Where do we need to improve

We saw this during the regular season red zone woes not be able to run the ball. Build a power run team to protect maye

SONS_OF_BELICHICK said:

Where are the areas we need improve on to get back to the big game?

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All of our weaknesses that we dealt with so well all throughout the season really came to fruition during the postseason IMO..

1. Will Campbell show have never returned this season from that serious MCL tear.. he was rock solid prior to the injury. Lowe was giving better snaps at LT when Campbell returned he become a liability.. Wilson needs to move to C and Campbell to LG Drake just had no time whatsoever...

2. Outside of Pop running around no WR really got open and made plays... Hollins made a few.. confirms that we need to add at WR& TE

3. On defense we were excellent.. we lost contain on the edges in the superbowl in the run game however without the defense we don't get to the SB. We need to add to edges at Pass rush to fully maximize the full potential in defense.

4. OT/TE/EDGE/WR are the needs IMO..

PatsFan2 said:

Diggs and H Henry needs to go thanks for the memories.

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Twin Diggs is under contract.. and H. Henry will resign.. those guys were big parts of the offense this season.. Diggs started getting doubled is why his production dropped off...

I think everyone has Oline and TE covered.

Personally I'd like for them to add the LB room. I think you can improve there.

Lock up Gonzo too.

TheRazorsEdge said:

I think everyone has Oline and TE covered.

Personally I'd like for them to add the LB room. I think you can improve there.

Lock up Gonzo too.

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Agreed.. gibbens is solid rotational player but we can stand to upgrade at LB.. however the greater need is EDGE..

Lagaffe_07 said:

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.

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That was shocking. There was zero benefit to leaving him in. Vrabel has to put the team before any one individual. Bill might have been a jerk. But he did not hesitate to bench guys who were playing bad. Campbell never sees the field in the second half if Bill were HC.

To take off and hide from the media is an even worse look. Everyone else owned up to their mistakes. If you can't handle the pressure, maybe he is in the wrong profession.

NFL Mystique said:

That was shocking. There was zero benefit to leaving him in. Vrabel has to put the team before any one individual. Bill might have been a jerk. But he did not hesitate to bench guys who were playing bad. Campbell never sees the field in the second half if Bill were HC.

To take off and hide from the media is an even worse look. Everyone else owned up to their mistakes. If you can't handle the pressure, maybe he is in the wrong profession.

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I've said plenty that W. Campbell realistically probably should have remained on IR.. w. Campbell before and after the injury are two totally different players..

Sign the center from Baltimore. Trade with Philly for Brown. Draft Oline edge, and a tight end.

n1997y said:

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.


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.

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Vrabel should have made that message clear after the first two offensive drives. I think they got in Maye's head to not make mistakes that it led to whatever it was that everyone saw in the postseason. That was a QB Playing scared.

He needs to work on his pocket awareness and taking checkdowns. The "hero ball" stuff is also going to lead to more turnovers than not. I never thought there would be any question about him getting an extension in 2027. But if he really struggles next year, the Patriots have a tough decision to make. Don't extend him and pick up his 5th year option. Or extend him at a reduced amount? I just have a hard time believing what everyone saw tonight is the real Drake Maye. He can be so much better.

The person I would be most concerned about is McDaniels. He doesn't have Tom Brady anymore. His QB won't automatically figure it out on his own and turn B receivers into A receivers. Zero adjustments or scheme changes. Just nothing.

NFL Mystique said:

Vrabel should have made that message clear after the first two offensive drives. I think they got in Maye's head to not make mistakes that it led to whatever it was that everyone saw in the postseason. That was a QB Playing scared.

He needs to work on his pocket awareness and taking checkdowns. The "hero ball" stuff is also going to lead to more turnovers than not. I never thought there would be any question about him getting an extension in 2027. But if he really struggles next year, the Patriots have a tough decision to make. Don't extend him and pick up his 5th year option. Or extend him at a reduced amount? I just have a hard time believing what everyone saw tonight is the real Drake Maye. He can be so much better.

The person I would be most concerned about is McDaniels. He doesn't have Tom Brady anymore. His QB won't automatically figure it out on his own and turn B receivers into A receivers. Zero adjustments or scheme changes. Just nothing.

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Come on there was not much Josh could do if Maye does not pick up the intermediate passes. Only thing which I feel he could have adjusted was having rham in for the blitzes . The problem I feel is the offensive line just could not hold 4:rushers despite outnumbering them by 1 .

Maye missed too many throws. His heave ho throw looked so off. I believe his shoulder mechanics were of and he has some injury. His throws did not seem correct.

Toofy said:

Come on there was not much Josh could do if Maye does not pick up the intermediate passes. Only thing which I feel he could have adjusted was having rham in for the blitzes . The problem I feel is the offensive line just could not hold 4:rushers despite outnumbering them by 1 .

Maye missed too many throws. His heave ho throw looked so off. I believe his shoulder mechanics were of and he has some injury. His throws did not seem correct.

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Gotta wonder how much of am impact the painkiller in his shoulder had on his throwing/accuracy.

RobertWeathers said:

Gotta wonder how much of am impact the painkiller in his shoulder had on his throwing/accuracy.

