It was the official start of a new era of Patriots football on Sunday.
Mike Vrabel, already a member of the Patriots Hall of Fame for his days winning Super Bowls at linebacker in the early 2000s, had the headset on for his first regular season game as New England’s head coach.
Drake Maye, a Pro Bowl quarterback from a season ago after only appearing in 13 games as a rookie, hit the field as an opening day starter for the first time in his young career.
Josh McDaniels, a six-time Super Bowl champion as a Patriots assistant, was back for his third stint as offensive coordinator after a year away from the game post-firing in Las Vegas.
No more Jeord Mayo. No more Jacoby Brissett. No more Alex Van Pelt. No more excuses.
Despite an air of change in rainy Foxborough on Sunday, it was yet another loss in a home opener for the Patriots, dropping their fifth straight Gillette debut. This time, it was at the hands of former Patriots head coach Pete Carroll, with his Raiders coming away with a 20-13 victory.
As always, there was some good, and there was some bad.
Here’s your first Ups & Downs column of the 2025 regular season:
Ups:
- Milton Williams: The first sack of the game may have gone to Harold Landry III, but Milton Williams should be handed a hockey assist for that one.
The high-priced defensive tackle completely blew up Raiders center Jackson Powers-Johnson, forcing quarterback Geno Smith off his spot and right into the rushing Landry.
One possession later, and Williams was once again helping set up another teammate for a sack.
With defensive coordinator Terrell Williams sending six on a blitz package, Williams blew up Raiders guard Dylan Parham. Smith tried to step up into whatever semblance of a pocket he had left, and was met by an untouched Jaylinn Hawkins for a 5-yard sack to force a punt on 4th and 13.
For a front seven who struggled mightily with both defending the run and rushing the passer in 2024, New England needs Williams to be a difference maker in the middle of the defense.
One week in, the defending Super Bowl champion looks like money well spent.
- Harold Landry III: The veteran pass rusher was everywhere on Sunday, accounting for 2.5 sacks and 4 QB hits in his Patriots debut.
The eighth-year man out of Boston College is a former Pro Bowl selection with the Titans, and came to New England this offseason with little fanfare. With the likes of Stefon Diggs, Carlton Davis, Robert Spillane and Williams stealing the bulk of the free agent spotlight, Landry’s edition to this defense came in surprisingly under the radar given his connection to Boston’s lone Division I football program.
Regardless of the hype or lack thereof, Landry’s impact was felt in a big way. With Williams looking like someone who can blow up the pocket with consistency, Landry profiles as someone who can take advantage of leery quarterbacks being put on a platter for edge rushers to feast on.
- Carlton Davis III: This offseason, the Patriots paid Davis like someone who was going to be a massive part of their plan on defense, signing the 28-year-old to a three-year deal worth $60 million.
And with All-Pro cornerback Christian Gonzalez out for Week 1 as he continues recovering from a hamstring strain suffered on July 28, Davis had an early opportunity to prove he was worth the big payday.
Two pass breakups on Sunday, including one that led to an interception by Jaylinn Hawkins, gave us a glimpse into the player Davis can be for the Patriots this season.
Once Gonzalez is back in the lineup, this tandem has a chance to be among the best in the league.
- Kayshon Boutte: While Maye and Hunter Henry’s connection last season seemed consistent throughout, Maye and Boutte’s was like a roller coaster.
Boutte was the recipient of Maye’s first career touchdown pass in Week 6 against the Texans - a 40-yard bomb up the right sideline before the end of the first half that had Patriots fans wondering if the second-year receiver was about to have a breakout season under the new QB.
But then the year went along, and Boutte’s target share ebbed and flowed, with the LSU-product even saying at one point he felt like he had to demand the ball to start getting more involved in the offense.
It was dicey there for a second, but Boutte eventually settled in as one of the offense’s most reliable weapons finishing 2024 with 43 catches for 589 yards and 3 touchdowns.
And to open the 2025 season, it looks like Maye and Boutte’s chemistry is at an all-time high:
6 catches on 8 targets for 103 receiving yards, averaging 17.2 yards per reception.
For a guy who ended up becoming the trendy pick during training camp to become New England’s No. 2 receiver, it looks like Boutte could be in play for the top spot this season.
- Tight Ends: Maye has made mention numerous times how much he enjoys playing football with 10-year veteran Hunter Henry. And in the limited success the offense was able to have last season, the Maye-Henry connection was always a big part of it.
