You could always beg like a canuck.
Patriots GameDay Patriots vs Saints Week 6
- Thread starter LordSensei1958
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Patriots GameDay Discussion
You could always beg like a canuck.
PATS16N0
Well-known member
I wonder what we did for the Football Gods to love us so. I haven’t asked them for shit since 28-3 and only broke my promise to never ask them for anything again after #4 that once.
Brady leaves but forms the NWO in Tampa, so we get to see him play for three more seasons while we suck. Outside Mac Jones and a year of Mayo, didn’t take long to look like we’re totally back. Team is talent-deficient but over achieving with Maye.
This team could win the Super Bowl this year. One playoff home game and then to Pittsburgh or Indianapolis is something the Vrabel/Maye Patriots can do.
And either scenario would be unbelievably sweet.
This team can win this year and this team is going to be scary good in a few years.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the AFC East:
Brady leaves but forms the NWO in Tampa, so we get to see him play for three more seasons while we suck. Outside Mac Jones and a year of Mayo, didn’t take long to look like we’re totally back. Team is talent-deficient but over achieving with Maye.
This team could win the Super Bowl this year. One playoff home game and then to Pittsburgh or Indianapolis is something the Vrabel/Maye Patriots can do.
And either scenario would be unbelievably sweet.
This team can win this year and this team is going to be scary good in a few years.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the AFC East:
I like the way they rebuilt this team. Sure we can nitpick a few decisions... but they went young on offense, and only have a couple of holes to fill next year. And they went plug and play vet/system guys on D, while also adding a bit of youth there... again only having a few holes to fill next year.I wonder what we did for the Football Gods to love us so. I haven’t asked them for shit since 28-3 and only broke my promise to never ask them for anything again after #4 that once.
Brady leaves but forms the NWO in Tampa, so we get to see him play for three more seasons while we suck. Outside Mac Jones and a year of Mayo, didn’t take long to look like we’re totally back. Team is talent-deficient but over achieving with Maye.
This team could win the Super Bowl this year. One playoff home game and then to Pittsburgh or Indianapolis is something the Vrabel/Maye Patriots can do.
And either scenario would be unbelievably sweet.
This team can win this year and this team is going to be scary good in a few years.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the AFC East:
If they can win next week that'd be 3 in a row on the road and 5-2. I don't care who the opponents are. Three in a row on the road is tough to do. And they still have some easier opponents after that. They should be in prime position for a playoff run.
HSanders
Well-known member
Still only 23 years old, crazy. He's playing great, might have the best hands on the team, definitely our best contested catch guy.
NEW ORLEANS -- When wide receiver Stefon Diggs made his way to the locker room after the New England Patriots' 25-19 win against the New Orleans Saints, he clapped his hands and noted the roll the team is on by saying, "That's three in a row!"
Then, before boarding the team bus, Diggs was one of the last remaining players in the locker room and already looking ahead to Sunday's road game against the Tennessee Titans.
"We'll enjoy this for 12 hours and then we have a big one next week," Diggs said.
Why so big?
"People are going home, I guess," he said with a touch of humor.
Diggs' reference to coach Mike Vrabel bringing the Patriots (4-2) to Tennessee, where he served as head coach from 2018 to 2023, highlights what will be a top storyline in the days to come.
The homecoming theme has been prevalent for the surging Patriots in recent weeks, as this marks the first time the team has won three in a row since 2022.
In a Week 5 win against the Buffalo Bills, it was Diggs' return to Western New York -- and his stellar performance in a prime-time upset -- that generated headlines.
And in Sunday's road victory over the Saints, it was Louisiana-born and former Louisiana State receiver Kayshon Boutte rising up with a clutch performance that included a team-high five catches for 93 yards and 2 touchdowns (deep shots of 25 and 29 yards). Boutte became the first Patriots player to score multiple touchdowns of 25 or more yards in a game since Phillip Dorsett II in 2019.
"Something about going home, I think guys feel comfortable back at the crib," Diggs said.
The Patriots won despite a performance that included "a lot to clean up," according to Vrabel. A lack of running game (73 yards on 31 attempts), 11 penalties and shaky pass defense at times were among the primary struggles. But when they needed a play to close it out, Boutte delivered.
He capped off his day by making a 21-yard catch from quarterback Drake Maye on third-and-11 before the two-minute warning, which allowed the Patriots to kneel on the ball for the win. It was a contested catch on an out route that he converted to a fade. Saints cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry was glued to his hip, and Boutte turned to haul in the back-shoulder throw along the left sideline and he landed in bounds with a thud.
