For a team sitting with 13 wins coming into Week 18, there was a decent amount on the line for the Patriots (14-3):
- A potential No. 1 seed in the AFC
- A potential MVP Award for their second-year quarterback
- A sweep of the Dolphins (7-10) for the first time since 2016
- A second consecutive season closing out their regular season with a win at home (remember Joe Milton?)
Two of those four things came to fruition with Sunday’s 38-10 win at Gillette Stadium for New England, as we’ll have to wait until three days before Super Bowl LX before knowing whether or not Drake Maye is coming home with his first career MVP at age 23. And as far as seeding goes, the Broncos (14-3) taking care of business against the Justin Herbert-less Chargers (11-6) clinches the top seed for Denver, locking New England into the No. 2 position in the conference.
Postseason football is back at 1 Patriot Place. All is right in the football world.
But before we dive into next weekend’s matchup, let’s take a second to reflect on the final game of a regular season no one in this region will soon forget.
Here’s your final Ups & Downs of the regular season:
Ups:
- Rhamondre Stevenson: This guy has been on an absolute tear of late, and that continued again on Sunday at Gillette Stadium.
After a hard-fought 9-yard carry to open the ballgame, Stevenson hit a massive hole on the right side of the line of scrimmage and took it 56 yards, all the way down to the Dolphins 5 yard line with 13:18 left in the first quarter.
It was sick.
One play later, TreVeyon Henderson hit another massive hole by the offensive line for a 5-yard touchdown run to help give the Patriots an early 7-0 lead. Let’s give Stevenson a hockey assist for that TD on the unofficial boxscore.
Three plays, 70 yards and a touchdown with only 1:56 coming off the clock. Too easy.
On their next offensive possession, Stevenson was rewarded for the hard work he put in earlier in the game. We’ll get into that more later in “Ups.”
Fast forward to the Patriots’ first possession of the second half, and Stevenson’s impact was felt yet again.
After looking like he was taken down for a short gain on 3rd and 1 from the Dolphins 42, Stevenson broke free from contact for a gain of 20 yards. Three plays later, he was catching a perfectly-placed 15-yard pass from Maye towards the right corner of the end zone on a wheel route to help put New England up 24-10.
The third quarter for Stevenson ended up being one he’ll never forget, as he ripped off a 35-yard YAC-filled touchdown run to help give the Patriots a 31-10 lead with 2:18 remaining in the frame.
Stevenson ended the day with 7 carries, 2 catches, 131 rushing yards, 22 receiving yards and 3 total touchdowns.
Outside of Drake Maye, he’s been the Patriots’ best offensive player down this home stretch.
- Milton Williams: While Miami was able to move the ball on their opening possession, we got a glimpse into what New England’s defense has been missing on a 2nd and 2 from the Patriots 9 yard line.
The Dolphins attempted a toss outside to running back Jaylen Wright, and he was met by 6-foot-3, 290 pound Milton Williams, who was far too quick for Wright to beat outside. The defending Super Bowl champion defensive lineman came away with a beautiful open-field tackle for a loss of 6, and the Dolphins were saddled with a 3rd and 8 from the New England 15.
Two plays later, it was a turnover on downs.
Williams has been out of the lineup since suffering a high ankle sprain in Week 11, sending him to the IR and automatically knocking him out of the next four games. And while Williams was activated ahead of Week 17, he was ultimately ruled out as he continued his rehab.
In those five games, New England’s rush defense struggled mightily. They continued winning in spite of these struggles, but it was clear that the Patriots’ defense needs a healthy Williams to be a real threat in the postseason.
The big man was moving great on Sunday, and fans should look forward to seeing No. 97 in the middle of that defense throughout the month of January.
He ended the day with just 2 tackles, but his presence was felt all evening. Marcus Jones also owes him a drink for his sack in the third quarter.
- Josh McDaniels: On the team’s second offensive possession, the Patriots were handed the ball on their own 8 yard line.
4:55 and 92 yards later, the Patriots were on their way to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter.
I give McDaniels the “Up” for this drive because it included two different plays that showed the six-time Super Bowl champion was in his bag for Week 18:
1. A perfectly executed flea flicker, resulting in a 35-yard reception for Efton Chism III from Maye:
2. Shades of the 2008 Dolphins, as Rhamondre Stevenson took a direct snap into the end zone from two yards out. Somewhere out there, Ronnie Brown was smiling as the “wildcat offense” saw the light of day in 2025:
Is this McDaniels getting “too cute,” as Mike Vrabel might say on tomorrow’s Greg Hill Show? Certainly possible. And there’s no doubt that McDaniels haters will be lighting up the phone lines on Monday to rip him for that outside run for Henderson on 4th and 1 from their own 40. From my view, that was more of a lack of execution by Thayer Mumford than it was a bad call by the offensive coordinator.
With that said, Patriots fans should be thrilled with how well this offense is clicking right now.
- Corey Durden: Didn’t have two interior defensive linemen making the “Ups” section in today’s column, but here we are.
The journeyman D-tackle out of NC State had two massive run stuffs in the first half, including one that forced a punt on the Dolphins third possession.
