Where do we need to improve

[ZoisKing]

WC was a different player after his injury. Shouldnt surprise anyone.

And any QB wouldve looked awful behind that line last night.

Keep building. We are super early in our build. We are good.

 

[Real fan 02]

Henry is signed for 2026 already, Hooper is a free agent. Cutting him is 2.5 in dead cap but 9.2 million cap saving savings but doubt they get rid of one of Drake's go to guys and a solid veteran.

Agreed.. Henry remains.. we just need depth and some additions at Premier spots and we'll he in contention next season.. this is invaluable experience this young teams gained this year...

 

[Lagaffe_07]

He did what he did all year which was sit in the pocket and wait for his receiver to get open

Honestly, I am a little concerned. 4 games against top defenses and I didn’t see any improvement. He has made the same mistakes in every of the 4 games.

You would think that after the 1st three games, he would understand that you can’t stand forever back there. Half his sacks was him standing for 4 seconds in the pocket hesitating.

The difference during the regular season is against lesser defense receiver were getting open downfield. Against those top defenses, it wasn’t the case and Maye failed to adjust or isn’t equipped to read the field quick enough to march down the field.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Honestly, I am a little concerned. 4 games against top defenses and I didn’t see any improvement. He has made the same mistakes in every of the 4 games.

You would think that after the 1st three games, he would understand that you can’t stand forever back there. Half his sacks was him standing for 4 seconds in the pocket hesitating.

The difference during the regular season is against lesser defense receiver were getting open downfield. Against those top defenses, it wasn’t the case and Maye failed to adjust or isn’t equipped to read the field quick enough to march down the field.

I'm not concerned. Year 2. Same offense as next year. Josh will still be here. Line and surrounding talent will improve. Need more time to see if he becomes a mobile Drew Bledsoe or 80% of Tom.

 

[Toofy]

Thinking about this calmly, I just don't think it's realistic to make wholesale changes and expect team to get better . We need to make few changes and see if the sun of parts is better.

Firstly let look at 2027 season
2027 - Henry. Diggs, Moses, bradberry, davis are probably not gonna be there. So we need their replacements to get that level of performance or experience.


Wr - Replace pop with Chism . Retain diggs for vet presence and hope Williams can learn from him. Draft a developmental 6'4 + boundary receiver who can haul in congested catches in the later rounds.

TE - draft the best TE if available in round 1. Draft BPA for first 3 across TE, RT, lb, safety

Oline - maybe a line of Campbell, brown. Wilson, bryant and onwenu might work . Continuity is important and I don't believe any good lineman magically becomes available in free agency . I want Moses to be swing tackle next season. We can draft few developmental pieces but not much luck can be expected there. Lowe has improved and has prototypical size. Can we sign him as swing if available for less than 10 million a year and is Campbell insurance.

We might falter a bit in regular season but might become more conditioned as season progresses .

2026 will be a a down year . I hope Vrabel plans for 2027 while they make personnel changes.

 

[KCSVEN]

Honestly, I am a little concerned. 4 games against top defenses and I didn’t see any improvement. He has made the same mistakes in every of the 4 games.

You would think that after the 1st three games, he would understand that you can’t stand forever back there. Half his sacks was him standing for 4 seconds in the pocket hesitating.

The difference during the regular season is against lesser defense receiver were getting open downfield. Against those top defenses, it wasn’t the case and Maye failed to adjust or isn’t equipped to read the field quick enough to march down the field.

Your point is valid, that being said the inability to get open by the WR group was an issue. Taking a sack or throwing it in the ground, not sure it would have mattered.
Drake needs to learn sometimes the play is over and he just needs to take the sack. The blindside hit TO's not on him but the trying to throw into the face of a free rusher while falling backwards or moving up in the pocket to run and getting stripped can't happen next year.
NE and Sea are 1 and 2 in coverage in the NFL. It showed yesterday, hard to get open against these defenses.

 

[JayNM]

Im not as down as other os Diggs

Throughout the whole playoffs, and even more so in the SB, it seemed like he was constantly doubled. At least on what Ive seen

It's a shame that Boutte didnt step up, although i also thought he was more open than Maye gave him credit and he is a bit of 50/50 specialist. Plus he still very young and improving

Douglas is a JAG, he doesnt operate well as out slot. He is not precise in his route running and not quick enough for those 3-10 yards. Plus he is mediocre at catching. He can go

Chism and Williams simply dont inspire confidence but Im willing for another season.

