So after losing in the Super Bowl, losing the season-opening game, bouncing back with a win against Pittsburgh and then losing horrendously to Jacksonville, what do the New England Patriots do? They move on, and they do what they always do: put the Buffalo Bills in their place in the AFC East. The 2026 National Football League (NFL) season hasn’t gone off to the greatest of starts for the six-time Super Bowl champ New England Patriots. In the last two games, however, I feel like the team’s fixed a good amount of the problems they faced (turnovers, playcalling being a couple), and it reassures my confidence I put into the team, even after the bad start.
First, I would like to talk about the Patriots offense, starting with third-year quarterback Drake Maye. Last year, Maye made it through the playoffs and went to the Super Bowl in his second year. Only nine quarterbacks have done this in league history, the last being Brock Purdy of the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl 58, a rare achievement. Further, he finished in fourth place for most passing yards in the league, a total of 4,394. Even better, he led the league in passes completed, having a completion rate of 72.0%. Why do I bring that up? To show that all he needed to do was “get back into the groove”. He didn’t play in any of the preseason, and the league-leading seven interceptions are inexcusable, but the game against Buffalo showed that he’s got his confidence back and he’s returning to form.
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In the game against Buffalo, Maye had two turnovers, one fumble lost and an “interception,” which I think more or less is on wide receiver Romeo Doubs for pretty much handing Buffalo the ball on a silver platter. During the game, Maye threw for 269 yards, his highest of the season up to that point and had 3 touchdown passes.
Two were to the previously mentioned Doubs, who had to step up due to A.J. Brown’s injury in week one, where I found some faith to put him in. The third was to the second-year undrafted free agent Efton Chism III, who had an unbelievable catch in the fourth quarter to seal the win for New England. The following game, against the Las Vegas Raiders, saw them play even better. Vegas’ defense was ranked 8th overall in the league and led the league in forced turnovers.
In that game, Maye had zero turnovers, though RB Corey Kiner did fumble once; that was the only NE turnover all game. Maye threw for 374 yards and four touchdowns, had 25 rushing yards and ran one touchdown in, having 399 yards in total on the day, having a 76% completion rate. Undoubtedly, this stands so far as his best game of the season, and I certainly can not wait for what the rest of the season holds in store.
While the offense found its footing, I’d like to highlight another fantastic part of the team, the defense. The defense currently sits at fifth place overall, with 296.2 opponent net yards. They’ve accomplished this, even while a lot of the starters are out with injuries, notably cornerback Christian Gonzalez and defensive tackle Christian Barmore, who were both out for the game against Buffalo. Still, they held Bills running back James Cook to 75 yards and quarterback Josh Allen to just four rushing yards, notable because the Los Angeles Rams “super team” defense would let him rush for 111 yards almost a week later.
The notable standouts on defense include second-year linebacker Elijah Ponder, who had four tackles, a sack and a fumble recovery against Buffalo. Against Vegas, he had a forced fumble, six total tackles and two sacks on the day. Another standout and someone to keep an eye on is rookie linebacker Gabe Jacas. While the stats are quieter than Ponder’s, his most notable performance came against Vegas with a 16% pressure rate, two total tackles (one for a loss) and four total pressures. Jacas also has one interception on the season, where he picked off Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and returned it 11 yards.
So after the rough start, the Patriots are humming again and just in time. I think this will be New England without a doubt, and I look forward to watching it in all its glory.
Nathan Eliopoulos can be contacted at
neliopoulos@kscequinox.com
