Patriots Mailbag: Returning home and looking ahead

When the New England Patriots last played at home, they blew out the Carolina Panthers to get back to .500 through the first month of the season. That game was encouraging, but heading into a meeting with the Buffalo Bills to kick off three road games in a row, it felt like bigger questions loomed.

Fast forward a month, and the Patriots return home from that 'road trip' riding high. They swept all three games, including a blowout win over the Tennessee Titans last week. It's fair to say the mood and energy should be very different returning to Gillette Stadium this week, as wide receiver Pop Douglas pointed out on Sunday.

"I know the energy is going to be out the roof," Douglas predicted. "Our fans, we have some good fans - we have some great fans, and I can’t wait. I can’t wait. It’s nothing better than at home. I need another home win. That’ll feel good."

Will the Patriots keep answering questions as they return home this week? And now that the 'road trip' portion of the schedule is out of the way, what lies ahead? Let's get into that and more in this week's Patriots Mailbag...

While the Patriots should win this week's game against the Browns, I do think in some ways it's the toughest game - relatively speaking - of what was often identified as a weak stretch coming into the season between the Saints, Titans, and Browns. Myles Garrett is the best player the Patriots face in those three games, and he plays a position where he can really cause problems.

If the Patriots clear that game, they'd then get a banged-up but talented Falcons team coming to Gillette Stadium in two weeks. That will be the first of two good measuring stick games. After that they get one of their biggest challenges of the year when they visit the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. If they're still still haven't lost after that stretch, we might be talking about them as a real Super Bowl contender.

It's a little bit of both. Outside of the Bills game the Patriots certainly haven't faced any major challenge, but they're handling these games like a good team should against inferior opponents.

That's not something they were able to do the past few years. Going back to the end of the 2023 season eight of their nine wins before the start of this year were one-score games - and that was against some truly poor opponents. In that same span, they lost eight games by double digits.

So, I wouldn't say they've been 'propped up' by an easy scheduled because most of their wins have been convincing. It's fair to question how tested they've really been, but they'll get some stronger tests coming up soon.

Just from hearing him and his coaches talk about his performance, it sounds like it's his off-field approach. Boutte has talked about being in a better place personally than he was early in his career. He always showed flashes of being this kind of impact player, but never put it together with the consistency needed to feature in an NFL offense. Now that he's doing that, he's been a difference-maker.

He's been solid. I thought he stepped in and gave the Patriots a boost when Christian Elliss was struggling earlier in the year. But with Elliss looking to be more in a rhythm, Gibbens is back in mainly a special teams role - his 11 defensive snaps on Sunday were his fewest since Week 2. As a rotational linebacker he's given the Patriots what they need, namely being a sure tackler. He has just one missed tackle this season in 122 snaps on defense, with no missed tackles in 62 snaps between kick and punt coverage on special teams.

In terms of getting a player kick return reps in order to get him experience, I'd like to see them use Kyle Williams, who has warmed up with returners in recent weeks, in that role. Special teams coordinator Jeremy Springer has stressed having bigger players in that role due to the contact of the play, and while at 5-foot-11, 190 pounds Williams isn't built like a running back he's about the same size as Chism (5-foot-10, 198 pounds). He'd bring more explosiveness to that spot.

Quarterbacks and running backs often get tackled differently because they're being tackled from different angles. Most often running backs are taking head-on defenders, while quarterbacks - especially on scrambles - mainly get tackled from behind. Most QBs will (wisely) give themselves up rather than square up an oncoming defender, but are generally getting caught from behind by trailing pass rushers on a scramble.

As for Maye's approach itself...I talked about this a bit on Twitter here. It looks like Maye made the adjustment in real time, as he does a much better job of keeping his shoulders up and rolling with the tackle on his first scramble back after being pulled from the game. It's just about making that a habit.

If we're talking about a Day 3 pick or picks we're looking at depth players, which I think is realistic. There are multiple spots it would help the Patriots to add.

Edge rusher was the big one for me, but maybe recently-signed Caleb Murphy steps into that role. If so, or additionally, depth at cornerback and safety would help. At cornerback in particular, adding a matchup player who can help handle the kind of speedy wide receivers that have given the Patriots issues would be ideal.

On offense, unless the Patriots are going to work Terrell Jennings into the rotation they at least need another depth running back. Managing Rhamondre Stevenson's workload should still be a priority, and TreVeyon Henderson has struggled to get going to this point.

One other spot to watch - I wonder if any teams who are out of contention that use a true fullback would be willing to move on from that player for an extra draft pick. Converted tight end Jack Westover is still in that role for the Patriots, but with the run game struggling it could make sense to bring in a player with more experience. The Patriots could also sign a fullback in free agency.

Thanks for the question Ty! The first ever football actually was much more round than what's used today. The current prolate spheroid shape was introduced until the late 1920s and early 1930s, when the forward pass became both legal and practical and a different grip was required (did you know at one point, an incomplete pass resulted in a turnover?).

Now to flip it back to you - what do you think it would look like if instead of a puck they used a round ball (made of the same materials) for ice hockey?