PostGame Thread OFFICIAL PostGame Thread: Patriots lose the opener to Las Vegas 20-13

[DoubleDeluxe]

Here late so way too many posts to read through them all.

Maye wasn't great, but I put just as much blame on McD. Our offense really slowed down once LV started crowding the line and blitzing. McD needs to adjust to that, did we see even one screen? There was a point earlier in the game where Maye was in a rhythm and looked good. Just like the past few years, when you don't threaten the deep 3rd, defences shrink and the short stuff gets really congested and much harder to complete. I think we will see (or really hope) Willams have some deep shots next week.

Running Game was horrific, needs to be much, much, much better!!!!

Coming into the game my biggest worry was the Run D, and outside of a couple of runs early, they really settled in and were stout.

Boutte was impressive. He's the new Meyers. Not a crazy fast great athlete, but just gets opens and catches almost everything.

It was one game. I'm not ready to write Maye off like I have seen others do. Coaches need to call a better game on both sides of the ball.

Lots of work to do.

 

[reflexblue]

I just said 1998 and 2001 were the two bad years, you said he had three.

Reading not your strong point clearly, now you run along and go and compare Drake to another HOF QB with bad logic.

look if you think throwing 25 tds and 23 picks is a good year you a fool

 

[Toofy]

I'm not as down on the team as you. Aside from the good players you mentioned, I'd add:

Milton Williams had 5 hurries and 1 hit.

In fact I thought the DL as a whole did well outside of that first drive.

Will Campbell, aside from that one drive, had a pretty good game so I'm hopeful there.

I thought the safeties did pretty well aside from that Hawkins foul up on the first TD.

Carlton Davies had a good game apart from that one pass.

So not perfect but there were positive elements. However, McDaniels needs to be less conservative and Maye needs to be better. We aren't going to be a good team this year, we just don't have the star power outside of Gonzo and perhaps Williams but we might have a better team than last year if Maye and McDaniels sort things out.

Correction. Davis had a bad game. Crucial pass miss and a crucial tackle miss which was salvaged by Jones coming out of syllabus and making that tackle.

He was horrible. Please..

 

[mayoclinic]

Get Chism in ... He will reenergize the offense .

This.

It's a bigger problem, of course. But the lack of energy from the veterans was noticeable.

I'm ok with rookie mistakes by Campbell, Wilson, Borregales, even Maye to some extent. But the lack of intensity and drive from Stephenson, Douglas and others was inexcusable.

Turn it over to the rookies and let them grow. Get some energy and focus in there, demote whoever doesn't have it.

 

[Kdo5]

But but... barefoot Mack is our Biggest WR: plays very small too.

Yeah I was baffled that people thought he was better than Boutte. Like based on what?

 

[MrBigglesWorth]

Im not making anything up. here are manings stats for the first five years. read up and weep Stop trying to make excuses

Peyton Manning Career Stats - NFL - ESPN

Complete career NFL stats for Denver Broncos Quarterback Peyton Manning on ESPN. Includes scoring, rushing, defensive and receiving stats.

www.espn.com

We have to give him more time. We have no choice. I'm just ticked because we knew he needed more reps and they sat him preseason games

 

[Real fan 02]

the official gamebook

https://static.www.nfl.com/gamecenter/f5919f8e-311e-11f0-b670-ae1250fadad1.pdf

It's funny, for those dumping on drake.. the lions have 3 points I wonder if Campbell is going to bench him... .. even in a loss I'm still encouraged by Vrabel and where the organization is headed... work in progress.

 

[reflexblue]

Maye is not showing that Killer instinct as player. We haven't seen that since Brady: if we are picking Top 10 in 2026 we have a QB problem again.

Not yet, there were games last year that he did have that look. i was disappointed that the team didn't look sharp ,but to me its still like preseason, with a new hc, oc, and players. im going to wait until oct to make any kind of judgment. i wouldn't start looking for a new qb just yet. Im not saying maye will be the next payaton manning just that even some of the greatest qbs have rough starts to their careers

 

[Real fan 02]

But but... barefoot Mack is our Biggest WR: plays very small too.

 

[Real fan 02]

I dunno look at the scores around the league today, lots of teams win or lose are probably wondering if they got their hopes up. League looked like week 3 preseason

Agreed! The lions have only 3 points!!!!!!

 

[JoeSixPat]

I saw many of the lapses I expected to see - both on D and on O

But there's a lot of positives to build on here - which is a much different vibe even compared to last year's Week 1 sloppy win.

This was a sloppy loss - and a few less sloppy plays and it's a different game.

