Patriots Final Notes, Takeaways Ahead of Week 5 vs. Bills

In the week following the New England Patriots' (2-2) 40-point blowout victory, they'll have their biggest challenge of the season in Week 5 when they travel to Orchard Park for a battle against the division rival Buffalo Bills (4-0) for the final time at Highmark Stadium.

New England will try to put together another complete effort in all three phases of the game on Sunday night. The Patriots accomplished that last week with an explosive outing on special teams, while also receiving contributions from players up and down their roster.

Here are notes, takeaways, and concerns from the week as the Patriots are looking to build off their momentum from last week to get the first set of back-to-back wins of the season.

Offensive Notes:

The Patriots only attempted 18 total passes last week: 17 from Drake Maye and one from Joshua Dobbs. It's the least amount of passes attempted in a single game by Maye since he became New England's starter in Week 6 of his rookie season in 2024; 22, Week 17 vs. Chargers.

Some of that has to do with the large margin of victory, but starting drives with tremendous field position thanks to Marcus Jones' three punt returns , averaging 55.7 yards per return in Week 4, also played a part.

This was the second game of the season in which the Patriots didn't commit any turnovers, which is a welcome sign of progression after committing five turnovers in Week 3.

New England opened a new chapter of its playbook in Week 4, calling for more motion design plays to activate its offensive attack and game scheme. The use of motion comes with many benefits, but for this Patriots team, it's a technique that is being used to disguise the direction of the play.

Over the first four weeks, the Patriots have had a different player as their leading receiver in every game so far. Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels explained this by saying that it’s a sign of a quarterback trying to get everyone involved. One look at the leading receivers for New England through four weeks shows that Maye has done his part to ensure his offensive weapons feel they're being utilized properly.

• Week 1: Kayshon Boutte (103 yards)
• Week 2: Rhamondre Stevenson (88 yards)
• Week 3: Hunter Henry (90 yards)
• Week 4: Stefon Diggs (101 yards)

With this same logic, it’s worth mentioning that the Patriots haven’t had a 100-yard game from any of their running backs yet, and are only averaging just over 100 rushing yards per game as a team after four games (101.3).

As the season progresses, the offense will become more developed and look more established in the system. For the time being, though, these seem to be the type of things that will be focused on week-to-week by those inside and outside of the football building. As Maye and the new offensive weapons around him become better acclimated, this scheme should only look more improved.

As important as the connection between a quarterback and his receivers is, having a healthy and productive offensive line blocking for Maye only makes his life easier in the pocket. Rookie left guard Jared Wilson missed last week with an ankle/knee injury and was a limited participant in Wednesday’s practice. Despite not being full-go in practice, Wilson is ready to play and will start on Sunday against Buffalo, Mike Vrabel said on Friday. The first-year head coach in New England wants the development of his two rookie offensive linemen to continue as he sees them grow together.

Defensive Notes:

After four weeks, the Patriots rank in the middle of the pack of passing defenses while being among the NFL's best at rushing defense. 

• Passing: 241.5 yards per game (26th)
• Rushing: 77.5 yards per game (3rd)

The defense has improved in terms of limiting big plays in the passing game, after allowing two 300-yard games in the first two weeks of the season. The Patriots followed up in their next two games by not allowing 200 yards passing against them.

While the passing defense has improved, the run defense has declined, despite still being ranked at the top of the league. The linebackers in the middle of the defense have missed tackles and allowed too much action in that area, which has been difficult for New England to overcome.

Some of the defensive adjustments to help this that we’ve seen have included deploying LBs Jack Gibbens and Marte Mapu, oftentimes for Christian Elliss and sometimes Robert Spillane.

Rookie safety Craig Woodson has led the team this season with 236 snaps (97.12%) and is third on the team with 23 tackles. He’s started every game as a rookie, and although there have been a few expected mistakes along the way, Woodson has been great this season.

Christian Gonzalez made his season debut last week, playing the third-most defensive snaps on the team in that game. He shutdown rookie WR Tetoria McMillan and looked like his normal self in his first time on the field since the end of July.

K’Lavon Chaisson didn’t practice on Wednesday or Friday and was limited on Thursday with a knee injury. Milton Williams was also a limited participant in practice this week with an ankle injury, logging two practices on Wednesday and Friday; he missed Thursday’s practice.

This will be the biggest challenge for the Patriots' defense this season as the Bills are the top rushing team in the NFL (163.5 yards per game), while also averaging the sixth-most passing yards per game with the MVP Josh Allen (240.5 yards per game).

Special Teams Notes:

In Week 4, Marcus Jones totaled 167 return yards on three punt returns, and he scored a touchdown. He reset a franchise record that was made in 1976, and he earned AFC Special Teams Player of the Week, which marks the second time in three weeks that a Patriots player has earned the award, following Antonio Gibson in Week 2.

Special teams coordinator Jeremy Springer is impressed with LB Jack Gibbens’ intelligence, going as far as to say that he could be a coach. Gibbens led the team in tackles in Week 4 (12), with three being on special teams.

Week 5 Injury Report:

Coach Vrabel began his Friday press conference a little behind schedule in Foxborough, but he started by announcing the injury designations for Sunday night against the Bills:

• K’Lavon Chaisson, questionable (knee). This is the second week in a row he’s been on the Friday injury report prior to a game.
• Carlton Davis, questionable (illness)
• Jahlani Tavai, question (calf). He finished his IR stint and returned to practice this week.
• Milton Williams, questionable (ankle). He missed a day of practice this week.

Transactions

• Signed OT Sebastian Gutierrez and OG Andrew Rupcich to the practice squad with the corresponding roster moves of releasing OL Jack Conley and DL Fabian Lovett.
• Elevated LB Darius Harris to the 53-man roster last week; still on the active roster holding a special teams role.

Other Notes & Takeaways

• LB Jahlani Tavai returned to practice after a stint on IR. He is officially questionable for Week 5.
  Patriots Week 6 (Oct. 12) road game against the Saints originally scheduled for a 4:25 PM kickoff, was rescheduled to 1:00 PM.
• Patriots Week 6 (Oct. 12) road game against the Saints originally scheduled for a 4:25 PM kickoff, was rescheduled to 1:00 PM.
• Josh Allen is 7-6 all-time against the Patriots.
• Stefon Diggs has not played a game in Buffalo since he was traded from the Bills.

More New England Patriots News and Rumors: