Good morning. Here is your Patriots news, 11-16, and NFL notes this week. The Patriots have now won eight games in a row, and as of today, they are the only team with nine wins on the season.The Patriots suffered a significant loss in the game on Thursday night. Milton Williams suffered a high ankle sprain and was placed on injured reserve, while signing rookie linebacker Bradyn Swinson to the 53-man roster from the practice squad. He’ll be out for at least four weeks, so he will miss both the game against Buffalo and the one against Baltimore.The best part is that the team is exciting to watch and the games are fun again. The past few years have been frustrating to watch, especially after two decades of dominance. Mike Vrabel has this team believing in him and each other. I said earlier on Friday that this team is tighter than a tick on a hound with high blood pressure. They will go all out for one another, and sometimes that is all you need. With no Patriots game today, it will be a relaxing day to check out all the games and watch NFL Redzone, while keeping a sharp eye focused on the Bills-Bucs game. Quick Hitters For the Patriots and NFL News:Bart Scott: What? Scott dissing on Drake Maye and the Patriots? Shocked face. Scott has always had a hatred of New England, because for years, Brady and the Patriots owned his behind and the Jets.Mike Tomlin: Not Patriots related but after the Steelers loss to the Chargers, Steelers’ head coach Mike Tomlin’s daughter received vile, racist hate-filled messages on her Instagram account. Tomlin’s wife, however, took the high road and Kiya Tomlin wrote: “It truly sounds as though you are in need of some positivity and inspiration in your life.” It sounds like that person needs to get a life, before any positivity can come into it.Stefon Diggs: The Patriots’ wide receiver has produced better than anyone could have hoped for this season. Not only on the field, but off the field as well, as he’s frequently mentioned as one of the leaders of the team. But on the field, after tearing an ACL last October, no one truly knew what to expect from him. It frequently takes more than a year for a player to fully return to form. For Diggs, it hasn’t taken long at all. Through the team’s first 11 games, Diggs leads the Patriots in targets (72), receptions (59) and yards (659). The former All-Pro has been the Patriots’ go-to weapon along with Hunter Henry on underneath routes and crossers between the numbers.On Thursday night against the Jets, Diggs notched his third 100-yard game of the season, catching nine passes for 105 yards. Diggs has been a great boost to Drake Maye’s second season. He gives him the talent to always get open and get the ball. They have great chemistry already, and it should only get better over time together.Patriots No Huddle Podcast: Derek, Mike and I broke down the win against Tampa on our Sunday night postgame podcast. Later on Monday, the three of us broke down the upcoming Jets game, focusing on key matchups and key strategies for success. We did our postgame podcast on Friday, please check it out. And be sure to like, share, and leave us a review. Russ Francis/Chuck Fairbanks: The former Patriot tight end and head coach should be in the Patriots team Hall of Fame, and the fact that Francis isn’t is an absolute travesty. Francis and the Raiders’ Dave Casper changed how teams used the tight end position. This will be displayed in our Sunday posts until it happens. Casper is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Francis’ numbers stand up well against Casper’s, yet he isn’t even in the team’s HOF. Positional Report Card For The 27-14 Win Over The Jets:The Patriots are winners of eight in a row, and (although I hate Thursday Night Football with a passion), it is always nice to see the Patriots beat the Jets, even if the win was a little on the sloppy side. For many of us, a nine-win season was the sign that Mike Vrabel had turned this team around. Well, he’s done that in 11 games, and now they are the only team with nine wins, but Denver and Indianapolis play later today.The Jets… are the Jets, but the Patriots took care of business, which they should have, and now get a needed few days off. So, as we always do, let’s break it down by positionQuarterback: A-Drake Maye didn’t have his best game, but his pocket awareness and ability to keep his eyes downfield and make throws seem effortless are amazing to watch. Maye threw for 140 yards in the first half and 141 in the second half. Pretty consistent, I’d say. He finished 25-34 (73 percent) for 281 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions for a passer rating of 107.6. He did hit on some really nice chunk throws down the field; his 50+ yarder to Mack Hollins was