The Big Story – Sept. 1: It’s hard to pick the top story this week because there are two. It’s the opening week of the NFL season and baseball moves into its final month of the pennant chase.
For Patriot Nation, thanks to having a new coach in Mike Vrabel and Drake Maye’s entering his Year 2 season, there’s the excitement of a new season, though it’s tempered by many locals’ having convinced themselves they’re better than they’ll actually be. For Red Sox Nation no other sport matches the day-to-day thrills and chills of a season’s final month when their team is in a heated pennant race, which is where the Red Sox find themselves. So buckle up, because this is the most fun part of the year.
Sports 101: Who returned the most kickoffs (two did it three times) and punts (four) for TDs in Patriots history?
News Item – 5 Keys to Patriots’ Season
Drake Maye: He needs to take a solid next step in his development.
Rookie Linemen: Will Campbell and Jared Wilson need to deliver on Day 1, which is a lot to expect from rookies.
The CB Are Keys to the Defense: Media maven Greg Bedard thinks the defense is the biggest problem area. He sees them more than me, but I think it’s the opposite, provided that Christian Gonzalez and Carlton Davis are healthy and can add the shutdown element that gives the improved pass rush more time to get to the QB.
TreVeyon Henderson: If he’s as good as he looked in pre-season it gives them a play maker and real depth in the backfield.
Milton Williams is worth the money.
News Item – Interesting 2025 NFL Stories to Follow
Travis Hunter:Can he play on both sides of the ball on this level?
The Coaching Hot Seat – Who Gets Fired First: BrianDaboll (Giants), Kevin Stefanski (Browns), Zac Taylor (Bengals) and others are in play. Having three disappointing season endings on the resume, my first choice, Miami’s Mike McDaniel, recently got an extension until 2028.
Pete Carroll in Las Vegas: It’s interesting minority owner Tom Brady passed on picking 73-year-old Bill Belichick to coach LV in favor of picking the even older by 200 days Carroll.
The Numbers:
22 – Maye’s rank among starting QBs to start the season in a recent poll by The Athletic of 40 NFL coaches and executives.
33 – career NFL wins Andy Reid needs to pass Belichick for second most all-time, which at the current Reid-Mahomes pace would happen sometime in 2028.
245 – career TD passes after eight seasons for soon to be 30-year-old Patrick Mahomes. Career TD leader Brady had 197 at the same point in his career.
… Of the Week Awards
Thumbs Down – Eliot Wolf: The latest evidence that the Pats’ VP of Personnel is completely asleep at the switch came last week when he let the Packers trade for unhappy Cowboys edge rusher Micah Parsons. They could/should have beaten the price of two first-round picks and DT Kenny Clark GB gave up to get him. And with the most cap room in the NFL they could have matched the whopping salary Parsons got as well. This is a much worse miss than Craig Breslow’s not getting a starter at the trade deadline, because nobody he was after was what Parsons is — a gettable franchise-changing talent.
Random Thoughts:
Can’t figure out who Efton Chisholm III reminds me of — Wes Welker or one-time Jets pain in the butt Wayne Chrebet.
Sports101 Answer: With four, Julian Edelman has the most punt returns for Patriots TDs. Raymond Clayborn (all in 1977) and Ellis Hobbs (2006, ’07 and ’08) are the TD kickoff leaders with three each.
Final Thought – Predictions
Biggest Surprise – Jacksonville: Because Trevor Lawrence finally has a season that lives up to the billing.
Biggest Disappointment:Thanks to its owner trading his best player too late to reap immediate benefits and the annual Dak Prescott injury, Dallas has my Cowboys-loving friend George Copadis in despair as they plummet to the bottom of the NFC East. But at least we’ll get to see how good Joe Milton actually is.
The Geezer QB Follies: We’ll see the Giants’ latest QB disaster, where the over-under for Russell Wilson’s benching is Game 10. Ditto for what’s likely a one and done season for Aaron Rodgers in Pittsburgh.
MVP:Unless he gets hurt from running too recklessly, Jayden Daniels.
Rookie of the Year: Defense, Abdul Carter (NYG).Offense, Ashton Jeanty (LVR).
Drake Maye:With 25 TD passes and 14 interceptions he comes close to Brady’s 28 and career-high 14 picks in Year 2 as a starter.
The Patriots: It won’t satisfy the media yackers who are expecting a 4-13 team to become a playoff team out of thin air. But they improve four games to 8-9 in Vrabel’s first year.
Email Dave Long at dlong@hippopress.com.