The Patriots are on a roll right now, winners of three in a row, and enter the week at 4-2 after a hard-fought 25-19 win over the New Orleans Saints on the road.The team showed some grit and was able to take New Orleans’ best shot and respond. The worry was that after the Patriots’ very emotional win over the Bills on Sunday Night Football, there would be a letdown, leading to a “trap game” on the road. It was not to be. Was it their best effort? No, but they did enough to win and move on. Drake Maye continues his torrid streak and is far ahead of where we thought he’d be at this juncture of Year 2. It shows that this team is developing well along their coach’s philosophies.Although it is far too early for such talk, Maye is even getting some laurels thrown his way for MVP, which speaks volumes to how well he’s been playing. But just for the sake of argument here, right here, right now, I’d put Maye at #2. The top spot would go to Baker Mayfield, who has the Bucs at 5-1 and is doing it without Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Emeka Egbuka, and Bucky Irving. That run on a 3rd and 14 Sunday was sick…But I digress, we’re talking about the Patriots’ grades here. So, as we always do, let’s break it down by positionQuarterback: ADrake Maye was outstanding once again, going 18-26 for 261 yards with three TDs, 0 INTs, and a passer rating of 140.1. His comfort level in the offense increases by leaps and bounds every week. Think about this: non-existent penalties wiped out another 113 yards and a touchdown. That’s how good he’s playing right now. And he’s quickly learning to pick and choose when to take off and run. He was the team’s leading rusher on Sunday, but he’s keeping his eyes downfield and making plays. It has been fun watching him grow before our eyes, and with Josh McDaniels running the offense, there is still a lot of growing to do. Running Backs: C-The running backs had minimal production against the Saints; Rhamondre Stevenson had just 18 yards on 13 carries. TreVeyon Henderson had 27 yards on nine carries and added nine yards on one reception. That isn’t going to get it done. Only 54 yards between the two backs was not what the team needed. Maye led the team with 28 yards on nine carries, with 20 coming on one scramble. Mike Vrabel was asked on Monday if the backs were preoccupied with ball security rather than trying to chunk plays. And he admitted that it may have been the case. Terrell Jennings was active, but didn’t play any offensive snaps. Wide Receivers: AIn our pregame write-up, I mentioned that I wanted to see the secondary receivers get more looks in the passing game. Stefon Diggs had back-to-back 100-yard games, and they needed to get the others more involved.Well, that message was received. The secondary receivers were outstanding on Sunday. Kayshon Boutte had five receptions for 93 yards, including touchdowns of 29 and 25 yards. Boutte sealed the game with a tad over two minutes remaining on a back-shoulder catch from Maye on a 3rd and 11. Both touchdowns were excellent catches.DeMario Douglas began the day with a highlight 53-yard touchdown pass from Maye. He finished with three catches for 71 yards and the score. He had a 61-yard touchdown erased on the first nonsensical call on Diggs. Diggs ended up with a pedestrian 28 yards on three catches, but he would have ended up with 81 had he not been flagged for a non-existent push off that wiped out a 53-yard bomb from Maye on 3rd and 18. Mack Hollins also had 28 yards on two catches.Kyle Williams didn’t have a catch but drew a DPI flag. He’s getting separation; his time is coming, as Vrabel says, the ball is going to come his way.Tight Ends: CThe Patriots’ tight ends didn’t have an impact in the running game as blockers, which admittedly isn’t their strong suit. Hunter Henry had three catches for 27 yards, while Austin Hooper had one catch for five yards.Offensive Line: C-The offensive line only allowed one sack, but they allowed six runs of negative yardage. And Maye was under pressure for much of the game, it was his ability to move inside the pocket that saved the team more sacks and yards lost.While the unit is light years better than the disaster that was 2024, but now approaching the midway point of 2025, the bar needs to be set much higher. This wasn’t one of their better games. I thought Morgan Moses had a good afternoon. Will Campbell allowed pressure on four dropbacks. He whiffed on a cut block on a first and goal, resulting in a loss. Jared Wilson had some good reps and some bad. Garrett Bradbury botched a snap to Maye on a fourth down attempt resulting in a loss of 14. It looked like former Patriot Davon Godchaux pushed him around a bit in the running game. Defensive Line: BThe defensive line had a good solid