"What a play by Boutte," said Maye, who finished 18-of-26 for 261 yards with three touchdowns and a 92.6 QBR. "It felt right being back home for him."
The 5-foot-11, 197-pound Boutte, who joined starting left tackle and fellow Louisiana native Will Campbell in returning home, had 40 family members and friends at the game for whom he purchased tickets. He called it an "emotional day" and "full circle moment" while noting the twists and turns of his career -- going from a once-highly touted prospect to sixth-round pick whose NFL career hit a crossroads this past spring before it took off under Vrabel and receivers coach Todd Downing.
"Three, four years ago I wasn't in the best position. I think a lot of off-the-field stuff. I look at myself like I've been through a lot. I feel like I'm finally getting back together and everything is coming good. I feel like it's good to beat the adversity and keep working," Boutte said.
The work continues in Week 7 with a trip to Tennessee to face the Titans (1-5), with the spotlight on Vrabel and his team who is 3-0 on the road this season.
"We know Vrabes has been there and everything like that, but he's here now," Patriots cornerback Marcus Jones said. "So, we're going to try to take advantage of the opportunity we have and try to go 1-0 next week."
Then, before boarding the team bus, Diggs was one of the last remaining players in the locker room and already looking ahead to Sunday's road game against the Tennessee Titans.
"We'll enjoy this for 12 hours and then we have a big one next week," Diggs said.
Why so big?
"People are going home, I guess," he said with a touch of humor.
Diggs' reference to coach Mike Vrabel bringing the Patriots (4-2) to Tennessee, where he served as head coach from 2018 to 2023, highlights what will be a top storyline in the days to come.
The homecoming theme has been prevalent for the surging Patriots in recent weeks, as this marks the first time the team has won three in a row since 2022.
In a Week 5 win against the Buffalo Bills, it was Diggs' return to Western New York -- and his stellar performance in a prime-time upset -- that generated headlines.
And in Sunday's road victory over the Saints, it was Louisiana-born and former Louisiana State receiver Kayshon Boutte rising up with a clutch performance that included a team-high five catches for 93 yards and 2 touchdowns (deep shots of 25 and 29 yards). Boutte became the first Patriots player to score multiple touchdowns of 25 or more yards in a game since Phillip Dorsett II in 2019.
"Something about going home, I think guys feel comfortable back at the crib," Diggs said.
The Patriots won despite a performance that included "a lot to clean up," according to Vrabel. A lack of running game (73 yards on 31 attempts), 11 penalties and shaky pass defense at times were among the primary struggles. But when they needed a play to close it out, Boutte delivered.
He capped off his day by making a 21-yard catch from quarterback Drake Maye on third-and-11 before the two-minute warning, which allowed the Patriots to kneel on the ball for the win. It was a contested catch on an out route that he converted to a fade. Saints cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry was glued to his hip, and Boutte turned to haul in the back-shoulder throw along the left sideline and he landed in bounds with a thud.
"What a play by Boutte," said Maye, who finished 18-of-26 for 261 yards with three touchdowns and a 92.6 QBR. "It felt right being back home for him."
The 5-foot-11, 197-pound Boutte, who joined starting left tackle and fellow Louisiana native Will Campbell in returning home, had 40 family members and friends at the game for whom he purchased tickets. He called it an "emotional day" and "full circle moment" while noting the twists and turns of his career -- going from a once-highly touted prospect to sixth-round pick whose NFL career hit a crossroads this past spring before it took off under Vrabel and receivers coach Todd Downing.
"Three, four years ago I wasn't in the best position. I think a lot of off-the-field stuff. I look at myself like I've been through a lot. I feel like I'm finally getting back together and everything is coming good. I feel like it's good to beat the adversity and keep working," Boutte said.
The work continues in Week 7 with a trip to Tennessee to face the Titans (1-5), with the spotlight on Vrabel and his team who is 3-0 on the road this season.
"We know Vrabes has been there and everything like that, but he's here now," Patriots cornerback Marcus Jones said. "So, we're going to try to take advantage of the opportunity we have and try to go 1-0 next week."
Patriots’ offense is one-dimensional, but Drake Maye is so good it might not matter
The Patriots struggled to run the ball against the Saints on Sunday, but their second-year quarterback lifted them to victory anyway.
www.nytimes.com
A little less than three minutes separated the New England Patriots from a third straight win and their best six-game start since Tom Brady was the quarterback.
But it’s hard to close out wins when your running game isn’t working and you’ve been swimming upstream against a slew of questionable calls from the officials.
