Stringing wins together has not been the New England Patriots’ forte over the last few seasons, but the 2025 version of the team has managed to do just that. Sunday’s 25-19 victory over the Saints in New Orleans was their third in a row, a feat not seen around these parts of the country since 2022.
As with every game, there is plenty to be learned. Here are our 10 takeaways from this week’s contest.
Drake Maye is showing flashes of Tom Brady
Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down there, buddy!
Granted, comparing anybody to the greatest quarterback of all
time, especially a second-year quarterback making his 18th career start, is at best blasphemous and at worst delusional. However, there is no denying that Maye might have done his best Tom Brady impression to date on Sunday.
The Brady-like stat line is one thing — 18-for-26, 261 yards, 3 TDs — but what stood out is that Maye simply took control of the offense and never let go. He made smart decisions with the ball, spread it around well, and executed at a high level despite not having much if any support from the running game. In fact, Maye ended as the team’s leading rusher with 32 non-kneel-down yards.
It did not matter. The 2024 first-round draft pick, just like Brady so often did during his two-decade tenure in New England, kept putting the unit on his back and leading it to another overall successful performance.
“Drake, I think, he trusts all of us,” said wide receiver Kayshon Boutte after the game. “I think that’s the biggest thing in an efficient offense, just the quarterback trusting his receivers to make plays and sometimes when we’re not open and when the coverage is clouded, he makes plays himself too. We trust that he can run with the ball, get the first [down] like he did — he did get a couple firsts in critical situations.”
The run game remains stuck in the mud…
Unless you are the Lamar Jackson-led Baltimore Ravens or the prime-Cam Newton Carolina Panthers, your quarterback ending the game as your leading rusher is never a good sign. On Sunday, it wasn’t. While Drake Maye had some positive moments on scramble drills, the running game itself remained a major issue for the Patriots.
Excluding Maye’s four scrambles and three kneel-downs for a combined 26 yards, New England gained only 47 yards on 24 runs versus the Saints for an abysmal average of under 2.0 yards per carry. The offense operating like that is simply not sustainable.
…but Rhamondre Stevenson shows his value
Looking purely at his numbers, one might say that Rhamondre Stevenson had a disappointing game. He carried the ball 13 times but managed to gain just 18 total yards. However, playing running back, especially in a Josh McDaniels offense, is more than just taking handoffs: pass protection is also a vital part, and Stevenson looked good in that area.
The Patriots’ game-clinching 3rd-and-11 conversion from Drake Maye to Kayshon Boutte is a perfect example. Stevenson aligned as a protector on the snap, and was tasked with a 1-on-1 block against Saints linebacker Isaiah Stalbird. He delivered, holding his own and giving Maye time to complete the pass and ice the game.
Kayshon Boutte is a first down machine
Kayshon Boutte had himself a day in his emotional return to his home state of Louisiana. The third-year wideout, who again led the Patriots in snaps at the position, finished with five catches on five targets for 93 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Maye’s favorite target, Boutte kept the offense running by making some crucial plays — all of which either went for a first down or a score.
Marcus Jones is a prime extension candidate
Ever since earning himself recognition as a team captain, Marcus Jones has been on a heater as both a punt returner and a top-three member of the Patriots’ cornerback rotation. Versus the Saints, he broke up three passes and registered a sack on a 3rd-and-6 in the early fourth quarter to hold New Orleans to a field goal.
“He’s one of our captains. He’s a team leader,” said Mike Vrabel. “Very comfortable with him back there. He’s challenged. He challenges. Most of the time, those matchups are a bigger player, but [he is] able to go up there, contest the catches, get some PBUs, being able to hammer the ball out.”
With Jones in the final year of his rookie contract, he is emerging as a clear priority free agent for the Patriots next year. Given his performance so far in 2025, the cap-rich team getting him locked up early might be smart business.
