In case you live under a rock or don’t follow every single Patriots beat reporter on Twitter like I do:
The Patriots (4-2) are currently in first place in the AFC East.
After leaving Buffalo in Week 5 with a 23-20 upset win of the Bills (4-2), New England held the early-season tiebreaker over their division rivals if the two were to be tied within the standings.
And just one week later, with the Patriots taking care of business down in New Orleans and the Bills being upset on Monday Night Football down in Atlanta, that tiebreaker came in handy.
With the Bills heading into a bye week and the Patriots with the Titans (1-5) on tap, New England will look to extend its division lead in Week 7 as they take on one of the worst teams in the NFL (they fired their Mike Vrabel-replacement on Monday just six games into his second season).
Patriots fans are riding high right now. And rightfully so - it’s mostly been a dumpster fire on the football field since Tom Brady left for Tampa Bay in March of 2020.
Instead of worrying about bad Bill Belichick drafts or Jerod Mayo’s ineptitude on the sidelines, Patriots fans are looking ahead at the league’s easiest schedule since 1978, wondering if their MVP-candidate quarterback can bring their beloved franchise back to the promised land in a wide-open AFC.
They’ve got the guy in Drake Maye. They’ve got the leader in Vrabel. It’s time for football at 1 Patriot Place to be fun again.
…and then there’s the run game.
Despite the Patriots sporting the league’s sixth-best passing offense after Sunday’s 25-19 win at the Superdome, their total offense only ranks 16th league-wide. That’s because at only 91.5 rushing yards per game, New England’s rushing offense ranks 26th in the NFL. And if you take away Maye’s 138 rushing yards on 36 attempts, that number drops even further.
The running backs haven’t been able to get anything going:
- Rhamondre Stevenson’s 4 lost fumbles this season has the veteran ball carrier in his own head
- Rookie TreVeyon Henderson has been unable to find his footing at the pro level after bursting on the scene in the preseason
- Antonio Gibson was averaging over 4 yards a carry before tearing his ACL against Buffalo
Even with how good Maye has been this season (currently holding the fifth-best odds to win MVP, per OddsTrader), the Patriots’ ceiling for success in 2025 will remain limited if they can’t get that run game going. For the first time in years, the offensive line doesn’t appear to be the issue. The holes are there, they just need to get on their horse and go.
The oft-forgotten NFL trade deadline is on November 4, and New England is in a prime position to add a piece midseason that could help bolster this part of their game, a la Christian McCaffery’s trade from the Panthers to the 49ers in 2023 that helped carry San Francisco to a deep playoff run.
When ESPN’s Adam Schefter joined WEEI Afternoons on Tuesday for his weekly visit with the show, he was asked about a potential trade target for New England that Pats fans have been clamoring for since Vrabel was hired back in January.
“About a month ago, I threw something out there, sort of tongue-in-cheek, that the Patriots should make a run at Derrick Henry,” said WEEI’s Andy Hart. “They had a ‘fumbling back’ here, there was a ‘fumbling back’ in Baltimore, maybe you could make a run at him as their season went in the wrong direction.
“Today, I go on social media, and Bill Simmons is bringing up this idea to the national audience, noted Patriots fan. Is there any chance the Patriots could make a run at Derrick Henry?”
“No, it's not going to happen,” said Schefter. “I can tell you - I spoke to people in Baltimore. They're getting ready to make what they believe is a second half run. Now, my guess is if Baltimore comes back from the break and loses two games back-to-back and falls to, at that point in time, 1-7, then that last week, maybe all bets are off, I guess.
“But I can tell you today that the Ravens are not thinking anything like that. They're thinking, ‘Look at our schedule, look at our talent, we're going to make a run here. We're not done.’ And a team that is thinking that way is not in the mindset of trading Derrick Henry.
“Now, again - like I said, things shift in the league. I understand the idea. Cute idea. I'm just telling you that Baltimore is not thinking that at all today. Could that change? Things change in the league all the time, but they're not thinking that way today. They think they're going to make a push in the second half and get back into their divisional race, and we'll see if they're right.”
Before arriving in Baltimore as a free agent ahead of last season, he spent the first eight years of his career as the bell cow-back for Tennessee. For six of those eight years, Henry was coached by Vrabel, where he helped the 6-foot-3, 252-pound future Hall of Fame running back unlock his game as one of the league’s best players. The exclamation point on their partnership was Henry’s 2,027 rushing yard season in 2020 - the first the league had seen since Adrian Peterson in 2012.
Help at running back or not, the Patriots are currently a 7-point road favorite this week at FanDuel against Henry and Vrabel’s former team. You can get them on the moneyline at -355, and the total is sitting at 41.5 as of publishing.
(don’t lose to the Titans, guys)
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.