Sure, 3-1 would’ve been nice — especially after fumbling away two winnable games at home (quite literally in Week 3 against Pittsburgh).
But coming into the season, a 2-2 record heading into October felt perfectly reasonable. In fact, this is the first time the Patriots have finished the opening month at .500 since the Cam Newton-led squad did it back in 2020.
The sloppiness and growing pains were always expected. This is a team with 27 new faces on the roster — the second-most turnover in the league, behind only Tennessee and Miami (28 each). Of course it wasn’t going to be a finished product. It’s still very much a work in progress.
What mattered was whether the Patriots could show they’d learned from their mistakes. On Sunday, they did — taking advantage of a Panthers team they were simply better than. And they did it with a convincing 42-12 win.
Here are the Ups & Downs as the Patriots notch their first home victory of the Mike Vrabel era.
Ups
Marcus Jones – It was a slow start for the Patriots, who needed a spark. That spark came in the form of Marcus Jones, fearlessly fielding a punt at the Patriots’ 12-yard line with two unblocked Panthers bearing down on him.
He made one miss, broke a tackle from another, and then sprinted up the Carolina sideline for an 88-yard touchdown return. From there, the rout was on.
The Patriots would go on to score on their next three possessions, piling up a total of 42 unanswered points.
“He’s a playmaker. Everybody knows he’s a playmaker,” said Christian Gonzalez. “Once he took that first one back, it felt like it took all that energy from Carolina away and just turned everybody up.”
Jones wasn’t done. In the second quarter, he ripped off a 61-yard return to the Carolina 14, setting up an Antonio Gibson 1-yard touchdown run just four plays later.
The 26-year-old’s touchdown was his first since his rookie season in 2022. He finished the day with 167 yards on three returns — more than Panthers quarterback Bryce Young managed through the air (150).
“I think a lot of that was just his own individual will, skill, and effort. Again, that has to be a weapon. It was something that we felt like could be through this season and getting ready for this year,” Vrabel said. “He’s not the biggest player, but he’s got great play strength, I think, with the football in his hand. He’s got great vision, and, again, you have to be fearless at some level to catch that punt and know that you’re going to make the first guy miss. We’re confident in that. I think he kind of just -- it’s just a natural skill. It’s hard to teach. It’s hard to teach with all those bodies in traffic and catching it first and making great decisions with it back there. It’s a lot of comfort with him back there, and we need to continue to make it a weapon.”
Jones joined Gunner Olszewski as the only Patriots since the 1970 AFL/NFL merger with multiple 60-yard punt returns in a single game. He also passed Mike Haynes (156) for the most punt return yards in a single game in franchise history.
“It’s a blessing. They told me about that after the game,” Jones said with a smile when asked about setting the record. “That’s crazy.
Stefon Diggs – Sunday was Diggs’ best game as a Patriot. The veteran wideout hauled in six receptions for 101 yards — both game highs — including a season-long 33-yarder on a crossing route, one of his two grabs of 30+ yards.
“He looked a little faster than I thought,” Drake Maye said postgame. “I think he’s just going to keep getting more comfortable. Shoot, he’s a great player with the ball in his hands. He’s a great leader on this team. He’s great with the energy, being positive, and glad he’s a Patriot.
It was Diggs’ 37th career 100-yard game, and his first in a Patriots uniform. It was also his first in 24 straight games (including the playoffs), and the most receiving yards he’s had in a game since October 8, 2023. For the Patriots, it marked just the eighth 100-yard receiving game by a wideout since 2020.
“I knew that I could do it. I was confident,” Diggs said. “But when things like this turn the corner. When you work extremely hard and you’re consistent and you don’t waver, and the tide turns just like this, this is why you’re consistent. This is why you don’t waver. This is why you don’t flinch.”
Diggs came into the afternoon with just 13 catches for 112 yards through three games, but he’s steadily improved each week. And if this is the version of Diggs the Patriots are going to get moving forward, it could do wonders for Maye and the offense.
