The home stretch is about to begin.
The Patriots emerge from their bye week with a marquee matchup against Josh Allen and the Bills at Gillette Stadium on Sunday. A win would secure the Patriots their first AFC East title since 2019. A loss would snap the team’s 10-game winning streak and complicate its quest for the No. 1 seed.
What’s on your mind entering Sunday’s showdown? Quite a lot, it turns out. Let’s dive into your questions in a post-bye edition of the Mailbag.
Editor’s Note: Some questions have been lightly edited for clarity.
What is the most concerning weakness of this Patriots team that no one is noticing or talking about? – @JosephKwiatek
I still think it’s the inconsistencies in their running game, Joe.
I’ve said that for weeks now, only because I assume they’ll improve their run defense when Khyiris Tonga and Milton Williams get back on the field. The bye week also might give that front seven a little more juice, which would help when you’re talking about ramping up your level of physicality to stop hard-charging backs late in the season.
Being unable to run with much consistency is of greater concern, only because they might not want to put too much on Maye in December and January. He’s handled everything thrown his way to this point. But against better defenses, in the postseason, in difficult conditions… you have to be able to run the football.
Maybe they’ll see more positive results by running to the right (as the next Mailbag question suggests) or maybe there’s a tweak to their running style they can make. I’ve wondered recently if they wouldn’t be better off trying more wide zone attempts.
I asked center Garrett Bradbury about any fixes for their run game they might’ve found during their bye week and he pointed to the fact that cleaner technique will yield better results.
“I think there’s things that we’ve done really well, and there’s things that we can improve. A lot of it was technique things,” he said. “It wasn’t necessarily scheme. We went through all those points on certain types of run plays, ‘We can be better here and here.’ Now we got to go on the practice field and we got to show up Sunday and do those things.”
Given their struggles in the run game, when they do run, why haven’t the Patriots tried to be more right-handed since Morgan Moses and Mike Onwenu are their two best healthy offensive linemen? – @MaineMurf
Good question, Murf. I tried to dig into some numbers to see if they haven’t been more right-handed with their running game than you might think.
Per Sports Info Solutions, they’ve run right of the center 157 times for 4.8 yards per carry. That’s a pretty good clip, considering they average 3.9 yards per rush overall this season. They are, however, 21st in EPA per attempt when running in that direction.
But the Patriots have run left more often, and they’ve been less efficient. They’ve handed off and gone left 192 times this season for 3.8 yards per carry. They’re 26th in EPA per attempt when running in that direction.
Maybe they’ll lean more toward the side of Onwenu and Moses down the stretch.
It’s surprising in general the screen game has not been more a part of this offense since it’s traditionally been a McDaniels staple. Why is that? Should RB screens to TreVeyon Henderson be more of a weapon to be an extension of the outside zone run game? – @qualitysmoke
It’s a little surprising, QS. McDaniels has always had a multi-pronged screen game that was featured, it seemed, on several occasions each week. This year? Not so much. They rank 26th in the NFL in screen attempts this season, per Sports Info Solutions (27).
They’re not terribly inefficient on those plays, however. They’re sixth in yards per attempt on screens (6.8), and they’re eighth in EPA (4.47).
Maybe we’ll see more screens down the line, but my guess is that one of the reasons we haven’t seen too many is that McDaniels would prefer to let his big-armed quarterback continue to test defenses down the field.
If that’s the case, hard to blame him. It’s an approach that has worked well for them to this point.
With all the talk of a young inexperienced team heading towards the playoffs, has anyone spoke of the experience this coaching staff has? They seems to know what it takes to not only get there but win it all. – @PatriotsLH1960
I think the coaching staff has received a lot of credit, but it’s fair to point out their experience level as one of many reasons they’ve had success this season.
Mike Vrabel has a Coach of the Year honor under his belt and has been in and around the NFL since the late 1990s. Josh McDaniels has three Super Bowl rings to his name. Doug Marrone has been playing and coaching offensive football at a high level for decades.
There is some new on this staff, too, though. Zak Kuhr is calling plays for the first time on the defensive side. Ashton Grant holds the quarterbacks coach title for the first time in his career. Two key positions there.
But, bottom line, your point is a good one. This is a young team that is led by a second-year quarterback and has relied on a lot of snaps from rookies. But they’re coached by a staff that has seen a lot of different scenarios over the course of their careers. Can’t hurt.
Given the success of the Patriots’ season so far, what are the chances that their coaching and front office staffs get raided in the offseason? – @patriots_harley
Interesting question, George. The first name that comes to mind would be McDaniels.
Is there an owner out there who would be willing to give him another crack at a head coaching gig after seeing what he’s done to help Drake Maye take a massive Year 2 leap? The pool of potential candidates isn’t exactly overwhelming — there’s no Ben Johnson or Mike Vrabel available this year — and there are few traits valued more highly than being able to get the best out of a young quarterback.
There are others who could garner interest elsewhere. Tight ends coach and pass-game coordinator Thomas Brown is a well-respected name with various experiences in the coaching world — he was interim offensive coordinator and later interim head coach for the Bears last year — who I could see getting calls this offseason to interview for promotions elsewhere.
Where should the Patriots be looking to spend on the salary cap in 2026? Will they focus internally or look at add on the edge for a pass rusher? – @DanoTria
Looking internally, Kayshon Boutte and DeMario Douglas will be eligible for extensions this offseason. But I wouldn’t be stunned if their offseason spending plan started with a big extension for Christian Gonzalez, who will be eligible to sign a deal like that for the first time in the spring.
Everything around that situation — how they handle Gonzalez, the timing of that extension offer, and how much they’re willing to offer — will be fascinating. Do they view a No. 1 lockdown corner as absolutely vital to their defense? If they want to mix in a healthy dose of zone coverage, if they don’t always want to travel their top corner with the opposition’s top wideout, is a No. 1 corner worthy of huge dollar figures?
My guess is they won’t want to let Gonzalez go anywhere else. My guess is they’ll want to extend him before his contract is up in a couple of years and he becomes even more expensive to keep. (Since he was a first-round pick, the Patriots have the ability to pick up Gonzalez’s fifth-year option if he’s not extended before then.) But let’s see how they handle it.
Don’t forget, the team will also want to start planning on a huge extension for their quarterback in the near future. Not that signing Gonzalez would preclude the Patriots from extending Maye, but in building around Maye, they may want to allocate significant resources to the people protecting him and catching his passes.
What should Santa bring the Patriots, Celtics, Bruins and Red Sox this Christmas? – @MrEd315
For the Patriots? A healthy return for Will Campbell.
The Celtics? A media member who can challenge their coaching staff in pickup.
The Bruins? A new food processor for Charlie McAvoy.
The Red Sox? Pete Alonso. Kyle Schwarber. Joe Ryan. …Alex Bregman?
Would be kind of like getting your old bike re-wrapped and shoved under the tree on Christmas morning. But beggars can’t be choosers, I suppose.