That’s what they did Sunday at an unseasonably warm Gillette Stadium with a 42-13 dismantling of a Carolina Panthers team that relieved Bill Belichick’s University of North Carolina outfit of the burden of being that state’s most pathetic major football entity. The Panthers scored on the first drive of the game, missed the extra point, and then got buried under an avalanche of ineptitude and 42 consecutive Patriots points.
We know the .500 Patriots (2-2) can beat really bad teams. That’s not a badge of distinction, but it is a starting point for a team still deciphering the instruction manual for winning, still striving to shake off the self-defeating residue of back-to-back 4-13 seasons. You have to learn to walk steadily without collapsing before you can run.
Take the wins over the Miami Dolphins and the Carolina Panthers — combined 1-6 this season — for what they are: Small steps in the right direction, not leaps forward that will carry over to the next opponent. That’s the seigneurs of the AFC East, the Buffalo Bills. But it’s better than stumbling and tumbling backwards. It represents winning football for beginners.
Contrary to popular delusion, this isn’t going to be an instant turnaround under Vrabel. The Patriots need to form good habits and an identity before they can transform from bottom-feeders to playoff contenders.
“When we don’t beat ourselves and we take care of the football, we play complementary football, we get stops on third down, the special teams are a factor, and we score touchdowns in the red zone … it can look like something,” said Vrabel. “Again, that’s not guaranteed every week, but certainly, we can see the difference.”
Games like Sunday’s are mile markers on the road back to relevance.
Carolina served as a tailor-made confidence booster for Drake Maye and the offense. The futility of the Carolinas feline football entry was exactly what the doctor ordered, especially coming off a self-sabotaging loss to the Steelers. As long as the Patriots didn’t beat themselves, they were going to defeat the banged-up pussycat Panthers.
The offense was opportunistic and efficient. The unit generated 6.4 yards per play, was a perfect 4 for 4 in the red zone and, most importantly, committed zero turnovers after serving Pittsburgh five on a silver platter, including a pair inside the Steelers’ 3-yard line.
There were no cardinal sins on this day, just cardinal numbers on the scoreboard.
“Just proud of them. What we put on tape last week was not what we want to do and who we want to be,” said Maye, who finished 14 of 17 for 203 yards passing with two touchdowns, and added a rushing score.
Maye displayed mature decision-making, and avoided putting the ball or himself in harm’s way. That’s notable since entering Sunday no player had committed more turnovers than Maye (19) since his first NFL start on Oct. 13, 2024.
Arguably, Maye’s best decision of the day came in the third quarter. On first-and-10 at the Carolina 43, he scrambled up in the pocket, saw he was surrounded by Panthers, and then cradled the ball and absorbed a zero-yard sack.
Three plays later, he hit Hunter Henry on a well-designed play-action rollout pass for a 31-yard touchdown to boost the lead to 35-6. Patience is one of the most elusive attributes to inculcate in an eager, young quarterback, especially one as physically gifted as Maye.
Live to play another play is the chess move sometimes. Maye, who posted a career-best 155.6 quarterback rating, experienced positive reinforcement of exercising such discretion.
“Yeah, I think it’s important that he’s seeing those things; that it doesn’t always have to be the biggest play,” said wide receiver Mack Hollins. “Sometimes taking a tackle for no loss is bigger than any play you can make. So seeing him continue to do that is great.”
The relationship between Maye and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels is blossoming, as McDaniels adapts to his young quarterback and calibrates the proper balance of game-planning to the opponent’s weaknesses while emphasizing his offense’s strengths.
For example, Maye’s touchdown run came on a play-action bootleg. There were other creative wrinkles in the run game from McDaniels, like lining the running backs up as wide receivers and motioning them for a jet sweep and an end around.
That combination of comfortability and creativity yielded the explosive plays that Vrabel was clamoring for last Sunday. The Patriots produced seven plays of 20 yards or more, including three 30-yard pass plays. In their first three games, the Patriots had only eight plays of 20 yards total.
“I felt like it was good not to have 15- to 17-play drives,” said Maye. “It felt good to kind of get some lower-play drives and end up in the end zone.”
Of course, the two most explosive plays came not on offense but via the punt return stylings of Marcus Jones. He sparked the Patriots with an 87-yard touchdown, and ripped off a 61-yarder in the second quarter that set up Antonio Gibson’s 1-yard plunge to go up 28-6. The average Patriots drive started at their own 38 thanks to Carolina’s special teams futility and generosity.
It’s no coincidence that the Patriots two most promising performances of the season unfolded against two of the league’s bottom quartile defenses in Miami and Carolina. That’s where and who they are at this juncture. The next step is delivering this type of performance against a higher class of competition.