It looks like the two picked up right where they left off on Sunday, as Henry was one of Maye’s go-to pass catchers to open the ballgame.
On the Patriots’ lone touchdown drive of the first half, Henry made the play of the drive, hauling in a 27-yard catch up the right sideline on a wheel route to set the Patriots up with a 1st and 10 from the Raiders 46 yard line. After two short runs and a sack, this was the exact jolt the offense needed.
One possession later, Maye found Henry again for a big time play. This time, it was a 19-yard catch towards the left sideline as Henry fell on his back while the ball landed perfectly in the bucket. It was the type of catch you see in Madden and think, “Was that a glitch?”
It was sick.
Henry finished the day with 4 catches for 66 yards on 8 targets.
Their connection remains strong. And we all know how important the QB-TE relationship is in the McDaniels offense.
And while we’re at it, let’s include veteran tight end Austin Hooper in this listing as well. A nice 10-yard catch for him in the first quarter set the Patriots up at the 5 yard line. Three players later, DeMario Douglas came down with New England’s first touchdown of the day.
Some Ups, Some Downs:
Jaylinn Hawkins: With Jabrill Peppers being handed his walking papers and Kyle Dugger’s much-discussed demotion, the spotlight on the sixth-year safety for Sunday was obvious. Hawkins, along with rookie Craig Woodson, were handed the back end of the defense.
And while no one on the defense looked good on the opening drive of the game, Hawkins was the man getting beat deep down the middle by Raiders speedster Tre Tucker, hauling in a 26-yard pass from Smith to give Vegas the first points of the game. An extra point later, and the Raiders were up 7-0 less than two minutes into the ballgame.
On the Raiders next offensive possession, we saw the Jekyll & Hyde of Hawkins' game on full display.
On 2nd and 15 from the Vegas 13, Smith found former Patriot Jakobi Meyers for a short pass to his left. The veteran receiver turned what should have been a short pickup into a 24-yard gain, as Hawkins fell down as Meyers made his move up field.
Three plays later from the Patriots 40, Hawkins was the beneficiary of a deflection by Davis. Smith’s pass up the sidelines got tipped in the air, and Hawkins came down with the first turnover of the day. With Davis getting a healthy amount of partial credit, Hawkins gets himself out of the “Downs” category by being in the right place at the right time.
One possession later, Hawkins was yet again benefiting from the play of his teammate, with Williams blowing up the middle of the pocket on a six-man rush allowing the defensive back to sack Smith after going untouched on a safety blitz.
With what the Patriots have planned for Hawkins this season, the early game struggles can’t happen if this team wants to make a push for the postseason in Vrabel’s first year.
- DeMario Douglas: With how important slot receivers have been historically with McDaniels as OC, Douglas is someone many believe will be a huge part of the Patriots offense this year. And early into the 2025 season, that appears to be an emphasis yet again.
In the first quarter alone, Douglas was targeted four times by Maye, yet the third-year wideout only came down with one grab. Two of those targets were balls the 5-foot-8 receiver should have had, especially when the offense was having trouble clicking early on. One of those targets was a ball at the back of the end zone where Maye was just wide of Douglas for a touchdown. And the fourth target was a touchdown, with Maye finding Douglas in the corner of the end zone for six. An extra point later, and the game was tied at 7-7.
Outside of his obvious chemistry last season with Henry, Maye remained in search of a reliable safety valve player throughout the entirety of his rookie season. Many believe Douglas can and will be that player for the 23-year-old QB in 2025.
One week in, and it feels like Maye certainly wants that to be the case.
With that said, he'll need to do better than 2 catches for -2 yards on 7 targets moving forward.
- Will Campbell: I wasn’t going to have Campbell on here until the Patriots second possession of the fourth quarter.
On 1st and 10 from the New England 44, he got beat by Malcolm Koonce on the left side, leading to a Maye sack-fumble. Campbell fell on the ball to mitigate the mistake, but it was a mistake at a crucial time nonetheless.
Three plays later, the Patriots elected to go for it on 4th and 5 from their own 49 yard line. Down 20-10 late, they had no choice. But before they had a chance, Campbell was called for a false start, pushing the Patriots back to the 39 and forcing them to punt.
I’m not giving Campbell an outright “Downs” designation for this sequence, but I plan to hold the No. 4 overall pick to a higher standard than the rest of the offensive line. They need complete games from him moving forward for this offense to have a chance to round into form.
