Pats Pulpit
Having won five straight games to improve to 6-2 on the season, the New England Patriots are quickly closing in on matching their win total from the last two years combined. On Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons, they will be in prime position to get one step closer: whereas the Patriots are running hot right now, their opponent is coming off back-to-back losses that dropped them to 3-4 on the season.
Naturally, a lot of our attention over the last days was on that upcoming game (although a couple of trades demanded to be analyzed as well). For anything else, let’s open up the notebook from the week.
Welcome to the latest edition of our Sunday Patriots Notes.
The first half of last week’s game against the Cleveland Browns was a dogfight for the Patriots offense. Facing a relentless pass rush led by future Hall of Famer Myles Garrett, the unit managed only nine total points. While that was enough to take a close 9-7 lead into the locker room at intermission, it was not one to feel comfortable about.
Coming out for the third quarter, therefore, the goal was clear: blow the game open by starting fast and scoring the first touchdown of the afternoon. That is precisely what happened, in large part because of who was calling the shots from the sidelines.
Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels was in his bag on the opening drive of the second half versus Cleveland, seemingly outmaneuvering his opponent on every down. The result was a seven-play, 77-yard series that took just four minutes and saw no third downs before being capped by a touchdown pass from Drake Maye to a wide-open Hunter Henry.
“His demeanor at halftime, you could tell that he was calming us down. He knew that we were good,” said Maye after the game. “Just classic Coach McDaniels drive. He’s just dialing it up multiple times and getting guys open and really making it easy for me”
For McDaniels and his offense, that drive was a turning point in that particular game; the Patriots ended up winning 32-13. Looking at the entire season so far, however, it was just the latest impressive display from a unit that had been one of the worst in football last season.
McDaniels’ arrival alongside head coach Mike Vrabel this offseason is not the only reason for the unit’s improvement from 2024 to 2025, but it did serve as a catalyst: the veteran OC bringing vast experience and a scheme he has refined for a quarter century has allowed both the unit and its young quarterback to take a major leap forward.
“He’s done it his whole life,” said Maye. “I feel like he was put on this earth to be an offensive coordinator.”
“I feel like he is always one step ahead when it comes to anything,” added wide receiver Kayshon Boutte at his locker this week. “On Sundays, we kind of got a...
