The New England Patriots were just 4-13 last year. But you wouldn’t have guessed that based on the hype train heading into the 2025 campaign. They have a promising young QB in Drake Maye and a new, respected head coach in Mike Vrabel, along with several other personnel changes. Still, the jump that some, including Patriots great Rob Gronkowski, were expecting always seemed out of reach.
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New England’s performance in Week 1 confirmed they’re closer to the team they were last year than the one many Patriots truthers hoped to see against the Las Vegas Raiders at home. They lost 20-13, struggling both to run the ball and protect Maye, as the second-year QB was sacked four times.
They did manage four sacks of their own, with the defense showing more promise than the offense. But from Gronkowski’s perspective, it was still a flat performance.
After the season they had last year, the future Hall of Fame tight end expected the Pats to come out with urgency and hit their opponent hard. However, that simply didn’t happen.
“The Patriots, they came out flat, I can tell you that,” Gronkowski said on Up and Adams.
“I bought into the hype in the offseason, no doubt about that. I think a lot of people out there bought into the hype. Everyone thought the Patriots were gonna come out flying, we’re gonna play with urgency. And let me tell you, it wasn’t there,” he added.
While the blocking in front of him was atrocious—his 21 dropbacks under pressure were the most for any QB in Week 1, per PFF—Maye didn’t really impress either. He seemed a little “timid” to those like Gronkowski who were expecting a big Year 2 jump from New England’s 2024 first-rounder.
“Drake Maye had a pretty decent game, but it’s not like he took that next step from his rookie year into his second year. And usually that’s when NFL players make their biggest step in their career… But we did not see that with Drake Maye. He still played pretty good, but he just looked a little timid out there as well,” Gronskowski continued.
The other issues Gronk highlighted for the Patriots were their big-play offense and their red-zone efficiency. They managed just one rush of 10+ yards and two pass plays of 20+ yards on the day, a paltry total. Maye went 2-for-5 on throws of 20+ yards.
In the red zone, they managed just one TD out of three trips, though they did get field goals on the other two. However, only six teams were worse than their 33 percent TD rate from inside the red zone.
“And the Patriots need chunk plays. They need to be able to move the ball down the field with big-time plays. And on top of it, they need to find ways to score in the red zone. They don’t really have any touchdown threats. Guys that can just score immediately just like that in the red zone. They’ve gotta get creative with plays in order to get the guys open. So, the red zone is gonna be a big iffy for the New England Patriots,” said the former TE.
No doubt Vrabel will have identified these issues as well. However, fixing the blocking up front won’t be easy and won’t be done in a week’s time.
The Patriots could struggle until that’s sorted out. They’re lucky they get to go to Miami to play the Dolphins (who were one of the few teams that looked worse than New England on opening weekend) in Week 2.
