Patriots 2025-26 Season

[smicker16]

Anyone concerned that Drake Maye did not have a single good game in the postseason? Didn?t seem to do well with the pressure of the playoffs.

Personally I am not worried based on this postseason. He played some tougher defenses during the regular season too and played really well. The soft schedule was mainly playing some terrible offenses. He is still only a 2nd year QB and young for 2nd year. I feel much better than when we had Mac Jones, Newton or Zappe. The regular season probably made us think he was a top five QB and that feels a bit premature. The reality is there was not much talent on offense for this team. The WRs were below average, RBs were fine and TE was average at best. Oline was also pretty young so the talent around him on offense was not great.

With all that being said next year is a big year for him as teams will adjust now based on his film from this season. Always easy to be a one year wonder but if he follows this year up with a similar performance then he is very much in the conversation of a top 5 QB. That was the case regardless of this SB outcome though. Let?s see but the future is still bright and a lot of that has to do with his potential.

Regular season and postseason are different animals, though. A lot more pressure with single elimination in the playoffs. Have to be able to perform under those conditions.

Oh yeah for sure. I just feel going 3-1 in his first postseason means he did enough to win some games in bad weather against some great defenses. Did he look great? No but he is a young second year QB and it was more than I expected at the beginning of the year. I still think he needs to prove himself next year to be a staple as a top QB in the league. He is not there yet and why the Bills will likely be favored to win the division next year.

[Larry for 3]

Anyone concerned that Drake Maye did not have a single good game in the postseason? Didn?t seem to do well with the pressure of the playoffs.

Personally I am not worried based on this postseason. He played some tougher defenses during the regular season too and played really well. The soft schedule was mainly playing some terrible offenses. He is still only a 2nd year QB and young for 2nd year. I feel much better than when we had Mac Jones, Newton or Zappe. The regular season probably made us think he was a top five QB and that feels a bit premature. The reality is there was not much talent on offense for this team. The WRs were below average, RBs were fine and TE was average at best. Oline was also pretty young so the talent around him on offense was not great.

With all that being said next year is a big year for him as teams will adjust now based on his film from this season. Always easy to be a one year wonder but if he follows this year up with a similar performance then he is very much in the conversation of a top 5 QB. That was the case regardless of this SB outcome though. Let?s see but the future is still bright and a lot of that has to do with his potential.

Regular season and postseason are different animals, though. A lot more pressure with single elimination in the playoffs. Have to be able to perform under those conditions.

Oh yeah for sure. I just feel going 3-1 in his first postseason means he did enough to win some games in bad weather against some great defenses. Did he look great? No but he is a young second year QB and it was more than I expected at the beginning of the year. I still think he needs to prove himself next year to be a staple as a top QB in the league. He is not there yet and why the Bills will likely be favored to win the division next year.

Maybe if he had an offensive line that wasn?t getting him killed then he?d already be there.

[wdleehi]

The Patriots need to get Maye more help.   The offensive line got him sped up.   His receivers didn't make plays for him (I know a lot of the near misses were hard catches, but they need to come down with more of them)

[Goldstar88]

The Patriots need to get Maye more help.   The offensive line got him sped up.   His receivers didn't make plays for him (I know a lot of the near misses were hard catches, but they need to come down with more of them)

His passing was really bad for the majority of the game. Even when he wasn?t under pressure.  Many were uncatchable balls, not near misses.

[Amonkey]

Anyone concerned that Drake Maye did not have a single good game in the postseason? Didn?t seem to do well with the pressure of the playoffs.

Personally I am not worried based on this postseason. He played some tougher defenses during the regular season too and played really well. The soft schedule was mainly playing some terrible offenses. He is still only a 2nd year QB and young for 2nd year. I feel much better than when we had Mac Jones, Newton or Zappe. The regular season probably made us think he was a top five QB and that feels a bit premature. The reality is there was not much talent on offense for this team. The WRs were below average, RBs were fine and TE was average at best. Oline was also pretty young so the talent around him on offense was not great.

With all that being said next year is a big year for him as teams will adjust now based on his film from this season. Always easy to be a one year wonder but if he follows this year up with a similar performance then he is very much in the conversation of a top 5 QB. That was the case regardless of this SB outcome though. Let?s see but the future is still bright and a lot of that has to do with his potential.

Regular season and postseason are different animals, though. A lot more pressure with single elimination in the playoffs. Have to be able to perform under those conditions.

Oh yeah for sure. I just feel going 3-1 in his first postseason means he did enough to win some games in bad weather against some great defenses. Did he look great? No but he is a young second year QB and it was more than I expected at the beginning of the year. I still think he needs to prove himself next year to be a staple as a top QB in the league. He is not there yet and why the Bills will likely be favored to win the division next year.

Maybe if he had an offensive line that wasn?t getting him killed then he?d already be there.

Will the rookies offensive line become more experienced and improve, or would they have to draft another young and talented but inexperienced line? I think that is one of the issues of whether or not they keep a group of guys that can grow and learn, but also go through growing pains together.

Also do we need a talented TE? I like Henry and he seems to be a good safety blanket for Maye, but having a more talented TE could also open things up. Also having an elite receiver would be great, although I do think some of the young receivers have shown promise to grow.

[SparzWizard]

Somebody on social media posted and compared...

"Explain Drake Maye in NBA terms:

2022 NBA Finals Tatum."

Performance did look similar 🫣

[Redz]

Somebody on social media posted and compared...

"Explain Drake Maye in NBA terms:

2022 NBA Finals Tatum."

Performance did look similar 🫣

If Tatum was getting a full court press quintuple team!

[Goldstar88]

Also, will they need to shift Campbell to guard? Sign a starting LT in free agency.

[Csfan1984]

OL needs a complete overhaul. We knew this before the playoffs.

