You may think that the Patriots are always successful. Some years, that may be true, but these recent years, the Patriots have been on a big downfall. In March of 2022, the New England Patriots signed an agreement with Tampa Bay to send Tom Brady to the Buccaneers in exchange for a draft pick for the upcoming season. Many people had mixed emotions about this decision by the Patriots organization. Was this the right move? Many say that getting rid of Brady was a mistake after the team’s performance declined significantly over the following seasons.
Through 2020-2024, the Patriots have struggled in many different areas, the biggest being the quarterback position. In July of 2020, the Patriots signed quarterback Cam Newton. This turned out to be a big mistake as he did not have a successful season at all. So, the Patriots take a new approach and drafted a quarterback third overall in the 2024 NFL draft. For one of the first times in 4 years, the Patriots made a very good decision. This season, Drake Maye has racked up 3,110 passing yards (1st in the NFL) and 21 passing touchdowns (4th in the NFL), with only 6 interceptions through 11 games.
Drake Maye is at the top of the list to win Most Valuable Player of the entire NFL in only his second season playing professionally. Robert Kraft, the owner of the Patriots, explains, “Drake is very humble and comes from a wonderful family…He’s not into glitz. He’s into hard work and doing what has to be done, and that’s a good New England culture.”
I asked two students their thoughts on the success of the Patriots. Will Jones, a junior from Hingham High, explains, “Personally, I am an Eagles fan, but recently I have been very impressed with what Drake Maye has been able to accomplish with being a very young quarterback.” Grady Ward, also a junior at Hingham High, states, “I think that Robert Kraft has really done a good job in rebuilding the Patriots, and I’m excited to see how the season ends.”
The Patriots have been improving drastically through this season, going 9-2 and having the best record in the entire NFL. That is a big difference from last season, when the Patriots were 1-10 through 11 games last year and had the worst record.
With that record last season, the Patriots got another early draft pick to pick up a very talented Will Campbell, who has been a big addition to the Patriots’ offensive line. However, last week, when the Patriots faced off against the Bengals, Campbell went down with an MCL sprain in his right leg, along with Jared Wilson, another lineman.
So what does this mean for the Patriots? This means that Drake Maye will get less time in the pocket to be able to deliver the ball to his receivers, and this could hurt them badly when facing strong teams later on in the season.