Now, Henry needs to go or be demoted to TE2 full time. He was ATROCIOUS in the POs and im pretty sure his play was diminishing late season, which has happened before. He just doesnt last 20 games. Pitts is a marginal upgrade, even if this season he finally broke out a bit (still, doesnt block well from what I know)

OL is our top priority. Bradburry is dumb and doesnt open good lanes, we should push everyone on left side one position in, and go after the best available lineman in FA.

 

[upstater1]

People comparing Maye to QBs from the past need to keep a lot of things in mind.

Maye looked like one of the best 23 year old QBs the NFL has ever seen, and that's against some teams with quality talent like the Bills, the Ravens, and if he hadn't fumbled, I'd say against the Texans too.

Remember, very few QBs have looked like 2018 Mahomes. Not even Tom Brady in his first or second year. Brady had meltdown interception games in his second year.

And let me remind you about another guy that had extreme difficulty playing against a top defense in his early career: Peyton Manning.

Titans: 19 of 42, 45% complete, 227 yds
Jets: 14 of 31, 45% complete, 137 yds, 0 TDs, 2 INTs, 41-0 loss
Patriots: 23-47, 49% complete, 237 yds, 1 TD, 4 INTs

 

[EddardSnow67]

Just an average performance out of the left side of the OL probably would have won the game, so obviously that's the first order of business. Otherwise, another edge rusher, a tight end who can at least be a consistent vertical threat and a slot receiver are probably the biggest needs. Maybe upgrade at one of the linebacker spots as well.

 

[condon84]

Honestly, I am a little concerned. 4 games against top defenses and I didn’t see any improvement. He has made the same mistakes in every of the 4 games.

You would think that after the 1st three games, he would understand that you can’t stand forever back there. Half his sacks was him standing for 4 seconds in the pocket hesitating.

The difference during the regular season is against lesser defense receiver were getting open downfield. Against those top defenses, it wasn’t the case and Maye failed to adjust or isn’t equipped to read the field quick enough to march down the field.

He needs to stop hunting big plays and take the check downs. There were open underneath guys last night that he didn't see.

I saw in one of the interviews in SB week that the QB he looked up to growing up is Rodgers. Well he needs to be more Brady and take what the defense gives you.

 

[JayNM]

For Defense, we need 2 DEs, or 1 if Chaisson leaves. Landry is the biggest disappointment this season, but his contract makes it easier to cut him next year. Id go after stopgag guy for a year or 2, and we all have the same name in mind. I think this makes our line ferocious

Then Woodson really showed up in the Playoffs, while Hawkins got exposed more than once. Safeties are still cheap in the Market so id like some with bigger coverage range to play alongside our sophomore, but everything else looks good.

Id throw in that we could improve at LBer to play alongside Spillane, but even Ellis did ok late

 

[Ross12]

everybody is leaving out QB.

Maye did not measure up once we got past the soft regular season schedule. The game was too fast for him, he couldn’t read the defensive alignments and adjust protection or change the call. He got conservative and worried about not making costly turnovers and that caused other mistakes such as off target throws. Defenses got wise to his scrambling ability and took advantage of better coverage to hem him in to prevent the scrambles, and he helped by playing tight and waiting too long to scramble out of fear of exposing the ball to being stripped. That concern was valid, he got stripped quicker than a five dollar dancer as soon as he went against better competition.

Some part of me, in the back of my mind, could see Vrabel trading Maye for a haul and then making Tommy DeVito the starter a la Ryan Tannehill of old. DeVito is limited but he is competent and he can run McDaniels' scheme well.

I really, REALLY don't think he'd do that, but... I can see it.

 

[PatsFan2]

Henry is signed for 2026 already, Hooper is a free agent. Cutting him is 2.5 in dead cap but 9.2 million cap saving savings but doubt they get rid of one of Drake's go to guys and a solid veteran.

H Henry good against bad Defenses: Horrible against Good ones he had a miserable postseason. we need a Young Stud TE. Buffalo have Dalton Kincaid who toys with our Defense: Maye needs a TE is that mold. We are playing First Place Schedule next year.

