FOXBORO — Welcome to the Friday Five!
Each week during the NFL regular season, I will drop five Patriots-related thoughts on Friday, which today mostly highlight the team’s win over the Jets.
Ready, set, football.
1. Lighting the path
Do you remember two months ago?
The Patriots had a fumbling problem. A big one. They were 1-2. And only by the grace of De’Von Achane’s left foot partly landing out of bounds in the final minutes of their win at Miami did they avoid an 0-3 start.
Now, fast-forward two months.
As it stands, the Patriots should be kicking their feet up in mid-January, while the rest of the AFC’s playoff contenders fight to survive in the Wild Card round. Because after Thursday’s easy-peasy win over the Jets, the Pats not only own the NFL’s best record at 9-2, but they’re one step closer to clinching the No. 1 seed in the AFC.
As always this season, hope springs from the schedule. The Pats have won eight straight by treating the league’s bottom-feeders as stepping stones. Odds are they will make it to 10 straight before they break from their early December bye week to play the Bills.
Here are their remaining games: at Cincinnati, vs. N.Y. Giants, vs. Buffalo, at Baltimore, at N.Y. Jets, vs. Miami.
Meanwhile the Colts and Broncos, both 8-2, face rockier roads ahead. The Colts travel to Kansas City next week after their ongoing bye, then host the Texans, travel to Jacksonville and Seattle in consecutive weeks, play the 49ers, Jaguars and Texans again to close the year. All of those opponents are either currently in the playoff picture or contending for a Wild Card spot.
Save for trips to Washington and Las Vegas, the same holds for Denver. The Broncos host the Chiefs on Sunday, visit the Commanders and Raiders, then host Green Bay and Jacksonville before closing at Kansas City and versus the Chargers. Oof.
The Chargers (7-3) and Bills (6-3) are the only other teams that should push for the No. 1 seed outside of Indy and Denver (barring a late surge by 5-4 Chiefs). All of which is to say if the Patriots beat the teams they should, they can clear their calendar for the first round of the playoffs just like old times.
2. Maye making history?
Foxboro, MA - Nov. 13 - New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye (10) looks for the pass as New York Jets linebacker Quincy Williams (56) moves in during the second half at Gillette Stadium. (Photo By Matt Stone/Boston Herald).
Foxboro, MA - Nov. 13 - New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye (10) looks for the pass as New York Jets linebacker Quincy Williams (56) moves in during the second half at Gillette Stadium. (Photo By Matt Stone/Boston Herald).
We are at a point now where bad incompletions, an inevitability of playing quarterback, are a surprise with Drake Maye.
Maye is not just accurate. He’s historically pinpoint.
Maye has completed 71.9% of his passes, despite throwing to a deeper target on average than most every other starting quarterback in the league. The stat to know combines those two facts and highlights how exceptional Maye’s passing has been.
Entering Thursday, Maye owned the highest Completion Percentage Over Expected (CPOE) ever measured by Next Gen Stats, which began tracking the metric in 2018. CPOE accounts for factors like throw distance and defenders’ locations to determine true accuracy by first establishing how likely it is each pass is completed. Unlike traditional completion percentage, CPOE separates the conservative quarterbacks who fatten their traditional numbers with checkdowns from the truly great passers who complete more difficult and impactful throws at a higher rate.
On Thursday, Maye went 25-of-34 against the Jets, including two drops; a stat line that no doubt bolstered his CPOE for the season. But even if Maye remained at a 9.3% CPOE after the win, he would still be the NFL’s most accurate quarterback of the last seven-plus seasons with six games to go. Think about who’s on that list.
There’s Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes, Aaron Rodgers, Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen among others. Maye’s CPOE is the highest since Ryan Tannehill’s 8.7% in 2019, when his Titans made a surprise run under Mike Vrabel to the AFC Championship Game. Tennessee’s offense that year accentuated Tannehill’s superb deep accuracy, a trait he shares with Maye.
But it’s not just his deep ball. Or Maye’s ability to make tight-window throws or take the checkdown or post a sky-high traditional completion percentage. It’s all of it.
This is a special quarterback amid a special, possibly historic, season.
3. McDaniels’ wrinkles
No Kayshon Boutte, no Rhamondre Stevenson, no Austin Hooper, no problems.
Granted, yes. He only had to game-plan for the Jets. But despite limited time to work around key absences at all three skill positions, Pats offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels found creative solutions Thursday that just might stick long-term.
New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, right, talks with head coach Mike Vrabel before an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025, in Foxborough, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, right, talks with head coach Mike Vrabel before an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025, in Foxborough, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Here’s a fun one: backup center/guard Ben Brown as a jumbo tight end. The Patriots ran directly behind and away from Brown’s side on different plays, then later executed a play-action rollout away from Brown to keep New York guessing. Brown even took the field with defensive tackle/fullback Khyiris Tonga for a couple snaps, after Tonga began debuting as a fullback a couple weeks ago.
McDaniels also deployed more 10 personnel (four wideouts, one running back and zero tight ends) than he had called in any game this season. Stefon Diggs, Mack Hollins, DeMario Douglas and rookie Kyle Williams all shared the field on a few occasions. Might Boutte replace Douglas or Williams when he returns?
I say McDaniels ought to lean into this personnel group more, especially against porous pass defenses like, say, the Bengals’ … a team that just happens to be next on the Patriots’ schedule.
4. Ready, set, recover
Before the Patriots flew back from their win in Tampa Bay last weekend, players received IVs to rehydrate. Others made plans to jump into the hot tub and sauna back in Foxboro. Or receie massages and extra treatment.
But not the day after they landed. Try an hour or two. That was part of the Patriots’ preparations for their third game in 12 days this week, a rugged stretch every team faces every year since Thursday Night Football became a weekly staple in the league. Pats coach Mike Vrabel explained the training staff went to great lengths to schedule time for players during the week.
“Everybody all hands on deck here, and also having a schedule,” Vrabel said. “Our assistant trainer went around and scheduled everybody so there could be a flow chart and guys didn’t walk in at 11:30 and say, ‘Well, I can’t get a massage because Morgan Moses is already on a table’.
“So it was let’s make sure that this is planned out and there’s some thought to it and give our players the best opportunity to recover.”
Despite the fact players are now off until Monday, Pats captain Robert Spillane said he expects most of them to return and take a similar approach to their next game at Cincinnati — even if that kickoff is 10 days away instead of three.
“I am expecting to see a bunch of guys in the facility throughout the weekend,” he said. “I would be very surprised if we don’t have 30, 40, 50 guys here over the weekend looking to get recovered, extra lifts in because we know the real season is ahead of us.”
5. Finally!
Would you believe Christian Barmore notched his first sack of the season Thursday?
Yep.
One of the highest-paid players in franchise history finally broke through on a play the defensive tackle has been chasing all year. Barmore’s season to date — while far, far from dominant — highlights the importance of considering a player’s total pressures, not just his sack total. While Barmore had zero sacks entering Thursday’s game, he’d tallied 29 pressures, good for almost three per game; an excellent number.
Barmore’s pass rush could now become even more pivotal for the Patriots, pending Milton Williams’ recovery from an ankle injury that surfaced and sidelined him for good in Thursday’s win.