Where do we need to improve

Lagaffe_07 · Feb 9, 2026

Pretty much everything on offense.

We need to revamp the WR room. Boutte should be upgraded. Williams is a bust.

The TE room need to be rebuilded as well. Henry and Hooper won’t cut it next year.

And the biggest of all the OL. It’s still a big problem. We need a LT, LG and RT. I think Bradbury can hold one more year. Campbell shouldn’t see the field at LT ever again. It was coaching malpractice to leave him in the game. Lowe should have replaced him. Seems like Vrabel was more concerned about not hurting Campbell and Wilson’s feeling than try to win the game.

Campbell going in hiding mode after the game and ignoring the media is a very bad look. He said after he was drafted that he would die to protect Drake Maye. Instead he got Maye killed on almost every play.

stephens44 · Feb 9, 2026

LT, Campbell needs to slide inside and become an elite LG. 1st round pick should be a LT or RT depending on what happens in free agency and quality available. If they can poach an OT under 30 yrs old from another team, and bookend the other side while pulling Campbell inside, I think we're good there with starters and depth.
Everything else is far less glaring at this point. The Pats weakness in the OL was put up against the best D-line in the NFL, it was just a bad mismatch. Maye and the RBs were playing uphill throughout the post season.

n1997y · Feb 9, 2026

BadMoFo said:
People are just upset now. Go to sleep and think it through in the morning. We’re pretty well set. Resign chaisson, and Tonga. Find a way to trade Landry for Crosby and defense should be nice.

Defense is not the problem. Extend Gonzo, resign Chaisson and Tonga, get Landry healthy or replace him, upgrade the edge. Those are the essentials. It would be nice to improve LBs, and upgrade CB and S depth as well, but those are not as urgent concerns.

BadMoFo said:
Offense is a little different. I really feel that Josh needs to make this offense more Drake friendly, give him more options to run the ball and throw on the run. Felt they tried to turn him into a drop back passer an that’s when things went south. Maybe it was because Campbell came back too early but who knows. Could Lowe have done better?

I think Vrabes needs to have a heart to heart with Josh ASAP, about philosophy and culture. I’m afraid Josh is in the process of ruining Drake Maye, or at risk of that.

Josh is a disciple of Belichick, dedicated to first not beating yourself. That’s a good approach, far more games are lost than are won. But it isn’t good enough when you start playing better teams, that also do not beat themselves. Then you have to loosen the reins and let the players on the field have their head, and these players weren’t ready for that.

The biggest example was Drake Maye. His style of play changed throughout the playoffs. From the very start of the playoffs he was playing to not make mistakes rather than playing to make plays. That seemed to affect his situational awareness and especially his pocket awareness. It also made him hold the ball longer rather than just zipping it when he saw a play to be made. And he was also a bit slower deciding to bail out and run. All of those together got him out of sync especially with the OL and made the OL look worse when busted protection led to a sack instead of a 20 yard scramble. Tonight he played like he seeing ghosts, because he had ghosts in his head even if not on the field. His accuracy was off because he was thinking not playing instinctively and it threw his rhythm off.

I’m worried he’s broken after these playoffs, and may have trouble getting back to the level he was playing at during the regular season.

condon84 · Feb 9, 2026

OL and everything else a distant second.

Our offense was humming when Drake wasn't running for his life. We talked about how we were set at WR and we just complained about our defense.

n1997y · Feb 9, 2026

condon84 said:
OL and everything else a distant second.

Our offense was humming when Drake wasn't running for his life. We talked about how we were set at WR and we just complained about our defense.

Drake was running for his life during the regular season too, but then those scrambles were going for first downs and more.

And how many completions did Darnold make tonight as he was being hit, instead of just running for his life?

WhatJustHappened · Feb 9, 2026

stephens44 said:
LT, Campbell needs to slide inside and become an elite LG. 1st round pick should be a LT or RT depending on what happens in free agency and quality available. If they can poach an OT under 30 yrs old from another team, and bookend the other side while pulling Campbell inside, I think we're good there with starters and depth.
Everything else is far less glaring at this point. The Pats weakness in the OL was put up against the best D-line in the NFL, it was just a bad mismatch. Maye and the RBs were playing uphill throughout the post season.

