PostGame Thread 2025 OFFICIAL WEEK 18 POSTGAME THREAD: Patriots beat Dolphins 38-10

[Vindicate]

I love this team. Even if the defense is more of a WIP, there is so much there to see promise in. Marcus Jones might be my favorite, tbh. A true Patriot, will always find always to win with his team. Someone in the GDT said that this team will be scary when we add an LB or two, and a competent safety. And I very much agree. An edge rusher will make us terrifying.

Offensively, with Henderson emerging, Rham entering that phase where he's mastering the McDaniels offense and is now being used in so many different ways (blitz pickup, pass options, RedZone threat in run and pass, can dodge, can ram a little), Diggs being Diggs, etc, this team is multi-faceted. Maye isn't just a Herbert or some other strong arm QB that always has you wondering ".... he's kinda the guy, but is he THE guy?", nah He is Him!

Douglas has sadly seen only 7 targets the last four games. All important catches. But the volume reduction saddens me, I hope it doesn't mean he's on the bubble. But, this is the NFL, and it's nice to say: "damn, this guy might get cut next year" instead of "holy **** when are we going to cut this first-rate loser ass player jfc"

This team, if it continues to grow together, will be a monster. Maye is him, baby.

Oddly enough, and while I love Boutte and Douglas, the two of them have seen 8 & 7 catches respectively (about 15yd averages, though). As it stands, is Diggs the only receiver (not counting Henry) that is safe on the roster?

I personally don't think it's a product of them being negligible/not good, but us actually having a surplus of viable targets to throw/hand-off to. But I'd like hear other's inputs there. There is a steep drop off from the 1-2 in our WR room.

 

[Uptown]

 

[Vindicate]

I love this team. Even if the defense is more of a WIP, there is so much there to see promise in. Marcus Jones might be my favorite, tbh. A true Patriot, will always find always to win with his team. Someone in the GDT said that this team will be scary when we add an LB or two, and a competent safety. And I very much agree. An edge rusher will make us terrifying.

Offensively, with Henderson emerging, Rham entering that phase where he's mastering the McDaniels offense and is now being used in so many different ways (blitz pickup, pass options, RedZone threat in run and pass, can dodge, can ram a little), Diggs being Diggs, etc, this team is multi-faceted. Maye isn't just a Herbert or some other strong arm QB that always has you wondering ".... he's kinda the guy, but is he THE guy?", nah He is Him!

Douglas has sadly seen only 7 targets the last four games. All important catches. But the volume reduction saddens me, I hope it doesn't mean he's on the bubble. But, this is the NFL, and it's nice to say: "damn, this guy might get cut next year" instead of "holy **** when are we going to cut this first-rate loser ass player jfc"

This team, if it continues to grow together, will be a monster. Maye is him, baby.

Oddly enough, and while I love Boutte and Douglas, the two of them have seen 8 & 7 catches respectively (about 15yd averages, though). As it stands, is Diggs the only receiver (not counting Henry) that is safe on the roster?

I personally don't think it's a product of them being negligible/not good, but us actually having a surplus of viable targets to throw/hand-off to. But I'd like hear other's inputs there. There is a steep drop off from the 1-2 in our WR room.

Hmmm, I can no longer edit this post, but I meant to say that Boutte and Douglas only have 8/7 catches, respectively, over the past 4 games.

 

[NFL Mystique]

This has been brought up several times over the years, and the argument from Godell and others is that winning your division is important, and always will be.
It is what it is, I can’t see it changing.

I do agree that the division winner can get a home playoff game. But what about redoing things after that? For instance, the Panthers get the 49ers in round 2. Put the game in Santa Clara over Carolina.

 

[Uptown]

 

[patfanken]

Hmmm, I can no longer edit this post, but I meant to say that Boutte and Douglas only have 8/7 catches, respectively, over the past 4 games.

I worried about that too, how few targets Williams, Pop, and Boutte seem to be getting. But then I realized that Maye in most games is throwing around 25 passes/ game and spreading the ball around to around 8 receivers (WR's TE's RB's) over the course of that game, none of them are going to get huge individual numbers except rarely. The upside, of course, is that this fact makes it hard for DC's to game plan us.

This is one of the reasons why sometimes I wonder if a huge investment into a true #1 who is going to demand at LEAST 10 targets a game is worth the huge cap space investment as good as he is, when having a full room of good, but not great guys can equate the production at a lower cost. Would we have more passing yds if we had managed to get and pay one of the WR's we all talked about all off season and summer, like Brown or Medcalf. Granted that guy turned out to have a 12 hundred yd season and our production duplicated what we had this year, would it be worth the lesser cap space we'd have? Every week watching the little college I watch, I see what looks to me quality WR's on both teams. It is the most prolific position in football and there are SO many good prospects out there. At some point teams are going to realize this market place is getting saturated with excess product and prices will go down,

 

[n1997y]

I worried about that too, how few targets Williams, Pop, and Boutte seem to be getting. But then I realized that Maye in most games is throwing around 25 passes/ game and spreading the ball around to around 8 receivers (WR's TE's RB's) over the course of that game, none of them are going to get huge individual numbers except rarely. The upside, of course, is that this fact makes it hard for DC's to game plan us.

That was my first reaction to the concerns about Boutte and Douglas not getting a lot of targets. There’s only one football, and only so many plays in a game. Especially now that Stevenson is playing WR sometimes (see link below), and some of us would like to see Henderson catching the ball in space more, and our TEs are weapons not to be ignored, there just aren’t enough touches for any one player to get a lot of targets. Check out where Stevenson lines up in the second video at this link:

 

[n1997y]

This is one of the reasons why sometimes I wonder if a huge investment into a true #1 who is going to demand at LEAST 10 targets a game is worth the huge cap space investment as good as he is, when having a full room of good, but not great guys can equate the production at a lower cost. Would we have more passing yds if we had managed to get and pay one of the WR's we all talked about all off season and summer, like Brown or Medcalf. Granted that guy turned out to have a 12 hundred yd season and our production duplicated what we had this year, would it be worth the lesser cap space we'd have? Every week watching the little college I watch, I see what looks to me quality WR's on both teams. It is the most prolific position in football and there are SO many good prospects out there. At some point teams are going to realize this market place is getting saturated with excess product and prices will go down,

I’m clear. I don’t wonder about it. I think it’s not worth it. An offense built around the “true #1” is built and run differently, and there are consequences to that.

Biggest to me is that it at least tacitly formalizes one prima donna with everyone else being supporting cast. That shapes locker room chemistry, not always for the better. Too often the prima donna egos get upset, e.g. not being targeted enough (see AJ Brown). Also affects young players and influences their development. How can Boutte or Williams develop if they’re never targeted because you’re throwing everything to your #1 WR sometimes he doesn’t lose his temper about too few touches? It distorts the whole offense.

Practically, it puts all your eggs in one basket. If the #1 WR is injured, or the opponent shuts them down, the offense is severely crippled. It’s almost inevitable that when you invest disproportionately in one weapon and make him the centerpiece of the offense there’s a gaping hole left without them. It undermines resilience.

And none of that says anything about what they do to finances, and cap position. Those are obvious challenges too.

It’s not as sound as a balanced offense, imo.