Drake Maye – Maye grew up a Panthers fan. He went to high school about 15 minutes from Bank of America Stadium, and against his hometown team, he was dominant.
Maye, who entered the afternoon top five in passing yards, completions, and completion percentage, finished 14-of-17 (82.4%) for 203 yards and two touchdowns. He also added three carries for 11 yards and a score, breaking out Cam Newton’s patented Superman celebration after finding the end zone.
Most importantly, the second-year quarterback protected the football. It was just the third time in his career that he’s had a turnover-free game while attempting at least 10 passes.
“He had a hell of a day,” Diggs said after the game. “He’s a good quarterback. He’s starting to come along, as you can see. He looks sharp out there.”
Maye had as many incompletions as he did total touchdowns. He also became the first Patriots quarterback since Tom Brady in 2007 to post three straight games with a 75%+ completion rate, 200+ passing yards, and 2+ passing touchdowns.
“Just throw to the guy that’s open and end the progression as soon as he’s open. If not, quickly progress through. Those are the things that quarterbacks have to do, and they have to have a command of it, and we did that,” Vrabel said on Maye. “I think the read zone clearly is a big factor. Our ability to convert those chances into touchdowns was important. I saw a lot of extra effort, guys blocking downfield, springing guys. Again, I like when everybody’s involved and the quarterback just throws to the guy that’s open every play, no matter who it is.”
The offensive line – The Patriots dominated the line of scrimmage. Drake Maye was sacked just once — for no loss— and hit only one other time. He had time to throw all afternoon, while the run game clicked behind him. The trio of Rhamondre Stevenson (nine carries, 38 yards), TreVeyon Henderson (seven carries, 32 yards), and Antonio Gibson (six carries, 27 yards) combined for 97 yards, each averaging over 4.2 yards per carry.
“They played the role,” Maye said on line’s involvement in his comfortabilty. “They start every play. I think those five guys are playing their tails off, playing their butts off in the run game, in the passing game, learning the protection system, learning third down, different looks. Garrett [Bradbury] is communicating with me basically on the front, getting into different plays. Can’t be more proud of those guys up front, and they continue to do it each and every week.”
That was one of the cleanest games from the Patriots’ offensive line in a long time.
The response from the defense – For the second straight week, the defense settled in after a slow start. The Panthers marched 76 yards in seven plays for a touchdown on their opening drive, but after that, the Patriots shut them down. Carolina punted or turned it over on downs on seven of their next eight possessions, managing just 154 total yards and 10 first downs.
“Just settled down a little bit. They did a nice job early on moving guys around,” Vrabel said after the game. “We have to continue to disguise better and tackle better and all those things. I guess, if that’s the tradeoff for playing great defense the rest of the way, then we’ll have to go through those growing pains early in the game. I don’t anticipate that we should. It was good to see us respond, and we’ve done that. I’m proud of our guys for not going in the tank or complaining or pointing a finger or anything like that.
The improvements- After turning the ball over five (!) times against Pittsburgh last week, marking their first five-turnover game since November 30, 2008, the Patriots didn’t commit any turnovers. The Patriots are 2-0 this season when they don’t turn the ball over.
“When we don’t beat ourselves and we take care of the football and we play complementary football and we get stops on third down, the return, the special teams are a factor, and we score touchdowns in the red zone, it can look like something,” Vrabel said. “Again, that’s not guaranteed every week, but certainly we can see the difference in how critical those phases are and putting them all together.
Downs
Slow starts - I alluded to it earlier. Four weeks, three touchdowns allowed on the opening drive. All three have come at home. The Panthers went 76 yards on seven plays for an opening-drive touchdown. Carolina was aided by missed tackles and a defensive pass interference penalty on Carlton Davis. To their credit, the Patriots rebounded, but this has been a troubling trend, and won’t fly against better teams.
That’s it for the downs. When you win by 29 and put up your highest point total since 2021, a lot has to go right—even against a bad team like Carolina. This was a beatdown reminiscent of the old days, and it was another sign that the Patriots are on the right track.
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