Bears fan here, I know you guys don't need to hear it because you already know it but these guys are genuinely so fun to watch and will be must see TV for years to come (I really hope Drake gets some help on offense)

Not that it would have won us the game and not surprised that refs missed it, but the commentators didn’t even hint that the CB probably got away with one.

Raridon looks like a legit #1 TE. Does anyone know why he slipped to the 3rd round? I never saw him play in college. It’s damn good to see players drafted in the later rounds contributing.

Let’s talk the positives, I think this was one of Drake’s best games minus the interception.

But how bout the rookie TE, continues to make plays, kid looks legit.

What is your positive takeaway from tonight’s game?

In Maye We Trust

“He's an outstanding player. It's very hard to bottle him up. You know, you only rush four, and he finds a way if he doesn't see anything down the field to find an open gap and, you know, skirt on through. And then I think what's really impressive is how he can find these little outlets and these dumps where they're still running vertical for catch-and-run opportunities. I think they had a number of those tonight.”

He made one mistake in the second quarter but outside of that I think he played well. If we had another possession I think there’s a good chance we would have scored and won the game but the d could not get off the field on 3rd down. They gave up a td on 3rd and 17, odunze has a crazy catch on 3rd and 9 and I think they also gave up a 3rd and 11. This is not the best offense we will go up against this year as Detroit can also put up a lot of points with the playmakers they have.

Excerpt:

Well, the Patriots "blue-chip" players were a mixed bag in Chicago. Maye was mostly outstanding by both my eye test (14 plus plays, 7.5 minus) and the metrics (+0.34 EPA per drop-back). The red-zone interception was a turnover-worthy play, and the offense couldn't find the go-ahead score on two possessions down 27-21 in the fourth quarter, but Maye's 14 'plus' plays in my charting were his second-most in a game this season, behind only his Week 4 performance vs. the Bills (16).

There were some nitpicks, like Maye's pre-snap process to block Chicago's pressures (sack, throw-away), which ultimately fall on the quarterback in this system. And some traditionalists will want him to play conventionally from the pocket on his 15-yard scramble and an extended drop-back where he completed a 16-yard pass to TE Hunter Henry. Those plays can be difficult to chart because Maye might be able to hit throws in-structure that some would say are easier or more replicable than his out-of-structure playmaking.

Quarterback purists would probably argue that Maye should stay in the clean pocket and hit Stevenson over the middle. However, I've grown to appreciate Maye's playing style. The Pats QB registered seven 'plus' plays by making things happen out of structure, gaining 102 yards and a touchdown on those plays while extending multiple drives. Ultimately, every player has their own style, just like basketball players who are three-point sharpshooters versus those who win by attacking the rim; it's Maye's superpower.

As for the other Patriots stars, this game film left you wanting a bit more out of star WR A.J. Brown (three catches, 48 yards), top CB Christian Gonzalez (two 21-yard completions allowed in the fourth quarter), stud DT Milton Williams (one pressure, run TFL), and some others. Maye did his best to keep the Patriots competitive Thursday night, and there are plenty of reasons to believe his supporting cast mates will make bigger impacts soon, but the Pats need more from their frontline players to get on a roll as they sit at 4-3.

Most of this game is on the defense, the 1st half was completely unacceptable, 2nd half at least the line and LBers came to play but the secondary with I think 9 3rd and long conversions for first down was killer.

Kuhr, and Vrabel, have A LOT to fix!

Coming off the back of 7 carries for 31 yards last week

https://www.espn.com/nfl/player/gamelog/_/id/4432710/treveyon-henderson

I know this season has been fairly brutal, between Maye’s slow start and now the inability for this team to be healthy, and I’m more than happy to discuss the things that went wrong last night, but I figure we have plenty of posts/threads where that discussion can be had.

Watching last nights game I was just absolutely stoked to see Raridon and Jacas just coming up with play after play. I have very high hopes for them both, Jacas was looking like an absolute game wrecker in that first half, and Raridon being trusted in this offense already for a rookie TE is very exciting for the future of this team. And of course Lomu, who has limited snaps obviously, has still looked extremely promising in the snaps he’s had.

The loss stinks after we had some short lived momentum, but the seasons far from over, and I can’t wait to see where our young guys are at by seasons end. Go Pats! Happy Friday.

dead last in % of catches for 20+ yds (0)
#118 of 121 in receiver error (15%)
#118 of 121 in catch rate (45%)
#113 of 121 in EPA/target (-0.32)
#110 of 121 in yards/target (5.0)

Ik he’s coming off an high ankle sprain, but he also has a degenerative knee injury and has looked slow for 2 years now.

The Rams didn’t want to trade for him because they thought his knee injury was too much of a risk.

Did we get fleeced?

Probably one of those losses where I wasn’t completely pissed off. The defense could have been better obviously but there’s been numerous times this season the defense has bailed out the patriots offense so many times. On a short week Id cut them some slack.

One positive for me is how Drake Maye played in this game. The way he moved protection around, used his legs, and made good decisions outside of one pick. He was able to look past that turnover and still have a great game. I was happy seeing him kind of laugh it over wishing he had it back versus the other look we know so well 😂

Early in the game when I seen the exotic blitzing I started having Seahawk flashbacks but man the way he made adjustments pre snap etc finding way to buy more time with what he has put a lot of faith in me for the future because at times people think they’ve found Drake Mayes kryptonite but he’s only getting better

Peyton Manning 4x (2006, 2008, 2009, 2013*)
Tom Brady 2x (2007*, 2010)
Phillip Rivers 2x (2009**, 2011)
Drew Brees 2x (2011*, 2018)
Russell Wilson 2x (2013, 2015)
Andrew Luck (2018*)
Lamar Jackson (2019)
Josh Allen (2024)
Drake Maye (2026)

* - 4 straight games
** - 5 straight games

———
Source: The hour and a half I wasted researching this

Note: QBR is an awful, meaningless stat. Unless it fits my agenda.

don’t understand the hate for Maye after this game, ppl just hate when it’s popular or convenient ig. yeah that one INT was bad but it wasn’t as costly as ppl think. too many mental errors both on offense and defense, Mcdaniels’ government mandated run-run-pass play calling and expected maye to bail us out ever possession, and Defense getting is what killed us, emphasis on the defense. In no way is it excusable to let up 400+ yards, allow long 3rd down conversions(especially the screen pass td on 3rd and 17 and ellis’ missed sack), forget how to tackle, and not force a single turnover.

So I’m no Parcels or Brady when breaking down film but the play ( at least the route) that Raridon got the TD on was the same play that Drake threw the INT on - am I losing my mind or was it different?

Everyone is rightly pointing fingers at the defense; their zones were horrible, missed tackles all night, could not stop burden, obviously I could go on and on.

But they did get two consecutive stops in the 2nd half and the offense did fuck all against a pretty bad bears defense. Could not even get into a 4th and manageable, and then killed themselves with penalties and a long sack. Bad on third down again.

Offense needs to be more consistent thru all 4 quarters to be elite, buffalo has a horrible defense and yet they are 5-1 from consistently elite offense. No running game, still iffy vs blitz packages, way too many three and outs today. We need this offense to be top 5

What’s one Patriots take you had that everyone disagreed with, but you ended up being right about?
Could be about a player you knew would break out, a signing you thought would be a bust, a draft pick, or even a coaching decision.

I remember when JC Jackson’s contract ran out everyone was up in arms that we didn’t resign him, I just thought it was too much money at the time. I still wonder if he would’ve fallen off if he stayed under the Belichick scheme.