perfectly thrown right in his hands, but Jets’ safety Brandon Stephens knocked it out at the last moment. Next Gen Stats posted that 237 of Maye’s 281 yards came when he held the ball for longer than 2.5 seconds. The confidence that he’s playing with and the confidence that his teammates have in him is something to watch.Running Backs: B+TreVeyon Henderson went for the hat trick with three touchdowns (two rushing, one receiving). He had 93 yards total on 24 touches, 62 rushing, 31 receiving. An interesting tidbit from Next Gen Stats wrote that Henderson had more yards after contact (70) than he did rushing. He’s becoming the dual threat that we all knew he was capable of. His pass blocking has improved. D’Ernest Johnson had three carries for six yards. I love seeing Khyiris Tonga get in the backfield as a blocking fullback. Josh McDaniels will have a play or two where he gets his hands on the ball. They’ll hold onto that for the right time. A great stat in regards to the running game, when the Patriots line up and attempt to drive straight ahead with the ball, they rank 32nd, dead last in the NFL. But when they pull an offensive lineman and use power formations, they rank 12th in the league. Perhaps, they can find a way to do a bit more of that down the stretch.Wide Receivers: A-The wide receivers continue the trend of someone different stepping up. On Sunday, Mack Hollins had six catches for 106 yards, while Stefon Diggs had 5-45. On Thursday night, Diggs had his third 100-yard game of the season, catching nine passes for 105 yards, while Hollins had four catches for 64, just missing on the 50-yarder mentioned above. Demario Douglas caught three passes for 36 yards, including a 26-yard beauty. The total for the WRs was 16 catches for 205 yards. The only downer was Kyle Williams, who was on the wrong page with Maye on all three passes thrown his way, and knocked down the grade a bit. The rookie is still finding his way.Tight Ends: BWith Austin Hooper out, Hunter Henry was the lone true TE on the field. He had a good game receiving with four catches for 45 yards. He and Diggs are the third-down guys Maye trusts the most. And it shows.Henry was responsible for the only sack; he came in motion and was beaten by Jermaine Johnson coming off the edge. Tonga, Jack Westover, and Ben Brown all got some work as blockers at tight end. Westover had a penalty that wiped out a nice D’Ernest Johnson run. Offensive Line: B-The offensive line struggled against the Jets’ front seven in the running game, managing only 68 yards before Maye’s kneeldowns at the end of the game. But on Henderson’s two touchdowns, they blew the DL off the ball. But the pass protection was excellent. The Jets had just the one sack, and after allowing Tampa just one last week, this part of the unit’s performance is trending upward. Will Campbell had one holding call on Will McDonald who had one QB hit and one tackle after notching four sacks on Sunday. Defensive Line: C+The defensive line lost Milton Williams on the Jets’ first possession with an ankle injury. Reportedly, he wanted to come back in, but Mike Vrabel held him out as a precaution. The Jets are a very good running team, with Breece Hall and Fields, who is a bigger threat running than passing. They ran for 140 yards and an average of 5.0 yards per carry. Hall had 58 yards on 14 carries, but Fields’ 67 yards included some poor edge setting on option runs, things that will have to be cleaned up. The defensive line got two sacks, and Christian Barmore finally broke through after getting more than 30 pressures. Isaiah Ponder notched a sack for the second game in a row. Anfernee Jennings recovered a fumble off a bad snap.Linebackers: A-The linebackers were expecting Fields to target Hall and his tight ends more in this game with Garrett Wilson out. But they didn’t move the needle at all, the linebackers, Robert Spillane and Jack Gibbens, were excellent at keeping everything in front of them. Spillane led the team (naturally) with nine tackles and a pass defensed. Gibbens was second with six tackles and a TFL. Secondary: A-The Patriots’ secondary was facing a Jets team without their best WR (Wilson) and not much else. John Metchie had three catches for 45 yards, including a 22-yard touchdown, but that was where Safety Craig Woodson tripped and fell. The Jets’ other two WRs, Adonai Mitchell and Isaiah Williams, combined for two catches for 12 yards. Dell Pettus broke up a fourth-down pass in the late fourth quarter against tight end Jeremy Ruckert that sealed the deal.Special Teams: B+The Patriots’ STs did a fantastic job of shutting down the Jets’ dangerous returners. Kene Nwangu averaged just 23.7 yards on his kick returns, while Williams had on kick return for 24. Williams had