Christian Elliss has turned the corner
Elevated into a starting role next to Robert Spillane, Christian Elliss had a rough start to his 2025 campaign. However, it seems that he has begun hitting his stride: after already playing solid football against the Buffalo Bills the previous Sunday, he turned into an impact player against the Saints.
Elliss finished the game with six tackles and a pass breakup, another tackle on special teams, and arguably the biggest defensive play of the day: midway through the fourth quarter and with New Orleans having started to build some momentum offensively, he punched the ball out of tight end Juwan Johnson’s arms for a fumble that was recovered by teammate Craig Woodson.
New England failed to take advantage of the turnover and positive field position, but the team still was able to run three minutes off the clock with a six-point lead in hand.
Carlton Davis keeps getting banged up
You wouldn’t necessarily know it looking at his playing time numbers, but starting cornerback Carlton Davis has now been in need of medical assistance in three straight games. He came down hard on a near-interception against Carolina, took a friendly-fire shot against Buffalo, and came down slowly after a run tackle.
In total, he missed just five combined snaps because of those incidents. However, seeing him get banged up like that on a weekly basis is cause for concern.
The officiating crew was in over its head
Sunday was one of the worst officiated games you will ever see. We could go through all the questionable flags, procedural delays and general confusion, but instead let’s just pull up two examples — both against wideout Stefon Diggs — to show just how egregious some of the decisions made by referee Adrian Hill and his crew were:
Both flags eliminated big plays, with the first downright one comical. Officiating expert Cameron Filipe of Football Zebras broke the alleged pass interference against Diggs to take away a 61-yard touchdown to DeMario Douglas as follows:
The announcement from referee Adrian Hill did not come until after both teams went to their benches, and a flag was not seen during the broadcast, even when an ultra-wide replay was shown.
Long story short, this is not offensive pass interference. Diggs was not blocking downfield, attempting to gain separation, or creating a pick for a teammate. In fact, the defender, Saints cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry, initiated the contact. Since the flag came out so late, we don’t know who threw it.
Disappointing to see an erroneous flag take away a touchdown.
The NFL is staunchly against making everything reviewable, but plays like these are a clear argument why a reverse of course might be in order: the product on the field is not getting any better by officials inserting themselves into the game in such a manner.
The Vrabel-Stretch connection is working
The officials having a bad day did have one positive: it allowed us to see the connection between Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel and his right-hand man, vice president of football operations and strategy John “Stretch” Streicher up close. Streicher, who spends game day up in the booth, is in Vrabel’s ear regarding all kinds of matters, including when to throw the challenge flag.
Twice on Sunday, he advised him to do so. Twice, he did. Twice, the Patriots won: the first allowed them to get the ball on the Christian Elliss forced fumble that was initially ruled down by contact, the second allowed them to run out the clock after the 3rd-and-11 completion from Drake Maye to Kayshon Boutte after it was established that he had not stepped out of bounds.
“I don’t think you ever really know nowadays. I really don’t,” Vrabel said after the game. “Stretch does a fantastic job. Just trying to figure it out, how they’re going to see it. Sometimes they see it the way we do, sometimes they don’t. Just trying to be as smart as we possibly can, and we felt like those were plays that could help us.”
Vrabel added that he also could have challenged a third play, a pass ruled incomplete that could have been turned into a forced fumble by Patriots cornerback Charles Woods upon review. Based on the replays shown on the broadcast, New England winning that challenge also seemed likely.
This is a playoff-caliber team
The Patriots won a total of four games in 2023 and 2024. Six games into the 2025 season, they have already matched that number and along the way have shown that they are indeed nothing like those previous two teams: whereas the last two seasons the club was effectively eliminated from playoff contention at this point — they both sat at 1-5 after six contests — this year’s version is very much alive.
That’s not an accident either: the Patriots are looking like a playoff team at this point in time. Sure, there is a long way to go, but that in itself is a massive step up in the first year under Mike Vrabel.