The Patriots tried to win it on the ground, as teams with a lead late typically do. But their last five designed rushes produced minus-4 yards. Four of the five went backward. Finally, on third-and-11 with 2:39 remaining, there was no more use for the running game. If they could pick up the first down, the game would be over.
So the Patriots turned to Drake Maye, their talented second-year quarterback who keeps one-upping himself with career day after career day.
On the most important play of the game, with everyone at the Superdome knowing he had to throw it beyond the sticks, Maye put a strike right onto the back shoulder of Kayshon Boutte. Ball game. Patriots 25, Saints 19.
The Patriots are now 4-2. They’ve already matched their win total from a year ago. And the year before that. And there are still 11 games to play.
“Let’s go get win No. 5,” Maye said of matching last season’s win total. “Last year is in the past.”
There are a couple of ways to look at a game like this, won like this, with a quarterback like this.
The positive is that Maye continues to put together one of the best seasons we’ve seen from a second-year quarterback this century. On Sunday, he was 18-for-26 passing for 261 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. This season, his expected points added per dropback ranks fifth among all Year 2 quarterbacks since 2000, one spot ahead of Daunte Culpepper. He’s so good that he can go on the road after an emotional win and nab a victory without any running game to support him. That’s great.
The concern is that it’s hard to ask Maye to be Superman all season. At some point, you need a running game to help him out. The Patriots may have survived without one on Sunday, but that was possible because the Saints are, well, not a very good football team. If you want to be a playoff team that could surprise in the postseason, which the Patriots absolutely can be, you need a more balanced offense.
On the other hand, New England is a young team that got out of New Orleans with a win despite not playing its best.
“That’s better than an old team getting out of here with a loss,” Vrabel quipped. “We’ll never not enjoy and embrace winning in this league. But I do think that guys are very aware of the fact that it can be better, and it will have to be better as we go along here. I think that’s a good sign that they know there are some plays we left out there and that we could have played better.”
View: https://x.com/Patriots/status/1977494174522905062?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1977494174522905062%7Ctwgr%5E8263719177f3142860b36af67b95de59dda90ac4%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2Fathletic%2F6711749%2F2025%2F10%2F12%2Fpatriots-drake-maye-offense-new-orleans-saints%2F
To be sure, it’s nitpicking to bemoan the run game’s struggles after a third straight victory. But in recent years, the Patriots haven’t had enough wins to nitpick. Any win was welcome, regardless of what it looked like, because of its rarity.
Slowly but surely, Vrabel is raising the standard of what Patriots football should look like.
That’s why it’s fair to both celebrate how incredible Maye was in this one, helping the Patriots overcome a number of questionable referee calls, while noting how much better things could look if the running game got going.
On Sunday, Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson combined for 45 yards on 22 carries. They didn’t have a single run longer than 7 yards. And they didn’t get it done in important situations, either.
The Patriots could’ve taken control of the game in the third quarter. They had the ball on the New Orleans 2-yard line, first-and-goal. They ran it on back-to-back plays. The plays went for a combined minus-2 yards. After an incomplete pass on third-and-goal, they had to settle for an Andres Borregales field goal.
“Probably one guy away, like always,” Vrabel said of why the running game didn’t get going. “But had some positive runs, and we’ll keep practicing it and keep working it.”
Still, the most important aspect in the big picture is the play of the team’s most important player. We’ve said all year that Maye’s development and success will define this season for the Patriots. And so far, he’s been the best player on a team where the expectations are rising every week.
Maye’s stat line would have been even more impressive if a flag-happy crew of officials hadn’t brought back several big Patriots gains with highly questionable calls.
What’s impressive, too, is that the 23-year-old isn’t just leaning on one receiver. After Stefon Diggs topped 100 yards receiving in each of the last two weeks, Sunday was a different story. In this one, Boutte had five catches for 93 yards and two touchdowns. DeMario Douglas also had a touchdown — and it should’ve been two — to go with 71 receiving yards.
Maye came into the league as a raw prospect with big upside. Six games into his second year, he’s living up to the lofty ideal of what kind of player he can be.
On Sunday, the entire offense leaned on him. They asked him to make a difficult pass on third-and-long with the game on the line, and he did so perfectly to punctuate another impressive day.
But the game as a whole certainly wasn’t perfect for the Patriots. The defense struggled in the first half. The running game is the worst in the NFL based on EPA per carry.
But when you have a quarterback playing the way Maye is, sometimes he can carry you to an impressive — albeit imperfect — win.
