Drake Maye and the Patriots are a lot more fun to watch these days

New England Patriots

Sunday’s signature win over the Bills is not a guarantee that there won’t be a few more unexpected plot twists as this season’s story plays out.

By Chad Finn, The Boston Globe

October 7, 2025 | 6:24 AM

5 minutes to read

Welcome to the Unconventional Review, an instant reaction to standouts, stats, and story lines from the Patriots’ most recent game …

BUFFALO, N.Y. – The Patriots measured up so well to the five-time defending AFC Championship Bills in their 23-20 victory Sunday night that our updated assessment of this team is going to require a full recalibration of expectations.

That’s what happens when your young quarterback pulls off more Josh Allen-type of feats on Josh Allen’s home turf than Josh Allen does on a particular Sunday night. The national hype for Drake Maye is going to explode this week after his poised and clutch performance in prime-time, and maybe it should. It probably should. I believe fully in the kid, don’t you?

But dealing with those recalibrated expectations – are the Patriots a surefire playoff team? Can they win the AFC East? – is going to be the next challenge to take on, for Maye and the team.

The ascendance under Mike Vrabel and his highly competent coaching staff could be rapid from here, given that the schedule is less than daunting over the next several weeks.

But Sunday’s signature win over the Bills is not a guarantee that there won’t be a few more unexpected plot twists as this season’s story plays out. Great progress isn’t always linear.

I picked the Patriots to win nine games, and that remains a plausible outcome, though suddenly they look capable of more. I’m not sure what their expectations should be from here. Right now, all I know is that they’re a heck of a lot better than they were a year ago, in virtually every way, and infinitely more fun to watch.

Some further thoughts, upon immediate review …

Three players who were worth watching

Players suggested in the Unconventional Preview: Stefon Diggs, TreVeyon Henderson, James Cook.

Marcus Jones: The Patriots’ 2022 draft – when Bill Belichick spent the No. 29 overall pick on 24-year-old undersized Tennessee-Chattanooga guard Cole Strange – was such a debacle that it would probably make for an entertaining “30 for 30″ someday, at least for fans of the 31 other teams.

Three years later, just a single player remains on the roster from the 10 selected in that draft, but at least he is a good one. Jones, taken in the third round at No. 85 overall out of Houston, is an electrifying return man and a cornerback who, despite being 5-foot-8, has the toughness and confidence to hold his own with bigger receivers.

He demonstrated that early Sunday night by acrobatically busting up a third-and-10 pass intended for 6-foot-3-inch Bills receiver Keon Coleman deep along the left sideline, stalling Buffalo’s second possession.

But his biggest play came later. With just under 3 minutes left in the third quarter, the Patriots leading 13-10, and the Bills charging deep into New England territory, Jones picked off an Allen pass intended for Khalil Shakir at the Patriots’ 10-yard-line. It was lost in the Maye/Stefon Diggs late-game heroics, but Jones’s interception was on the very short list of the most important plays in the game. Good pick, Bill!

Dalton Kincaid: If Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady doesn’t have Monday-morning regrets about how he attacked the Patriots defense, he hasn’t thought about it enough. There is plenty of promise in the Patriots defense, especially with cornerback Christian Gonzalez back and looking like his All-Pro caliber self, but the obvious weak spot is the ability of their linebackers and safeties in pass coverage, especially against tight ends. Kincaid exploited this, catching all six of his targets for 108 yards, but Brady, Allen, and the Bills did not try to exploit this enough.

Stefon Diggs: We’ll keep this one relatively brief, since I already spent 900 words, give or take an adverb, in a postgame column on his marvelous performance (10 catches, 146 yards, huge play after huge play in the second half) upon his return to Buffalo. So, three footnotes to the previous column:

1. It’s crazy that he’s back to playing close to his previous level, with back-to-back 100-yard games, after tearing his ACL in Week 8 last season.

2. His experience in playing with Allen for four years really helps him with Maye. Playing with quarterbacks who make things happen off script is nothing new to him, and his craftiness is a gift to quarterbacks.

3. The Patriots have a true No. 1 go-to receiver for the first time since Julian Edelman’s body began betraying him. It’s been a while.

Grievance of the game

Almost by default, our gripe has to be Rhamondre Stevenson’s semi-weekly fumble, since there really wasn’t much for Patriots fans to yelp about beyond that. Stevenson lost his third fumble in five games – the other two coming in the Patriots’ regrettable five-turnover 21-14 loss to the Steelers in Week 3 – after a short reception at the 8 minute 23 second mark of the first quarter, exactly one play and 2 seconds after a Josh Allen fumble gifted the Patriots the ball at their own 47-yard-line. Mike Vrabel didn’t bury Stevenson, but it’s worth noting that he didn’t have another carry until Antonio Gibson was knocked from the game early in the second quarter. Stevenson did gain some measure of redemption with a pair of second-half touchdown runs, the first from 4 yards out and the second a 7-yard run on a nifty pitch from Maye. I do wonder how many consecutive games Stevenson would have to go without fumbling before we’d stop getting nervous every time he has the ball in traffic. Or has the ball, period.

Three notes scribbled in the margins

Predicted final score: Bills 33, Patriots 28

Final score: Patriots 23, Bills 20.

Linebacker Shaq Thompson, who spent the first 10 years of his career with the Panthers before signing with the Bills in the offseason, looks like a nice fit in Buffalo. He hit Stevenson to force his fumble, and contributed one of the Bills’ four sacks of Maye, chasing him out of bounds on third down and forcing the Patriots to punt on their second-to-last possession. He also added five tackles. Thompson has an obscure tie to Boston sports. As an 18-year-old in 2012, he played 13 games for the Red Sox’ Gulf Coast League team, going 0-for-39 with 37 strikeouts … Andy Borregales left no room for suspense on his 52-yard field goal with 15 seconds left, blasting the winning kick right down the middle. In a related note, haven’t heard any Patriots fans mention Parker Romo for a few weeks … The Bills are moving out of Highmark Stadium – an old place with a lot of character and endless characters – to fancy new digs next door next season, so I figured this would be the Patriots’ last visit. You know, I’m not sure it will now.