Wrs, LBs and kickers need upgrading. Feel they are below average units.

DL needs better edge rushers. One sack on Sam Darnold is crazy.

Maye and the secondary are the only things I'm sold on.

[Goldstar88]

OL needs a complete overhaul. We knew this before the playoffs.

Wrs, LBs and kickers need upgrading. Feel they are below average units.

DL needs better edge rushers. One sack on Sam Darnold is crazy.

Maye and the secondary are the only things I'm sold on.

You?re sold on Maye even though he didn?t have any good games in the playoffs? He was solid in the regular season, but the competition wasn?t great. Next year will be telling, IMO.

[Amonkey]

OL needs a complete overhaul. We knew this before the playoffs.

Wrs, LBs and kickers need upgrading. Feel they are below average units.

DL needs better edge rushers. One sack on Sam Darnold is crazy.

Maye and the secondary are the only things I'm sold on.

You?re sold on Maye even though he didn?t have any good games in the playoffs? He was solid in the regular season, but the competition wasn?t great. Next year will be telling, IMO.

I am definitely sold on Maye in the sense that it's really hard to find an even below mediocre QB. Look at teams like Jets, Browns, Titans who keeps going through QBs to find one that works. Maye is accurate, smart, athletic and tends to keep his composure (although he did look rattled yesterday). His deficiencies can be masqueraded with more experience and more protection.

[Neurotic Guy]

OL needs a complete overhaul. We knew this before the playoffs.

Wrs, LBs and kickers need upgrading. Feel they are below average units.

DL needs better edge rushers. One sack on Sam Darnold is crazy.

Maye and the secondary are the only things I'm sold on.

You?re sold on Maye even though he didn?t have any good games in the playoffs? He was solid in the regular season, but the competition wasn?t great. Next year will be telling, IMO.

While the quality of teams in the NFL varies, the saying "any given Sunday" is used because every NFL team has a chance to win every Sunday.  Drake Maye played against NFL teams with NFL athletes all season and won 17 out of 21 times. 

The defenses he faced in the playoffs were consistently strong and his offensive line was bad.  That's a disastrous combination. Nonetheless the team won 3 playoff games.  Yes, his performance was not on par with the regular season, but he did what he needed to do to make it to a Super Bowl in his second season.  I think it's more likely he learns from this experience and gets better for it than he was traumatized and will be developmentally stuck.  And since none of us knows for sure what will happen, I guess I just prefer to think he'll be good moving forward than he'll be bad.

I am MUCH more sold on the idea that Maye is at the start, barring injury, of a very successful career than I am sold on the idea that he will forever wilt under pressure.  Show me the other second year QBs in the league today who have won 3 playoff games.  And how many have been to the Super Bowl? Just having had this experience puts him ahead of other young, talented QBs in the league.

I am WAY more concerned about building an offensive line that can protect and run block.  Do that, add a top flight receiver, and I think Pats will be in the mix for SB61.   And Drake will continue to develop, which is the grace afforded every other 23 year old QB.   

[Goldstar88]

OL needs a complete overhaul. We knew this before the playoffs.

Wrs, LBs and kickers need upgrading. Feel they are below average units.

DL needs better edge rushers. One sack on Sam Darnold is crazy.

Maye and the secondary are the only things I'm sold on.

You?re sold on Maye even though he didn?t have any good games in the playoffs? He was solid in the regular season, but the competition wasn?t great. Next year will be telling, IMO.

While the quality of teams in the NFL varies, the saying "any given Sunday" is used because every NFL team has a chance to win every Sunday.  Drake Maye played against NFL teams with NFL athletes all season and won 17 out of 21 times. 

The defenses he faced in the playoffs were consistently strong and his offensive line was bad.  That's a disastrous combination. Nonetheless the team won 3 playoff games.  Yes, his performance was not on par with the regular season, but he did what he needed to do to make it to a Super Bowl in his second season.  I think it's more likely he learns from this experience and gets better for it than he was traumatized and will be developmentally stuck.  And since none of us knows for sure what will happen, I guess I just prefer to think he'll be good moving forward than he'll be bad.

I am MUCH more sold on the idea that Maye is at the start, barring injury, of a very successful career than I am sold on the idea that he will forever wilt under pressure.  Show me the other second year QBs in the league today who have won 3 playoff games.  And how many have been to the Super Bowl? Just having had this experience puts him ahead of other young, talented QBs in the league.

I am WAY more concerned about building an offensive line that can protect and run block.  Do that, add a top flight receiver, and I think Pats will be in the mix for SB61.   And Drake will continue to develop, which is the grace afforded every other 23 year old QB.

Drake didn?t win the playoff games, though. The defense and run game did. Darnold isn?t a great QB, but he won that game against the Rams. 3 TDs/356 yards. Drake had zero good games in the postseason. Hopefully he can learn from this and perform better in the postseason. We shall see..

[byennie]

One of the knocks on Maye coming into the draft was his lack of high level experience - just 30 games in college at UNC. He could have been playing in the Senior Bowl this year, or if he was like some other recent prospects, in the 2028 draft.

[Csfan1984]

OL needs a complete overhaul. We knew this before the playoffs.

Wrs, LBs and kickers need upgrading. Feel they are below average units.

DL needs better edge rushers. One sack on Sam Darnold is crazy.

Maye and the secondary are the only things I'm sold on.

You?re sold on Maye even though he didn?t have any good games in the playoffs? He was solid in the regular season, but the competition wasn?t great. Next year will be telling, IMO.

The OL issues was a biggest problem. Add in a receiving group that can't get open consistently and it's another year of high sacks and more turnovers. I can't put all that on Maye when we know the problems exist. If Tom Brady struggled when his OL couldn't block or receiving group was bad how is Maye going to win/perform?