The New England Patriots are back from their bye week, and we’re back with another edition of the Patriots Mailbag! As the Patriots get ready for a ‘hat and t-shirt game‘ with the Buffalo Bills, some of the focus of the questions are on that, while others are looking further down the road.
Sunday’s game is headlined by the quarterback matchup. The Week 5 meeting between the Patriots and Bills might have been Drake Maye’s breakout onto the national stage, but now he faces the reigning MVP and his most common pre-draft comparison – Josh Allen – as a leading MVP candidate of his own.
That being said, each team has 52 other players that can be a factor in this one as well. Let’s start there for this week’s Mailbag…
Great question Will! One matchup my mind goes right to is the Patriots’ defensive line against the Bills’ offensive line. In that first matchup the Patriots were able to win the line of scrimmage against both the run and pass. Both Christian Barmore and Milton Williams were major problems for the Bills in that game.
This time around, things will look different. The Patriots will be without Williams, who remains on IR with an ankle injury. His athleticism was key in keeping both Allen and running back James Cook contained throughout that game. Buffalo ran for just 4.1 yards per carry in that game, a full yard below their league-leading season average of 5.1 yards per carry.
Since Williams has gone out, the Patriots’ defensive front has missed his athletic dynamic. It’s been particlarly apparent against the run, but against a quarterback like Allen Williams’ skillset plays more as a pass rusher as well.
Who will step up in his absense? Expect the Bills to pay Barmore plenty of attention with their blocking schemes. The potential return of Khyiris Tonga, who returned to practice on Monday after missing last week’s game, looms large.
On the other side of the ball, I’ll be watching Hunter Henry against the Bills’ defense. Henry has become more involved in the Patriots’ offense in recent weeks but Buffalo has done a great job of taking tight ends away this year – they enter the week having allowed the fewest catches (37) and second-fewest yards (441) to opposing tight ends. Can Henry still find ways to win? Or will Maye need to look elsewhere? In the first game against the Bills this year Henry caught two passes for 46 yards.
For one, while the Patriots weren’t trailing in the fourth quarter against Buffalo they did need a late drive to win that game. So they have done it.
Admittadly though, it’s a limited sample size of such moments for the offense. They’ve had some clutch late drives in terms of running out the clock and protecting the lead (ex. Falcons and Buccaneers games), but not much where they’ve had to chase a deficit. So, it is fair to call that an unknown. At the same time, it’s mostly because they’ve been blowing teams out, which is encouraging.
This is actually something we discussed in-depth on this week’s Patriots Hub Podcast episode with David Andrews. You can check that out here.
Because the Patriots are a gameplan team, I’d need to know exactly what the roster I have looks like. That being said, here are some general thoughts…
Attacking the Patriots’ defense: I’d use a good amount of play action to try to take advantage of the aggressive nature of the defense (the Patriots are allowing 7.7 yards per play against play action this year, which ranks 25th in the NFL, although they’ve seen the sixth-fewest play action plays). From there I’d try to run the pass game through the tight end, given how the Patriots have struggled to contain tight ends this season. Off of that I’d work is shot plays to a speedy slot receiver. For this current iteration of the team I’d attack up the middle in the run game, but that would change if Milton Williams is back.
Attacking the Patriots’ offense: This one is a little more complicated. It seems like every time a team puts together the ‘blueprint’ for slowing down Maye and this offense, they come out the next week and beat whatever hurt them the week before. The players’ and coaching staff’s ability to adjust week-to-week has been one of the most impressive things about this season. That being said, I’d play conservative, take away the deep ball, and force them to nickel and dime their way down the field. Encourage them to have to mix in the run more, and make them be perfect over the course of an eight, 10, even 12 play drive.
Internal growth is going to be a big part of this. But in terms of personnel changes, I’m looking mainly at left guard and right tackle. Jared Wilson still looks like a better long-term fit at center than guard. As for right tackle, Morgan Moses has been solid this year and is still under contract for 2026, but using a mid-round pick on a developmental player who could potentially step in for him either midway through that season or in 2027 would make sense.
For those who don’t know, Malachi Fields from Notre Dame and Elijah Sarratt from Indiana are both projected Day 2 wide receiver prospects in this year’s draft. Both are stylistically similar players, as big, outside receivers who win primarily with physicality.
It looks like Fields (6-foot-4, 223 pounds, has a bit more straight-line speed. However some of his technical game needs more work, as he’s a converted quarterback. One thing that does stand out though are his reliable hands and his ability to go outside his frame to make catches. Meanwhile, Surratt (6-foot-2, 209 pounds) is a better route runner and has great body control, but depending on how NFL teams view his speed could be moved in side as a big slot at the next level.
If the Patriots want to add more size to their wide receiver room, both players are realistic Day 2 options. I’d probably lean Sarratt right now but it’s very early and there’s plenty of time for that to change.