The OL actually played BETTER than I expected (well, for 3 quarters anyways) - and while the D had some lapses it also showed it can be good as well.

Heck, at the end of Week 1 we could STILL be tied for first place in the AFC East so let's not panic too soon.

 

[stcjones]

Disappointing result.

THE GOOD:
Boutte had a strong game with 6 catches for 103 yards on 8 targets. Watching his progression from his rookie year till now has been nice to see. Reminds me a bit of David Givens progression but Boutte may be a bitter better.

Landry had a good game with 2.5 sacks. Nice pickup.

First Half Defense: After the first possession, the defense shut them out and looked good in doing so.

Gibson in the return game. Gibson was our best RB last season and now with the addition of Hendersen has been reduced to just special teams a few snaps on offense. I like Hendersen but he's essentially the same player as Gibson. That was a bad pick. We needed more help along the OLine.

THE BAD:
Second Half Defense: Too many breakdowns and big chunk plays allowed. The expectation is for the defense to be stout and carry the load while the offense finds its way. That didn't happen.

The offensive line. My fear heading into this season is that we didn't do enough to improve the OLine. Would have liked us to trade down and draft two OT's with our first two picks. Maybe Josh Simmons and Ersery. Today we couldn't run and WC was brutal down the stretch allowing strip sack and the crucial false start. Not good enough.

Pop Douglas' stat line: 7 targets, 2 receptions, -2 yards. Pop did score our only TD on one of those catches but we need more production from the slot. I'm putting Pop on notice. Do better or fan favorite Chism is going to take your position.

Hollings. A total non-factor in the game. When we needed a spark, there was nobody there to provide it. I'd rather see Chism active and given an opportunity than what we saw today.

Rookie Kicker: 40 yard FG's need to be automatic. Those 3 points might have changed the outcome of the game. Instead of being down 10 on our last drive, we would have been within a TD of tying up the game.

THE UGLY:
The inability of the front office to adequately address the the OLine over the past two years.

THE ENTIRE SECOND HALF......On both sides of the ball.

NOT GOOD ENOUGH

Great post …..very happy for Boutte ….how many times did they write him off? Odd man out?! Going to be traded? And all he does is deliver! #1 WR I believe last year and is getting better! Landry was awesome ! Pop does need to step up or Chism will take his playing time. I think Henderson has a lot more angles to him than Gibson….but Gibson is awesome in his own right. The guy who’s going to be sitting on the bench more may be Stephenson who was awful today. Maye deserves the benefit of the doubt right now and may take some time to get it together like Josh Allen or he may never be our franchise QB….time will tell but I think he deserves time to put it together…..not sure how much patience Vrabel will have with him if he doesn’t play well/consistently for the entire season……Secondary is still a work in progress and definitely struggle when Gonzalez is out…..Hope the kid can stay healthy.

 

[stcjones]

Maye barely played in the preseason and it showed today. Hopeful for improvement next week

That’s a good point….repetitions are worthwhile and matter in game time situations….especially when a new OC comes on board…

 

[BennyBledsoe]

Wow, many of you really have no idea how most QBs, even good ones, develop.

 

[Grogan14]

It's funny, for those dumping on drake.. the lions have 3 points I wonder if Campbell is going to bench him... .. even in a loss I'm still encouraged by Vrabel and where the organization is headed... work in progress.

I do not think anyone was saying to bench Maye. Just saying he was not good today and its disappointing and concerning for the future. I question whether he has the talent and ability to be a championship qb.
Of course he has 15 games to show if he can be better. As of today he has not shown he has what it takes

 

[stcjones]

Hawkins was bad. Whenever there was a big play Hawkins was usually right there. The pick was on Carlton Davis who undercut the route and made the ball bounce into Hawkins hands.

Yeah wasn’t good game for Hawkins …..hopefully he can turn it around and not be the next Duane Starks

 

[denverpatsfan]

Wow, many of you really have no idea how most QBs, even good ones, develop.

How dare you!!

 

[stcjones]

So many wide open Te's for the Raiders. Decent run stopping. We gave up alot of 3rd and longs. Zero pass rush when we needed it. Geno had 6 plus seconds to throw.

Once again not enough consistent pass rush ….Landry was great and Williams got some pressures….rest not very impressive!

 

[Steve102]

But but... barefoot Mack is our Biggest WR: plays very small too.

I told you he was a 4.

 

[Pape]

It's funny, for those dumping on drake.. the lions have 3 points I wonder if Campbell is going to bench him... .. even in a loss I'm still encouraged by Vrabel and where the organization is headed... work in progress.

we played 30 minutes of decent football... now, just gotta learn to play for 60...

as for Maye, the future is unwritten...