You know, I could say, “FIVE THINGS TO WATCH FOR AT THE PATS-PANTHERS SECOND-SEASON GAME!!!”
But in this highly touted practice between the two teams with the WORST offenses in football last year, the bar is inevitably set pretty low. Things like “Watch them get in and out of the huddle…” … “Watch for pre-snap penalties…” were running through my head.
It’s the football equivalent of hoping your baby will go “boom-boom” in the potty. Although, that happened to me last year, too.
In my article “SIX THINGS TO WATCH FOR” before the season opener last year, No. 1 was:
We want to make sure it looks neat, okay?
Do you know how many penalties the Patriots got in their season opener last year? Twelve. Twelve for 89 yards. Too many men on the field (defense). False start. Illegal formation on a kickoff. Holding. Offensive pass interference. False start. Defensive pass interference. Illegal contact. Illegal use of hands. False start. Face mask. Face mask. Illegal shifting. Roughness on the passer.
Do you know how many penalties they got in the second warm-up game? Twelve. Twelve for 104. With one more man too many on the field, an offside position in defense and four more false starts.
Way too much chaos. And it was the harbinger of what turned out to be the most disorganized, dysfunctional and troubling season of Bill Belichick’s 23-year tenure.
Even though most of the regulars won’t be playing, it’s still important for me to see how much attention to detail the guys at the bottom of the roster – and the coaching staff – are putting on. Quality control was a mess in 2022. Let’s see if it was a blip or a trend.
They cleaned it up. Five penalties against the Texans. They were also super offensive until the last drive of the game…
Anyway, instead of telling you what to look for, I’m going to tell you FIVE THINGS I WANT TO SEE.
Air it, brother…
The Patriots have spent months getting Drake Maye to NFL level. He’s progressing about as expected. There are hiccups and stutters. Definite improvement. But still not there. The gap between him and Jacoby Brissett is probably bigger now than it was at the start of training camp because Jacoby is comfortable in his group and knows where all the trip wires are.
Still, I want to see Maye throw the ball as far as he can on his second snap, assuming the offense is more than 60 yards from the end zone.
Throw the fans a damn bone. Throw Maye a bone. Throw the wideouts a bone. It doesn’t matter if it’s a long foul, an interception, or hitting one of the end zone militias right in the chest… just show that there’s something different in the arsenal now.
For the rest of the evening, we can watch wide zone runs and Bryce Baringer’s punts. At some point in the next three seasons (hopefully more), the Patriots will need to revamp their offense to play to Maye’s strengths. And that doesn’t mean hitting irons off the tee and into the middle of the fairway.
And if Maye threw the ball 66 yards, Joe Milton should throw it 74 yards. Once. Once.
Mike Giardi, Tom Curran and Phil Perry explain why they want to see as much Drake Maye as possible in the Patriots’ season opener
A less than breathless reaction to everything that happens
I know. I’ve been told this a million times. That’s our job. We overreact. That’s our job. I have to get used to it. Or at least not audibly rolling my eyes.
But since this is a practice game with a first-year head coach, first-year coordinators on both sides of the ball, a newly formed coaching staff, a new offense and everything else, it’s going to look like crap at times. More likely than not.
Just remember that in the Patriots’ first preseason game against Houston last year, CJ Stroud was sacked in a 15-point loss and intercepted by Jalen Mills on the Texans’ first drive.
The Texans made it to the playoffs. Stroud was named Offensive Rookie of the Year.
Malik Cunningham is now a Raven and they are trying to convert him to a wide receiver.
13 Points or less for the Panthers
It’s well known that the Patriots’ defense is really good. It was the only piece of driftwood they were clinging to until the end of their shipwrecked 2024 season. They’ve been stifling so far in training camp, which we’ve attributed in part to the inexperience of the offense.
It would be nice if the Panthers were given the same harsh treatment, no matter how far down the rankings Carolina moves.
4.0 Yards per run
It’s going to be a run-heavy year. And with adjustments to the running game, where the Patriots will try more wide zone, there will be an adjustment.
The Patriots tried to play wide zone in 2022, but had to abandon that as their primary strategy pretty early in the season because they just weren’t good at it. They were better suited personnel-wise to be a downhill, gap zone team that didn’t ask the offensive line to go into space.
There will be no rotation this year. They will play wide zone with offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt. There have been plenty of running drills so far in camp. The hope is that it’s because the Patriots’ front seven defenders are just really good and they’ll be able to find space tonight against Carolina.
From Joe Milton to Jaheim Bell
Milton’s arm is electrifying. Does he have a better training camp than Drake Maye? Could he earn the starting spot? In the words of my buddy Chris Mason of MassLive, that’s “aggressively stupid.”
Milton has been more than good. He makes some amazing pitches. Watching him throw in 1-on-1 games is like watching (insert your favorite power hitter here) take batting practice. But he rarely gets to play in 11-on-1 games because of the competition between Brissett and Maye for the starting spot. And that competition is basically over.
The ideal future for the Patriots’ quarterback unit has Maye as the starter and Milton as the backup, both with command, accuracy, an understanding of Van Pelt’s desires and the green light to show it off as the team goes from an insufferable offense to (hopefully) a damn entertaining team.
Still, I want those of you who weren’t at training camp to see what we saw with Milton’s arm, and I’d love to see him play with seventh-round rookie Jaheim Bell a time or two. Bell just started practicing this week, and the tight end showed fantastic hands on a hard-hitting red-zone throw from Maye.
The fourth quarter of the first preseason game is made for falling in love. Give me three Milton Bell connections.
