Patriots running back TreVeyon Henderson took up the slack Sunday with Rhamondre Stevenson injured, rushing for 147 yards and two long touchdowns.
Patriots running back TreVeyon Henderson took up the slack Sunday with Rhamondre Stevenson injured, rushing for 147 yards and two long touchdowns.Matthew J. Lee/Globe Staff
The Patriots won the old-fashioned way against the Buccaneers.
These surprising Patriots have carved out an identity all their own, separate from the past. But the last couple of weeks during their divine seven-game winning streak stoked the hearth of nostalgia and felt awfully familiar to the find-a-way days of the Dynasty. Under coach Mike Vrabel, the Patriots are not only restored to relevance but back to the protean Patriots.
Any championship-level team is capable of manufacturing multiple pathways to victory. Now, a team that came into this season needing to learn how not to lose games is majoring in and mastering how to find ways to win them. That adaptability and executional diversity give this revival and New England’s 8-2 record legitimacy.
Drake Maye is at the front of the line in the NFL MVP discussion, and the Patriots wouldn’t be here without him cutting a franchise QB figure. Maye made his share of big-time tosses in Sunday’s 28-23 victory at Raymond James Stadium, as we’ve come to expect. But the Patriots displayed they’re not reliant solely on a superstar signal-caller. That’s two consecutive games they’ve won where Maye has been less than lights out, a notable sign.
The defense and the running game answered the call on a day when Maye had his lowest completion percentage of the season, going 16 of 31 for 270 yards with two touchdowns, and committed the game’s lone turnover. Maye, who has turnovers in three straight games, fired a fourth-quarter interception in the end zone when the Patriots were poised to close the casket on the Buccaneers.
Tampa Bay entered 5-0 when not committing a turnover. They won the turnover battle (1-0) and still lost because New England’s unheralded defense put the brakes on Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers offense once they reached the New England 27 on the drive following Maye’s miscue.
Then, with everyone in the stadium knowing they wanted to run the ball and run out the clock, rookie TreVeyon Henderson and the running game made reservations at Club Coup de grâce.
.@TreVeyonH4 IS STILL RUNNING
📺 CBS pic.twitter.com/0PrhqW5xrQ
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) November 9, 2025
The proof is in the pudding that the Patriots are more than just the Amazing Maye. That should have the rest of the AFC quaking in their cleats.
“Just so proud of this team. Just every week we’re fighting. Some things aren’t going our way. We’re handling adversity, battling adversity,” said Maye. “The defense is stepping up. What a complete game. . . . [Tampa Bay] is a good football team. We knew if we got up, they’re going to come back, and they came marching back, and I’m just proud of the guys for standing up, especially our defense with the big stop.”
More and more, the Patriots look to be carrying the imprimatur of a team of fate. The Patriots have scored 23 points or more and allowed 23 or fewer points in each of the seven games during the win streak. According to the NFL, of the eight previous teams to enjoy such a streak in a season, five went on to win the Super Bowl or AFL/NFL Championship.
It shouldn’t go unnoticed that the Patriots extended their winning streak when two of the ballyhooed statistical streaks behind it were snapped.
Facing his second-highest pressure rate this season (47.2 percent), Maye’s stretch of eight consecutive games with 200 or more yards passing and a quarterback rating above 100 came to an end. He finished with a QB rating of 89.4, his lowest since the season-opening loss to the Raiders when he netted an 80.6. That season opener feels like another team in another decade at this point.
For the first time this season, a running back reached 50 yards against the Patriots impregnable defense. Sean Tucker logged nine carries for 53 yards. The Patriots allowed a season-worst 5.4 yards per rush to Tampa Bay, 21 carries for 113 yards.
(Expect the Patriots’ next victims, the Jets, to probe that run defense Thursday night at Gillette Stadium. Despite their team name, the Jets are the NFL’s most inept aerial attack.)
Losing those streaks didn’t matter. The Patriots carved alternate routes to victory lane, just like the good old days. They rode their rookies, a diversified receiving corps, and a throwback two-way player.
Kyle Williams outruns Buccaneers cornerback Zyon McCollum for a 72-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter.
Kyle Williams outruns Buccaneers cornerback Zyon McCollum for a 72-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter.Matthew J. Lee/Globe Staff
The headlines will go to Henderson and rookie receiver Kyle Williams, who scored on a 72-yard thunderbolt. But fellow rookie, safety Craig Woodson, logged eight tackles and led the team with two pass breakups. His quick close and hit on Buccaneers tight end Cade Otton on third and 3 from the New England 27 prevented a first down inside the 20-yard line. On the next play, K’Lavon Chaisson came free on a stunt to force a turnover on downs.
One of the rallying cries during the Dynasty was Next Man Up. With Kayshon Boutte out, Mack Hollins caught six passes for 106 yards, becoming the fourth different Patriots wide receiver this season to go over 100 yards in a game.
What really drew a sentimental parallel to the six-ring era was the presence of a defensive player on offense. For the second week in a row, massive defensive tackle Khyiris Tonga was deployed as a battering ram in the running game on offense, playing fullback.
NFL Next Gen Stats tracked eight Tonga snaps at fullback. On Henderson’s game-sealing 69-yard TD run, Tonga crashed down on Buccaneers All-Pro safety Antoine Winfield Jr. like a tidal wave, opening up the edge.
Book it. The Patriots are going to throw a pass to Tonga or give him a goal-line carry, and it’s going to work. A linebacker, Vrabel famously had all dozen of his career catches as a two-way tight end go for touchdowns.
After scoring 12 touchdowns in his second job with the Patriots as a tight end, it's only a matter of time before the current coach has nose tackle/fullback Khyiris Tonga taking handoffs in goal-line situations.
After scoring 12 touchdowns in his second job with the Patriots as a tight end, it's only a matter of time before the current coach has nose tackle/fullback Khyiris Tonga taking handoffs in goal-line situations.Chin, Barry Globe Staff
After his fullback debut against the Falcons, Tonga said he would have to find his coach’s old offensive film. It’s easy to forget that the early Dynasty Days Patriots represent a time capsule to the current group.
For example, Maye was born six months after the Patriots won Super Bowl XXXVI in February 2002. This type of adaptable winning football is familiar to us but novel to them. They’re eating it up.
“We’re a hungry team. We’re a young team. We’re a team with the guys with a lot of chips on their shoulders,” said linebacker Robert Spillane. “We still feel like we have so much left to prove.”
They’ve already proven they’re versatile in claiming victory.
When was the last time New England was a fun team, and do they have a shot at a deep playoff run?
Christopher L. Gasper is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at christopher.gasper@globe.com. Follow him @cgasper and on Instagram @cgaspersports.