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Game Recap: Patriots Look Explosive in 42-13 Win vs Panthers

The Patriots secured their first home win in dominant fashion, putting together their most well-rounded performance in years.
Taylor KylesBy 8 Mins Read

Quality teams turn home games against bad opponents into blowout wins. That’s exactly what the Patriots did on Sunday, beating the Panthers 42-13.

It was New England’s most complementary performance in years, with dominant performances from the offense, defense, and special teams.

“When we don’t beat ourselves and we take care of the football and we play complementary football and we get stops on third down, the return, the special teams are a factor, and we score touchdowns in the red zone, it can look like something,” Mike Vrabel said postgame. “Again, that’s not guaranteed every week, but certainly we can see the difference in how critical those phases are and putting them all together.”

The Patriots started slow for a second straight week, allowing a 76-yard touchdown drive before going three-and-out. Momentum quickly shifted, as a defensive stop on the next series led to a long punt return score and New England’s first points of the game. Carolina didn’t score again until their final drive, while the Patriots scored touchdowns on three straight 2nd quarter drives before adding another in each of the next two quarters.

“We get back to our fundamentals and kind of back to establishing our identity,” Drake Maye told reporters. “I felt like we did that. Probably didn’t hurt ourselves. A few penalties we’d like to have back and obviously three and outs we could have done a better job on first down. Proud of the defense. They put us in some great spots. Marcus Jones, can’t say enough about him. Shoot, he’s the best in the game at it. I feel it was a full team effort and proud of the guys.”

New England’s offense finished with zero turnovers, 100 rushing yards, and went 4-4 in the red zone. The offensive line was also excellent in protection, with the only sack coming on a Maye scramble attempt. Their defense gave up its first 100-yard rushing performance, but Bryce Young threw for less than 200 yards, and the Panthers went just 5-14 on third downs and 1-3 on fourth downs. Special teams also generated multiple big returns while prevented at least one potential disaster in coverage.

With very little to complain about in such a lopsided victory, here are five Patriots who are trending up after today’s game and one nitpick.

5 Up

Drake Maye

Outside of a near-interception on his first attempt and low passes to start the 2nd half, Maye was dialed in and dangerous against the Panthers.

The sophomore quarterback has shown stretches of impressive decisiveness and accuracy, but he seemed to capitalize on more downfield opportunities than last week. That led to a season-high five explosive completions, two touchdowns through the air, and another on a scramble.

Maye also continued to excel on late downs, including an aggressive back shoulder completion on 4th & 3 for 30 yards.

“Yeah, I sure hope so,” Maye said when asked if this is the best version of himself. “If it leads to wins, that’s what I’m trying to become and the quarterback I’m trying to become. I try to do it kind of just my whole career, kind of spread it around and give it to the guys that can make plays. I think everybody’s got some chance on our team, our skill guys to make the defense give them a problem.”

Marcus Jones

The Panthers’ kickoff unit was the talk of the town this week, but it was the Patriots’ punt return team that made special teams headlines this afternoon.

Jones had the best professional game of his career as a returner, setting a franchise record with 167 return yards. Jones also scored for the first time since his walk-off return against the Jets in 2022.

The touchdown was especially impressive considering Jones began by making two defenders miss, then ran behind a unit containing multiple defensive linemen.

Jones wasn’t done, as he nearly housed his second return of the day before being tripped up by the punter for a 61-yard gain, setting up Gibson’s eventual goal-line score. He also broke three tackles on a solid return in the 3rd quarter.

“He’s not the biggest player, but he’s got great play strength, I think, with the football in his hand,” Vrabel said of the team captain. “He’s got great vision, and, again, you have to be fearless at some level to catch that punt and know that you’re going to make the first guy miss. We’re confident in that. I think he kind of just — it’s just a natural skill. It’s hard to teach. It’s hard to teach with all those bodies in traffic and catching it first and making great decisions with it back there. It’s a lot of comfort with him back there, and we need to continue to make it a weapon.”

Run Game

The Patriots’ ground game needed a big bounce-back game, and that’s exactly what they got against the Panthers. New England ran for over 100 yards and three touchdowns, including multiple explosive carries.

“I thought those guys, we established the run early,” Maye said. “We had some different scheme kind of plays that kind of gave the defense some misdirection that I thought we hit right on the head and turned into explosive plays.”

Antonio Gibson sparked things early with an explosive gain on a jet sweep. One drive later, Gibson followed a dominant combo between Will Campbell and Ben Brown for his first touchdown of the season.

Rookie TreVeyon Henderson scored for the first time in his career this afternoon, showing patience, pad level, and power to plow ahead for a five-yard run with Austin Hooper, Hunter Henry, Ben Brown, and Morgan Moses throwing key blocks. Henderson also had an explosive gain on an end-around early in the 2nd half.

Rhamondre Stevenson didn’t have many holes to run through, but he averaged 4.2 yards on nine carries, highlighted by a 22-yard gain off the left side.

And most importantly, the Patriots’ backfield ended the day without a fumble.

Stefon Diggs

Stefon Diggs finally broke out for New England after a solid, but unexciting first three games.  The veteran posted his first 100-yard game as a Patriot and the 37th of his career, accounting for multiple explosives.

Diggs’ first big catch came on a crosser where he used a stair-step to separate against cornerback and former Patriot Mike Jackson.

Diggs’ big day really took off in the 2nd half, which featured two big catches in critical situations.

The veteran caught a converted on a 3rd & 15 on a middle-field completion to overcome a holding penalty. One drive later, Diggs caught a back shoulder ball for 30 yards on an aggressive 4th & 3 throw from Maye, putting the receiver over 100 yards.

“He looked a little faster than I thought,” Maye joked. “He looked pretty fast. I think he’s just going to keep getting more comfortable. Shoot, he’s a great player with the ball in his hands. He’s a great leader on this team. He’s great with the energy, being positive, and glad he’s a Patriot.”

Christian Barmore

Christian Barmore didn’t show up much on the stat sheet, but he was a consistent presence in Carolina’s backfield.

The defensive tackle helped Khyiris Tonga flush Bryce Young to influence a throw away, got quick pressure on a batted pass, put the pocket in Young’s lap on multiple late downs, and drew his latest holding call.

Barmore looked better as a run defender than pass rusher through the first few games, but he seemed to take another step toward his 2023 form, and his head coach noticed his efforts.

“They want sacks, and they want all this,” Vrabel said. “[Christian] Barmore is disrupting the quarterback, and he’s getting holding calls. I don’t want him to be frustrated, but I see those things.”

Nit-Pick

Penalties

Penalties continued to pile up for the Patriots this afternoon.

Alignment issues continue to plague the defensive line, as Harold Landy was flagged for a neutral zone infraction and Anfernee Jennings was called for lining up offsides.

Some post-snap penalties, like Carlton Davis‘ pass interference and holding calls against Tetairoa McMillan, must be improved, but aren’t as egregious. Especially against yet another officiating crew that calls things tight. Austin Hooper was also called for a facemask that was clearly unintentional while blocking in the red zone.

The most concerning post-snap infraction was Henderson’s holding penalty, which was his third in as many games and came on one of the rookie’s only blocking reps.

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Taylor Kyles is the lead NFL Analyst for CLNS Media covering players, schemes, and tendencies through a New England Patriots-centric lens.

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