three punt returns for just 18 yards. Bryce Barringer had a strong game, averaging 51 yards on three punts, putting two of them inside the 20. Andy Borregales pushed a field goal attempt wide right at the end of the half, but he came back and nailed two in the second half.Coaches: BMike Vrabel and the coaching staff do a fantastic job of getting the players ready week after week. However, these slow starts defensively are concerning. They won’t be playing offensively challenged teams like the Jets every week. But the confidence level of the team is through the roof. Other than a head-scratching final drive in the first half, Josh McDaniels called a great game and although they left points on the field, the Patriots pretty much had their way with the Jets’ defense. We’re done with the Jets week. We’re on to Cincinnati…on the road.NFL Week 11 Predictions:The Patriots took care of business and now have a few (very needed) extra days off. Now they get to sit back and watch the Bengals (next week’s opponent), and the Bills, who face the Bucs. Tampa’s defense may pose some issues for the struggling Bills. But James Cook should have a big game. Additionally, there is no Goodwin or Irving yet for Baker Mayfield. The KC-Denver game will bear watching. If Denver wins, the Chiefs can pretty much forget winning the division. Now we’ll see how the rest of the schedule goes.Thursday Night Football:New England over NYJ 1-0Sunday Day Games:Miami over Washington (9:30 start in Madrid)Atlanta over CarolinaBuffalo over Tampa BayHouston over TennesseeMinnesota over ChicagoGreen Bay over NYGPittsburgh over CincinnatiLA Chargers over JacksonvilleSeattle over LA RamsSan Francisco over ArizonaBaltimore over ClevelandKansas City over DenverSunday Night Football:Detroit over PhiladelphiaMonday Night Football:Dallas over Las VegasBYE WEEK:Indianapolis, New OrleansLast Week 9—52025 Season 101—47—12024 Season 204—68 2023 Season 178—94 2022 Season: 178—92—22021 Season: 183—88—12020 Season: 169—86—1 2019 Season: 162—93—1“Yeah, testament to our players, our staff. I thanked them so many times just being able to roll in there on Monday, have stuff prepared. You know, it’s hard to go on the road to Tampa, you know, and get your mind ready for that, but also in the back of your mind you’ve got a whole other box about what are you going to do against the Jets and being able to get on a plane, come home, get in late, but have that ready to go and have energy and a game plan ready for the players on Monday at 1 o’clock. Thank the trainers, thank the staff, the strength staff, everybody involved for getting our players ready to go for the game here in a short week..”Mike Vrabel was asked about playing the second game in five days and what challenges the coaches and players dealt with.“Just looking back and just trying to get everybody together and say, Hey, what can we do that maybe we’ve wanted to do or thought about doing on a short week and just exhaust every avenue of giving guys IVs before we left Tampa, having the massage therapist, everybody on all hands on deck here, and also having a schedule. 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. So that’s what we did.“Coach Vrabel was asked for a comment after Robert Spillane told the media about players coming back from Tampa and going straight to the facility, sauna, hot tub as part of the recovery process. What’s involved in that plan, and how do you piece that together?“He’s playing at an elite level right now. I’m biased, but I think he’s the best player in the NFL. There’s no game that we’re out of when we have him. He’s just, even how good of a player he is, he’s an even better person, and an even better teammate. That just makes it that much cooler. To be able to share the huddle and in the locker room, and be friends with somebody like that. I just look forward to the future, to continue to play with him, and grow with him. As we all continue to grow in this offense, he’s got everything in front of him now. I’m super excited to be a part of it..”LT Will Campbell was asked about the fans chanting for Drake Maye as the MVP. _______________“Somebody asked me what success looks like, and I said, ‘Yeah, you can judge it by wins and losses during the season, but success for me in the offseason is going to be that the players believe in what we’re doing, and they believe in the message, they believe in the teaching, and they believe in the connections that we’re making.’” — Mike VrabelFollow me on Twitter @SteveB7SFG or email me at [email protected]Listen to our PatsFans.com Patriots No Huddle podcasts on Apple and YouTube as Derek Havens, Mike D’Abate, and I 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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