With Khyiris Tonga’s injury issues of late along with uncertainty surrounding Christian Barmore’s status moving forward, this unit’s depth will continue to be a massive storyline for New England as they attempt to make a deep playoff push.
He ended the day with 3 total tackles.
Tip Of The Cap:
- Stefon Diggs: For the seventh time in his career, the former Pro Bowl receiver went over 1,000 receiving yards for the season.
He’s the first Patriot to break that number Julian Edelman in 2019.
Outside of the 34-yard catch that clinched this benchmark for Diggs, a relatively quiet day for the 32-year-old: 3 catches for 43 yards.
His availability and productivity for this team throughout January will be paramount to their success.
- TreVeyon Henderson: With his pair of touchdowns on the day, Henderson finishes his rookie campaign with 10 trips to the end zone - good for third-most in franchise history for a rookie.
That ties him with some guy named Rob Gronkowski.
He turned out to have a pretty decent career.
Bright future ahead for the Ohio State-product.
Some Ups, Some Downs:
- Special Teams: With a chance at a 38-yard field goal on 4th and 6 from the Dolphins 20, the blocking in front of Andy Borregales allowed Zach Sieler to break free for a clean field goal block.
The Dolphins picked the ball up and returned it all the way to the Patriots 40 yard line.
Sieler was able to sneak through a gap between 2024 “Downs” mainstay Vederian Lowe and Brenden Jaimes, and four plays later the Dolphins made it a 14-10 game after a successful 52-yard field goal try by Riley Patterson.
It was sloppy, and it led to points. But the inclusion of the entire special teams unit in this special section is more about pointing out a disturbing trend for this phase of the game coached by ST coordinator Jeremy Springer over the last month or so.
Whether it’s on kickoff return or now field goal protection, there’s been a play or two consistently popping up as problematic as the regular season winds down. When the margin gets thinner and thinner come playoff time, these are the types of plays that end up costing you wins.
Why didn’t the whole unit land completely in “Downs,” you ask?
That’s because rookie kicker Andy Borregales nailed a career-long 59-yard field goal with three seconds remaining in the first half to give the Patriots a 17-10 lead.
In any other situation, that would’ve gotten the Miami-product his own shoutout in “Ups.” But with how alarming their unit’s down-tick in play has been in recent weeks, it was time to sound the alarm to some degree heading into Wild Card Weekend.
- Drake Maye: With one last chance to bolster his MVP campaign, Maye did not have a game for the resume tape.
He wasn’t particularly prolific in the passing game (14/18 for 191 passing yards and 1 touchdown), and he didn’t do a whole lot with his legs, either (5 rushes for 41 yards).
It was pretty ho-hum, and that’s all it needed to be for the North Carolina product to come away with the win.
But with fans wanting to see the second player in franchise history to win an MVP Award in a few weeks at NFL Honors in San Francisco, he didn’t do anything to help or hurt his case.
A big ol’ shoulder shrug of a performance.
Downs:
- Slow-Starting Defense: Hello, old friend.
On Miami’s first two possessions, the Dolphins methodically moved the ball down the field, deep into enemy territory.
On their first possession, it was 12 plays and 57 yards across 7:24 that ended with a fourth down stop by New England to turn the ball over on downs on their own 8 yard line.
On their second possession, it was 10 plays and 65 yards across 5:41 that ended with a 2-yard touchdown pass from Quinn Ewers to a wide open Malik Washington to make it a 14-7 ballgame.
That type of effort against a bad Miami team with nothing to play for is a really bad look for a team that’s battled schedule-clutching doubters all season long.
New England needs a cleaner effort the rest of January from this unit to have a real chance of going deep.
- Carlton Davis III: He’s been an up-and-down player all season long, but Davis ends the 2025 regular season on the “Downs” list.
Exposed at multiple moments during Miami’s two long opening possessions, Davis looked especially bad on the Dolphins’ first play of the second half, where he was called for a 27-yard defensive pass interference penalty that set Miami up with a 1st and 10 from New England’s 38 yard line.
Seven plays later, fellow secondary mate Jaylinn Hawkins ended up coming down with his fourth interception of the season in the end zone, washing away Davis’ mistake.
But just like today’s entry for Special Teams - Davis’ inclusion in “Downs” is much more about highlighting his need to improve come playoffs next week.
He’s one of the few players on this roster that has a Super Bowl ring, and he needs to start playing like it.
- Injury to Monitor: One big one for New England was K’Lavon Chaisson going down with 12:33 remaining in the third quarter.
After laying on his back for more than a moment, he walked across the field on his own strength to the Patriots' sidelines directly into the blue medical tent.
He ended up re-entering the game soon thereafter (recording a sack that forced a punt in the fourth quarter), but Patriots fans need to keep an eye on this moving forward.
The 26-year-old has been the Patriots’ best pass rusher all season long. If he has to miss any time or is limited in any way this postseason, it would be a devastating blow for a front seven that’s already dealing with a banged up Harold Landry on the edge.
With both the Patriots and Broncos winning (14-3) on Sunday, New England clinches the No. 2 seed in the AFC. That means they’ll host the Chargers, sitting at the No. 7 seed in the conference after losing to Denver 19-3 on Sunday.
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.
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