Downs:
- Drake Maye: Hello, old friend.
Look, he didn’t play particularly poorly on Sunday. But he wasn’t all that great, either.
If you were expecting fireworks from the second-year QB armed with new weapons all around him and a new OC calling plays, you came away disappointed.
On the day, he was 30 of 46 for 287 yards with a touchdown and an interception. And for a player with the ability to make plays with his legs, it was only 11 rushing yards on 4 attempts for the day.
Consecutive offensive possessions in the third quarter have to be worrisome for those who came into this season skeptical of Maye’s ceiling.
With 12:33 to go in the third quarter, Maye tried to force a ball to Stefon Diggs downfield. Diggs wasn’t looking for the ball, and even if he were it was very overthrown. Raiders safety Isaiah Pola-Mao came down with the ball, and five plays later the Raiders were back on top 14-10 after a three-yard touchdown run from Ashton Jeanty.
On the next possession, the Patriots went three-and-out. One of those plays was an overthrow by Maye to Henry in space, and another was a jump ball pass to Boutte at the sticks that was a little too high for his receiver to come down with. Mix in a 1-yard loss by TreVeyon Henderson where Maye targeted the running back despite him having no room to work with, and it was an all-around bad follow-up series to the interception.
The offense completely stagnated in the second half, and I’m more than comfortable putting that on Maye. It goes without saying that this team goes as he goes in 2025.
And in Week 1, the offense looked like a side of the football that needs a lot more time together before it'll be competent enough to carry the team to a victory.
- Pass Coverage: We all know second-year tight end Brock Bowers is All-World. His stellar talent wasn’t going to catch anyone by surprise heading into Sunday.
But a former hallmark of the Patriots was taking away the thing you did best, and making the other guys beat you.
That didn’t happen on Sunday, as the stud from Georgia was open all day in the middle of the field, coming down with 5 catches for 103 yards on 8 targets before being listed as questionable with a knee injury at the top of the fourth quarter.
With Dugger’s demotion and Peppers no longer an employee, Bowers’ day on Sunday can and will immediately be attributed to a new-look secondary that was also missing their best cornerback.
The linebackers weren’t great in coverage, either, as tight ends and slot receivers helped Smith throw his way to 362 yards and a touchdown on 34 pass attempts.
Speaking of slot receivers - that Meyers guy for Vegas is still pretty good. He came down with 8 grabs for 97 yards on 10 targets for the day.
- Andres Borregales: If a team uses draft capital on you as a kicker, you have to hit 40 yarders in light rain.
And when you make the team over an undrafted journeyman kicker that arguably has a better preseason than you do, you really have to hit 40 yarders in light rain.
Borregales fits both of those criteria.
The Miami-product missed a 40-yard field goal in the rain with 9:10 remaining in the second quarter to open his NFL career.
If you’re having Chad Ryland PTSD, don’t worry. You’re not alone.
Special teams coordinator Jeremy Springer should have a short leash on Borregales, regardless of where he was drafted. Parker Romo remains unsigned, and I’m sure he’s more than ready for his chance to hit 40 yarders in light rain at Gillette.
- Bryce Baringer: For a punter who started out last season as one of the team’s best players, his precipitous fall that started in the middle of 2024 was on display in Week 1, with a 21-yard fourth quarter punt as the icing on the cake of a bad performance.
Perfectly normal snap, perfectly normal pressure, 21-yard punt.
Can’t happen.
Of Baringer's six punts on Sunday, only two landed inside the 20. He averaged only 40.7 yards per punt - around 7 to 9 yards below what would be considered above average for today's NFL.
If the Patriots offense is going to continue struggling in the early part of this season, Baringer is going to have to get back to his 2023 All-Rookie Team form ASAP.
Otherwise, he may be looking elsewhere for work.
Up next for New England is a road game at Hard Rock Stadium against the Dolphins, a team the Patriots have not beaten since Week 17 of the 2022 season.
As of publishing, FanDuel has the Patriots as a 2.5-point road dog. You can get them on the moneyline at +128. The total is listed at 45.5.
Tune in each and every Monday throughout the football season to Patriots Monday on WEEI. Head coach Mike Vrabel joins The Greg Hill Show at 6:30 a.m. ET, and quarterback Drake Maye joins WEEI Afternoons.