effort in New Orleans. The Saints rushed for just 73 yards and Alvin Kamara averaged just 3.1 yards per carry with a long of just seven yards. Milton Williams was battling an illness and kicked out to defensive end for a bit when Harold Landry was injured. Three of the linemen, Christian Barmore, Landry, and Khyiris Tonga, who has been fantastic, had tackles for loss. The Patriots pressured Spencer Rattler on 46.7 percent of his dropbacks according to PFF, which seemed a bit high by the eye test. However, K’Lavon Chaisson had eight total pressures and a QB hit. The unit generated two sacks (Landry and Marcus Jones). Linebackers: BThe linebackers, especially Robert Spillane were outstanding in run support, Spillane had 11 tackles, (are we seeing a trend here?), Christian Elliss forced a key fumble in the fourth quarter and a pass breakup, nearly coming up with an interception. But the middle of the field remains a hit or miss scenario in the passing game. But overall, a very solid effort again by the linebackers.Elliss was caught in no-man’s land when in coverage with Kamara, and Rattler broke containment. Elliss came up to engage Rattler, and the QB tossed the ball over his head to Kamara for a 22-yard gain. He was in a tough place there. Secondary: BThe Patriots’ secondary was led by Marcus Jones, who is on a roll lately with coverage and had a sack (his first career sack), a tackle for loss, and three passes defensed. Craig Woodson had an excellent game, arguably his best yet. Christian Gonzalez and Carlton Davis were solid, but with the Patriots playing more zone this week, it isn’t their strength. Kyle Dugger got caught on the first play of the game when Carlton Davis came on a corner blitz, and the Saints’ Chris Olave blew past Dugger for a 53-yard gain. It looked like the Saints were expecting that one and put Dugger in a bad mismatch with Olave. However, while it wasn’t perfect by any means, after that initial pass, Rattler passed for 177 yards the rest of the game. And Olave, who finished with 98 yards, only had five catches for 45 yards after that. So, it wasn’t as bad as some made it out to be.Special Teams: BThe Patriots had to pivot in their return game, with the loss of Antonio Gibson for the year, leaving them shorthanded at both running back and in the return game. So, they decided to relieve Stevenson and Henderson of kick return duties and activated Efton Chism and Terrell Jennings as kick returners. Chism saw his first NFL action and had a tackle on the opening kickoff and returned five kicks for 129 yards. Andy Borregales was perfect on his extra points and made one chip-shot field goal. Bryce Barringer had a 66-yard boomer on one punt and put another inside the 20 on his three punts. The coverage units were solid. Coaches: B+Mike Vrabel and the staff had the team prepared and ready to go, accomplishing what they set out to do. It was a good day. And as Vrabel said, it wasn’t perfect, but he’ll never not celebrate a win in the NFL. Josh McDaniels has tried to stay balanced (31 runs, 26 passes) despite the struggles of the running game. While the play calling in the red zone can be dissected, overall, he has the offense playing very well, especially Maye.Zak Kuhr decided to play more zone coverage in this game, and while it may not have always been pretty, they held the Saints to under 20 points on the road. That is a recipe for winning. We’re done with New Orleans week, we’re on Tennessee and the Titans, who fired head coach Brian Callahan after a 1-5 start. They named Mike McCoy as the interim coach. Coincidentally, it was Callahan who replaced Vrabel in Tennessee. So, this game on Sunday may be a bit personal for Vrabel. Stay tuned.Follow me on Twitter @SteveB7SFG or email me at [email protected].Listen to our Patriots 4th and 2 podcasts as the writers Russ Goldman, Derek Havens, and I from PatsFans.com discuss the latest Patriots news and game analysis.
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About Steve BalestrieriA former US Army Special Forces NCO and Officer, Steve has been following the Patriots since their days at Fenway Park. Steve has worked in the film industry and wrote as an Military Editor at SpecialOperations.com, 1945.com as a reporter for the Millbury Daily Voice, Millbury-Sutton Chronicle, and the Grafton News. He's also a member of the Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA)View all posts by Steve Balestrieri
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Alvin Kamara
Chris Olave
Christian Elliss
Demario Douglas
Drake Maye
Harold Landry. Marcus Jones
Kayshon Boutte
New England Patriots
New Orleans Saints
Rhamondre Stevenson
Robert Spillane
Spencer Rattler
Stefon Diggs
TreVeyon Henderson
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