WhatJustHappened · Feb 9, 2026

He'll probably have surgery this off season. we probably won't hear about it.
He hasn't been right since he got twisted up.

Lagaffe_07 · Feb 9, 2026

n1997y said:
I think Vrabes needs to have a heart to heart with Josh ASAP, about philosophy and culture. I’m afraid Josh is in the process of ruining Drake Maye, or at risk of that.

Josh is a disciple of Belichick, dedicated to first not beating yourself. That’s a good approach, far more games are lost than are won. But it isn’t good enough when you start playing better teams, that also do not beat themselves. Then you have to loosen the reins and let the players on the field have their head, and these players weren’t ready for that.

The biggest example was Drake Maye. His style of play changed throughout the playoffs. From the very start of the playoffs he was playing to not make mistakes rather than playing to make plays. That seemed to affect his situational awareness and especially his pocket awareness. It also made him hold the ball longer rather than just zipping it when he saw a play to be made. And he was also a bit slower deciding to bail out and run. All of those together got him out of sync especially with the OL and made the OL look worse when busted protection led to a sack instead of a 20 yard scramble. Tonight he played like he seeing ghosts, because he had ghosts in his head even if not on the field. His accuracy was off because he was thinking not playing instinctively and it threw his rhythm off.

I’m worried he’s broken after these playoffs, and may have trouble getting back to the level he was playing at during the regular season.

There is absolutely 0% chance that Josh is calling a conservative game without Vrabel order. Not Turing the ball over was also one of the core element of Vrabel philosophy when he was hired.

They started calling conservative games when Maye started turning the ball over like crazy in the first playoff game. They didn’t call conservative games in the regular season.

Vrabel realized that with how the defense was playing the only way they could lose the game was if they turned the ball away on offense.

How many fumbles did Drake had during the playoffs ? 8-9 in 4 games ? Can really blame them honestly. Someone can argue that if they were more agressive it would have been more probable that Drake turns the ball over 3-4 times. With Draks fumbles and the OL, asking him to hold the ball for long developing plays would have been a disaster.

The game plan needed for Drake to march down the field. Good defense will make you do that and it’s clear than Drake can’t read the field consistently well enough to being able to do that yet.

stephens44 · Feb 9, 2026

WhatJustHappened said:
He'll probably have surgery this off season. we probably won't hear about it.
He hasn't been right since he got twisted up.

True. To be honest his game tonight reminded me of Max Lane vs Reggie White a "few" years ago. Just outmatched and no way around it.

n1997y · Feb 9, 2026

WhatJustHappened said:
He'll probably have surgery this off season. we probably won't hear about it.
He hasn't been right since he got twisted up.

Yes, and Campbell needs to get healthy, and spend a full offseason in the strength and conditioning program.

Don’t be surprised if he is on PUP at the start of training camp, and still rehabbing his knees. That could be a problem by interfering with his lower body strength training. At least he should be able to work on upper body strength.

n1997y · Feb 9, 2026

Lagaffe_07 said:
There is absolutely 0% chance that Josh is calling a conservative game without Vrabel order. Not Turing the ball over was also one of the core element of Vrabel philosophy when he was hired.

They started calling conservative games when Maye started turning the ball over like crazy in the first playoff game. They didn’t call conservative games in the regular season.

Vrabel realized that with how the defense was playing the only way they could lose the game was if they turned the ball away on offense.

How many fumbles did Drake had during the playoffs ? 8-9 in 4 games ? Can really blame them honestly. Someone can argue that if they were more agressive it would have been more probable that Drake turns the ball over 3-4 times. With Draks fumbles and the OL, asking him to hold the ball for long developing plays would have been a disaster.

The game plan needed for Drake to march down the field. Good defense will make you do that and it’s clear than Drake can’t read the field consistently well enough to being able to do that yet.