 

[Lagaffe_07]

Landry is the biggest disappointment this season

He played injured since the Saints game. Like Campbell wouldn’t be surprised if he needs surgery in the offseason

 

[Lagaffe_07]

I'm not concerned. Year 2. Same offense as next year. Josh will still be here. Line and surrounding talent will improve. Need more time to see if he becomes a mobile Drew Bledsoe or 80% of Tom.

The positive is we are gonna see if they improve. We will play that defense again next year

 

[Hugepatsfan]

everybody is leaving out QB.

Maye did not measure up once we got past the soft regular season schedule. The game was too fast for him, he couldn’t read the defensive alignments and adjust protection or change the call. He got conservative and worried about not making costly turnovers and that caused other mistakes such as off target throws. Defenses got wise to his scrambling ability and took advantage of better coverage to hem him in to prevent the scrambles, and he helped by playing tight and waiting too long to scramble out of fear of exposing the ball to being stripped. That concern was valid, he got stripped quicker than a five dollar dancer as soon as he went against better competition.

They absolutely need better QB play than they got these playoffs. But I think a lot of people take the question here to mean where do we need to upgrade personnel. Suggesting we should replace Maye is like the boldest of the bold takes. He absolutely needs to work on things but QB position is one where we need improvement with the existing player, not a new player. That's different than some other spots where the guys we have just aren't good enough and should be replaced/upgraded.

 

[KCSVEN]

H Henry good against bad Defenses: Horrible against Good ones he had miserable postseason. we need a Young Stud TE. Buffalo have Dalton Kincaid who toys with our Defense: Maye needs a TE is that mold. We are playing First Place Schedule next year.

I think we all agree on TE, the issue is you have to find one. Every team wants one.

Schedule will matter and they'll likely have a worse record.
To make playoffs just beat out the Bills. We have a slight schedule advantage over Bills.

It's just about beating out the Bills.
1st place schedule vs their 2nd place schedule:

Bills vs us different teams (Home and away are opposite in other games)

Ravens vs Steelers-Advantage Pats with Steelers
Rams vs Seahawks-Pretty even though advantage Bills due to AT SEA tougher
Texans vs Jags-Close though Texans defense is lights out, both QB's are suspect so slight advantage Pats. Also Jags have low cap space and no first round pick.

We get Denver home they get Denver away-Other than SEA it's the 1 away game strong home field advantage

We have a slight schedule advantage over Buffalo despite the 1st vs 2nd place schedule.

Pats have slightly longer west coast trips due to Seattle. We go to SEA and LA, they go to LA and Denver

 

[borg]

Gotta ask.....
Did Boute put on a few pounds (or more) over the course of this season?
He was looking quite substantial in the all-whites, and quite slow (Mack Hollins slow)

 

[Hugepatsfan]

Ol, edge, lb, wr

Love diggs but i think id rather get out of that contract and use it towards a true playmaker downfield. Hopefully pop or chism can take over in the slot.

I get where you're coming from if you just look at the cap number, potential savings and the player. But you have to look at the big picture too. We have 4th most cap space in the NFL, I believe. We can create more with normal roster and contract restructure maneuvering too.

I'm just not sure it makes sense to let your most reliable receiver go because the cap number is too high when you already have enough cap space to do whatever else you want. Even if we added another top WR, we wouldn't be pressed for cap space exactly. it feels to me like the right move is to just bring Diggs back for another year even if the cap number is bloated. Teams essentially do that all the time to fill roster holes with "bloated" 1 year deals in lieu of long term commitment and I view bringing Diggs back as us just doing that.

I feel the same way when people talk about Onwenu. I agree the cap number is bad value, but why open up a hole by letting your best OL go when the position group is already a need? That spot is a little different because unlike WR it's not like you play 2-3 RGs at a time. So if they can find a cheaper 1 for 1 replacement, fine. And also, RG is a bit less "personal" relationship with the QB too.

 

[Wozzy]

You never stop improving or adding to your offensove
and defensive lines. These are the most important positions next to QB.

That said we need another really smart athletic free/strong safety hybrid next to Woodson… who played well yesterday. We need a brain back there to improve the zone coverages.

And they need a FB… the answer is not currently on the roster. They should add at positions like TE that are getting long in the tooth.