New England Patriots
Two weeks in, the Patriots have produced plenty of surprises. Here are five that stand out.
The first two weeks of the Patriots’ season are in the books, and there have already been a number of surprises.
The Patriots pulled off their first win at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium since 2019 last week, and they did it without defensive coordinator Terrell Williams who took some time way from the team to deal with an “unforeseen” health issue.
Things began to look bleak in that game when Miami took a 27-23 lead on a 74-yard punt return for touchdown from Malik Washington with 7:18 remaining in the game. But, the Patriots had an immediate answer, scoring on a 90-yard kick return from Antonio Gibson on the very next play. It took them just 12 seconds to regain the lead, which they never relinquished.
Drake Maye followed up a shaky opening day performance against the Raiders with one of the best games of his young career against the Dolphins. Christian Gonzalez hasn’t played a single snap as he recovers from a hamstring injury. The last time he practiced was July 28th.
Two weeks in, the Patriots find themselves at .500 and looking for their first home win of the season as Jabrill Peppers returns to Foxborough with the Steelers. The Patriots made a surprise move and cut him last month.
There are always twists and turns in an NFL season. Here are five things that have been surprising about the Patriots so far.
The Patriots are leading the league in sacks.
New England had a punchless pass-rush last year. They gave opposing quarterbacks way too much time to throw.
They ranked dead last in sacks with 28 over 17 games. They were 29th in quarterback knockdowns (33), 29th in quarterback pressures (104), and(43) 24th in quarterback hurries.
So far, in this small two-week sample-size, this season appears to be a different story. The Patriots have a league-best nine sacks. They’ve moved to the middle of the pack in pressures and knockdowns.
The offseason additions that New England made up front have helped. Harold Landry had a monster game against the Raiders with 2.5 sacks. Milton Williams clinched the game with a sack on Miami’s final drive last week. K’Lavon Chaisson, the former first-round pick who began last season on the Raiders’ practice squad, has 1.5 sacks.
Only one of the nine sacks came from a player who was on last year’s roster. Safety Jaylinn Hawkins got one on a blitz in the season opener.
DeMario Douglas appears to have a smaller role.
The only Patriots receiver to play more snaps than DeMario Douglas last year was Kayshon Boutte.
This season, with Stefon Diggs and Mack Hollins in the fold, Douglas has slipped to fourth in the Patriots’ snap counts among receivers.
Douglas was on the field for 62 percent of the Patriots’ offensive snaps last season, compared to 45 percent so far this year.
Douglas seemed to have a strong training camp and was consistently working with the first-team, but his usage appears to have diminished during these first two games. Some of that may have to do with matchups, as different defenses call for different offensive approaches. The decrease in playing time and production has been noticeable.
He’s tied with Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson for fourth on the team in targets (8). Douglas has caught just three of those targets for six yards and a touchdown.
How easily opposing quarterbacks are torching the secondary.
No one is allowing more passing yards per game (315) than the Patriots so far this season. They’re the only team in the league giving up more than 300 passing yards per game.
They’ve missed Gonzalez’s presence in the secondary. They haven’t been able to contain opponents’ top receiving threats. Jakobi Meyers caught eight out of 10 targets for 97 yards in Week 1. Tyreek Hill caught six out of seven targets for 109 yards in Week 2.
Both opposing quarterbacks, Geno Smith and Tua Tagovaloa, completed at least 70 percent of their passing attempts against the Patriots.
New England is working with a pretty much brand new secondary without Gonzalez in the mix. They’ve made changes at both safety spots, opting to start Hawkins alongside rookie Craig Woodson. Carlton Davis, who has played 99 percent of the defensive snaps at cornerback, is new. Alex Austin has been filling in for Gonzalez.
The Patriots are third in the league in run defense, allowing 58.5 yards per game and 3.0 yards per carry.
But, they’ve been giving up a ton of passing yards and missing a lot of tackles. They have 19 missed tackles, which is tied for fifth-most in the league.
Antonio Gibson is the only player in the league with a kick-return TD.
Gibson was named AFC Special Teams player of the week for his kick return touchdown against Miami.
He became the first player in the league to run a kick back for a touchdown this season. Washington is the only one to return a punt for a touchdown so far this season.
Kick return touchdowns are rare these days. The Cowboys were the only team in the league with more than one last year. Only six teams scored one at all last season.
Gibson’s return came during a key moment in the fourth quarter and helped the Patriiots hang on for the win.
Turnovers have been limited.
Fumbles were a huge issue for the Patriots last season. They gave away 12 of them.
Rhamondre Stevenson and Drake Maye were the biggest culprits, with 10 fumbles between them including five that were lost.
So far, though two weeks, Stevenson hasn’t fumbled. Maye fumbled once, but it was recovered.
Maye threw an interception in the opener that killed the Patriots’ momentum on a promising drive. It’s the Patriots’ only turnover of the season so far.
Maye had 15 touchdown against 10 interceptions in 13 games last season. He’ll need to improve that ratio as the Patriots continue to progress on offense. So far, with three touchdowns against one interception in two games, he’s done that.
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