I think they were in Drake’s ear about risk management, all of ball security and target choices and play selection decision making, going into the playoffs. That made him start thinking about not doing bad things instead of thinking about doing good things, and that broke the magic that he’d had all year.

WhatJustHappened · Feb 9, 2026

I just want him to get healthy, and STRONGER, he needed that as well. I like Will.

WhatJustHappened · Feb 9, 2026

Will has an aggressive attitude which I like.
He needs a year of weight training, he'll get stronger...this happens for everyone... unless they are ridiculous ****s that people CUM Over...and they always fail.

WhatJustHappened · Feb 9, 2026

I PERSONALLY think Will needs more bulk in his upper body. He looks like Godzilla. Big legs, needs more muscle up top.
Big fkn punch! He's a gamer.

PatsFan2 · Feb 9, 2026

slash83 said:
Will Campbell I mean if they can find an upgrade you gotta do it, even with him being a top 5 pick, dude has been ass this entire postseason. WRs who can get separation is big need, edge rushers as well.

Will be back, we’re just getting started.

So many was wrong about King Tet around here: a number 4 overall shouldn't play like Will Campbell. None of the experts pick us for that very reason.

PatsFan2 · Feb 9, 2026

Other than that TD in the Chargers Game H Henry became very mediocre. Diggs also looks cooked our Draft Board just changed when it comes on to Needs. Yeah we know about Edge but WR - TE and OT are up there too. We can't roll with Henry - Diggs and Mosses next year with our First place Schedule. They are all old and Cooked. We need to maneuver our Salary Cap to gain some more Dollars; I hope we and Harold Landry can reach some kind of injury settlement.

Huckleberry1 · Feb 9, 2026

Joey007 said:
OL step one. Gotta figure out if Campbell struggling late in the year was his size limitations, just not being back to full strength, or inexperience. Need to continue building in the draft.

Receiver will need figured out. It finally came to a head tonight not having an elite weapon. Keep Diggs?

Defense proved tonight that it’s close. Just keep adding depth and try and get a dynamic pass rusher on the edge.

Team still has a lot to love. Just needs another draft/FA cycle.

Campbell is 6'6 320, size wasn't the issue, playing strength was more the issue, and a full off season with them should remedy that. They are the only team in history to make the Super Bowl with two rookies starting on the left side. However OL would still be my top priority. They should go after Lindebaum and McGovern in free agency, and draft a right tackle early.

ErniesPinkStripes · Feb 9, 2026

I hope this experience gives Drake a little more bark and a little more bite.

He's still a good little puppy, but hoping this trauma amps things up a bit.

He's a killer and he needs to tap back into that.

upstater1 · Feb 9, 2026

The Patriots need to upgrade at the following positions:

1. Every position on the OL needs to be evaluated
2. Need one stud WR (we have a lot of #2s)
3. Safety to take over from Hawkins and make a real difference
4. 2 DEs who can apply consistent pressure AND set the edge against outside runs
5. Linebackers

We need a lot of players to be the kind of team who can beat teams like this Seattle team.

Although I haven't given up hope on Campbell and I think it's possible that he gets stronger and becomes much better, I confess to wishing we had a redo and had taking Tetaroa McMillan instead. With Vederian Lowe as the LT. It couldn't have been much worse.

We'd be looking for an LT this year or maybe we take one in the 2nd round last year, but regardless, I'd take the difference maker in retrospect.

Thelonious · Feb 9, 2026

I would try to trade for an edge rusher, maybe draft a project edge guy mid-draft.

I would spend the bulk of the draft on offense. Competition for Campbell at LT, competition (or move guys around) at center, WR prospects, a TE, a WR or two, maybe an interesting RB prospect, given Henderson's stalling out over the course of the season. We need a lot on offense if we are to take advantage of Drake's skill. There's still a lot to do on that side. maybe more than can be done in one more year, or maybe they'll surprise us again next year on the upside, as they certainly did this year, from the perspective of any reasonable observer.

Time to unveil the secret weapon that is Efton Chism.

We are - what? - half way or a bit more through a rebuild from certified garbage? The job isn't done: stay the course.

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