Fan Notes from the Patriots’ 33-15 win over the Giants

It’s tough to think of a better way to cap off the official start of the holiday season than with a convincing Monday Night win over the New York Giants to move to 11-2. In a league year where every team in the league has some massive flaws, wins are the only thing that matters, and the Patriots currently have 11 of them.

1. About five minutes before kickoff, Gillette Stadium looked virtually empty. By the time Terrell Jennings made the slowest kick return for great yards since Dan Connolly, the place was packed. Walking back and forth up those endless ramps understandably takes a little longer when it’s cold outside.
2. This game was more or less over by the end of the first quarter, and in the second half New England totally switched tack to milk clock and force the Giants into long drives, so I’ll take all of that into account when breaking this game down.
3. That said, though, I’d like to say that red zone offense is something they need to clean up…but it’s December. I can’t help but feel like the window for cleaning things up is closed. Five red zone trips, and one TD to show for it. That’s just not going to cut it when the playoffs start.
4. But here we are, early December, and talking playoffs, which are all but guaranteed at this point. Even if the Patriots lose out the rest of the way to finish 11-6 – which, by the way, represented this team’s 2025 ceiling for even the most wildly optimistic Pats fan – enough will likely happen around the league for them to get a playoff spot. And they accomplished it all before their bye week.
5. And what a time for the bye. Week 14 is comically too late for any team to get a week off, but what can you do. This team needs the break in the worst way, and I’m glad they’re coming into the bye without any further injuries. That’s the biggest win here.
6. But in a much more direct way, the biggest win came in the form of the win that the Patriots won by scoring 33 points to New York’s 15. And in said win that they won, they looked efficient, well-balanced, and disciplined.
7. Most of the eyes were on the offensive line last night, which saw two new starters and a center who was battling an illness of some sort. And while the stat line will show three sacks, two of them came as Maye was scrambling and looking to take off and came right on the line of scrimmage. It was a very solid outing overall. Maye had time to throw and didn’t seem to be under duress at any point.
8. Though to be fair, Drake Maye possesses a level of calmness that I should find creepy, but I don’t because he’s my quarterback and so I love it. He makes everything look effortless...