Patriots Mailbag: What measured up and what didn’t in the win over the Bills?

On Sunday the New England Patriots picked up a statement win, beating the Buffalo Bills 23-20 on Sunday Night Football. It's the first major win of the Mike Vrabel era.

That game also served as a good measuring stick for the Patriots against one of the best teams in the NFL. Where are the Patriots' true strengths, and where does the team need to improve the most? We'll hit on both sides of that coin in this week's Patriots Mailbag...

There certainly have been instances in Drake Maye's game where he's been more reactive to the pass rush. Early in this game in particular it felt like there were times he was reacting to pressure that wasn't really there.

That being said, in the second half specifically he did a much better job of keeping his eyes down field to extend plays. Some of his best throws - including both highlight throws to Stefon Diggs - came because he kept his head up while avoiding pressure.

The more Maye gets comfortable navigating the pocket by feel, the better he'll continue to get off-script. It's not an usual thing for a young quarterback to need to improve on, and it does look like he's making progress.

I thought they were fine. It wasn't their best game of the year, but I also don't think it was a situation where the offense was handcuffed because of pressure, as was the case so often last year.

To the point of the last answer too, I think some of that perceived pressure was created by Maye running himself into trouble. PFF has five of the Patriots' 15 pressures allowed attributed to Maye himself. That's something he's been better about over the course of the season - he had three such pressures total heading into Sunday night.

That's not to say that Maye shouldn't be looking to navigate the pocket. Some of his rollouts weren't forced outright by pressure, but may have been a situation where he was trying to manipulate the defense by moving (ex. the deep sideline throw to Diggs). Again, this will be a feeling-out process as the season goes on.

A little bit of both? It certainly felt like Diggs had some extra juice going into that game, and he was facing a banged-up Buffalo secondary. I don't think 10 catches for 146 yards will be the standard for him week in and week out, but I don't think it's a total aberration either.

At the same time, this is now two weeks in a row where the Patriots have altered his usage to spread him around the formation and set him up with catch-and-run situations, then build off of those with deeper routes. In both games Diggs has looked explosive and impactful after the catch. I do think there may be an element of him being more comfortable, both physically coming off of the torn ACL and mentally in the offense.

With Antonio Gibson out for the year, the Patriots have multiple roles to fill. It's not just running back, Gibson was their top kickoff returner too.

As for who steps in for him, it depends which of the roles the team is more focused on filling, and what their plan is for rookie TreVeyon Henderson. If Henderson is going to step into a bigger role as the true spell back to Stevenson, they may look to add depth and a player with more special teams experience like Ja'Mycal Hasty, who was the the kick returner in New England last year (he's currently on the Dolphins' practice squad). Terrell Jennings is currently on the Patriots' practice squad and could also potentially fill that role. If the Patriots are looking for more of a true rotational back, then they may need to go outside of the organization.

As for the trade deadline, it's still going to be a few weeks until that picture clarifies. With seven playoff teams in each conference fewer teams are truly out of it midway through the season, with 25 teams having at least two wins to this point (and two of the seven other teams are in the AFC East and may be less willing to trade with the Patriots). Big picture though, I think a defensive addition would make the most sense, either a pass rusher or...

...somebody to help cover tight ends. Whether that be a linebacker, safety, or cornerback can be debated, but that is my biggest issue with the Patriots' defense right now. Through five games they're allowing the eighth-most catches and second-most yards to opposing tight ends in the NFL. Dalton Kincaid got them a few times on Sunday night, and it looked like there were a few more opportunities Josh Allen may have missed.

For the edge rusher position as a whole, adding some more depth at some point might not be a bad idea. Overall though I'm not too worried about that position especially with what Anfernee Jennings has been giving them as a rotational option.

As for Keion White, it feels like he might be at his most productive when he's able to play on the inside. However he's blocked there right now by Milton Williams. Christian Barmore, and Khyiris Tonga in passing situations.

I have actually seen this number tracked in the past, with broadcasts putting a 'good from' yardage up on the screen. However, I'm struggling to find the data from Andy Borregales' game-winner. If anybody out there can find it (or anybody who know how to do the math - would it be like the problem of finding the tree height based on a shadow?), please share.

But here's part of what makes that kick so impressive - the trajectory. Many NFL kickers can, in theory, put the ball through the goalposts from 60-plus yards away. We occasionally used to see kickers put the ball through on kickoffs. However, for many that distance requires a line drive kick and a lower trajectory, making it more susceptible to being blocked. For Borregales to get as much air under that kick as he did is truly impressive.