foolish penalties. When they are not, where does the blame lie? Obviously, the individual players themselves. I mean, they did it. I’m looking at you, Elijah Ponder, Gabe Jacas, Cam Latu, Mack Hollins, Carlton Davis, Marcus Jones, Durden, Moses, and Romeo Doubs. But Vrabel got a ton of love a year ago for how locked in his team was, and how rarely they beat themselves (‘the good, the bad and the shit that gets you beat.”). Sunday, the Pats were a little off-kilter and the head coach and his staff have to eat some of that. That looked too much like the Mayo season, or the last couple under Belichick.
Kyle Williams is fast. Great. But can he play the receiver position? Does he have a high football IQ? His attention to detail seems to be lacking. That double-move comeback that was intercepted never should have been thrown, but if Williams is who some say he is - some in the media and team - then at the very least, he would have broken that pass up. Instead, he wasn't only not open, but he made zero effort to come back to the football. It took a second to realize he needed to chase down the defender, too. Throw in fielding a kickoff that was headed out of bounds, and it wasn’t a banner day for the third-rounder.
Want something to feel good about? I deliver this bit to you despite being crammed into an airplane for two-plus hours before we even took off, and now I have to pee but the woman next to me is sleeping. When you speak of me, speak well.
I love the way Christian Elliss is playing. He’s been impactful as a blitzer, a sure tackler, and is rarely out of place. He sniffed out a screen, dodged a blocker and made the hit after a short gain. Good stuff.
In Mack we trust. I think I saw that on Maye’s wristband (that part is a joke). If there is one player the quarterback has had consistent success throwing to this season, it’s not the well-paid Doubs, Douglas (I think he missed a few of his landmarks in this one), Williams, or Hunter Henry (I’m beginning to worry about him). It’s Hollins, who they almost cut until he reworked his contract. Imagine what it would look like without him?
The rookie edge rusher can play. That’s been my takeaway after watching Gabe Jacas through three regular-season games. He had a couple of terrific run stuffs - the way he slipped off Ezra Cleveland’s trap block and stuffed the running back into a locker was not something we saw from K’Lavon Chaisson (like ever). Jacas also had three pressures and was credited with a half-sack (shared with Ponder, who was more hit-or-miss on Sunday). He had more plus-plays than anyone else defensively (mixed in with a few minuses).
The cornerback trio was good but not great. Marcus Jones got overwhelmed by Parker Washington on the TD (right call on the DPI, for what it’s worth. Jones basically tried to impede Washington’s progress when the ball was in the air). Otherwise, an INT, a PBU and some good support against the run. Christian Gonzalez allowed a third-down conversion but otherwise played well and seems to be gaining more consistency when playing off-coverage. Davis was busy. The Jags tested him several times, and the third-down conversion he allowed to Jakobi Meyers was illogical given how far off he was playing. Add the facemask at the end and well, that’s the very definition of ‘Not great, Bob.’ But Davis is a good player, and this group is the team's strength.