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Drake was so slow reading the fields and making a decision that I thought the medical staff missed his shoulder and hit his brain

Offense as a whole.
WRs are not up to the challenge of being a playoff contender.
O-line don't need to say anything.
Running game has been garbage. Rham catching some passes is the only good thing I can remember, he recovered well from his fumbling problem early in the season, but Henderson has been a disappointment.

Can't overreact to the Super Bowl. Sea was #1 in Off and Def DVOA, 6 teams have done that and 5 won the Super Bowl, Only Playoff Lamar kept it from being 6 for 6.
We have to just beat Buffalo the next few years to win division.

Before the playoffs I think defensive upgrades were likely higher priority, man how that switched.

Studs on defense: Williams, Gonzo, and Woodson (Yes, guy went from average to all pro over the season)
Studs on offense: Drake Maye

Pop Douglas need to be upgraded, hoping Chism can take that role but don't know yet. They need the Welker/Edelman guy

Must be realistic, #1 WR, top LT, and elite DE rushers don't become available often. It's all great to say we need that but you aren't just going to find it.

Campbell was a 22-year-old rookie, yeah ideally, he goes to guard and Wilson eventually to center but for 2026 season you hope they both make a 2nd year leap which only About 1/3 of players make. Let's be realistic What LT will be available that is better than the potential of Campbell?

I trust, after 2025, that Vrabel will be able to sift thru free agents. They hit on so many guys that nobody mentioned in the off season.

All great to dream of top end free agents but who will actually be available?
Pickens: Franchise Tag
Linderbaum: Bet he stays in Baltimore since he publicly said he wants to stay
Pitts: Reports are franchise tag or stays in Atlanta with new deal
J. Phillips: Eagles letting him go after the trade? Doubtful
On and on you go down the list and most studs never become available.
Rasheed Walker will likely be available, but Chicago abused him in playoffs so what you really gaining?

Drafting late in round 1 and 2 is a great place to pick up a TE, LB, RB or Safety. These are the value positions that tend to fall into that range and get you a starter.

My idea of realistic plan
-LB and either a Safety (Replace Hawkins) or TE with the first 2 picks.
-Try to Sign Hendrickson and trade for AJ Brown. (probably cost you that #2 pick tho) Crosby cost too much
-Hit on at least 2 later picks, have some faith after 2025 draft they can.
-Wilson and Campbell get a full off season to improve.
-Find someone to upgrade Pop Douglas. Hoping Chism can do it but not counting on it. Need the Edelman Welker guy that can get open short and quick.

You can't have all-pros at every position and need to be realistic, only 1 or 2 studs a year make free agency, and 31 other teams are chasing those same 1 or 2 guys.

varjao said:

Offense as a whole.
WRs are not up to the challenge of being a playoff contender.
O-line don't need to say anything.
Running game has been garbage. Rham catching some passes is the only good thing I can remember, he recovered well from his fumbling problem early in the season, but Henderson has been a disappointment.

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Henderson has absolutely no vision. Even some of his explosive in the regular season are the results of him picking the wrong hole, hitting the back of his OL and getting bounce off the opposite side where there is nobody

Craig Woodson is 18 months older than Christian Gonzalez? WTH?

Lagaffe_07 said:

Drake was so slow reading the fields and making a decision that I thought the medical staff missed his shoulder and hit his brain

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

The problem was the left side of the line was porous, SEA blitzed out of nowhere, he was slow with his reads and sometimes too quick in them (ghosts). He had accuracy problems w/ the bum wing and had difficulty reading the coverages. Talk about a perfect storm of bad.

This was 2007 SB all over again. 4 man rush getting to the QB w/ occasional blitz. Couldn't run the ball. Zone coverage all night.

Real fan 02 said:

Twin Diggs is under contract.. and H. Henry will resign.. those guys were big parts of the offense this season.. Diggs started getting doubled is why his production dropped off...

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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.

Huckleberry1 said:

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.

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That is a good frame of reference. Having the playing strength to stop the bull rush is all about leverage and positioning. Both players will benefit from an off season to build on their rookie seasons. For Campbell the injury was also a big factor that derailed a good rookie year at a very difficult position, that is expensive to fill. Ideally the team can spend at other positions with the confidence that Campbell will be able to take a year 2 step up. Regardless of where they end up playing both should be long time contributors.

NFL Mystique said:

Vrabel should have made that message clear after the first two offensive drives. I think they got in Maye's head to not make mistakes that it led to whatever it was that everyone saw in the postseason. That was a QB Playing scared.

He needs to work on his pocket awareness and taking checkdowns. The "hero ball" stuff is also going to lead to more turnovers than not. I never thought there would be any question about him getting an extension in 2027. But if he really struggles next year, the Patriots have a tough decision to make. Don't extend him and pick up his 5th year option. Or extend him at a reduced amount? I just have a hard time believing what everyone saw tonight is the real Drake Maye. He can be so much better.

The person I would be most concerned about is McDaniels. He doesn't have Tom Brady anymore. His QB won't automatically figure it out on his own and turn B receivers into A receivers. Zero adjustments or scheme changes. Just nothing.

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What you've described is NYJetsy.

It's not tough at all.