Four Takeaways From Patriots 42-13 Win Over Panthers

That also gave New England the lead 7-6, as the Panthers had missed the extra point on their earlier touchdown.

“The first punt, the main thing that I always think about is getting the first first down,” said Jones after the game.  “That’s the first thing I was thinking about, and just getting the offense in a great position. I had someone on my leg for a little minute, but then I got out, and I was like, ‘Let me try to find some blocking and everything.’ But I commend my teammates because they never stopped whenever they could. They blocked the guys that they need to block for sure to end up opening up lanes.”

Jones then came up with another one late in the second quarter.  After catching the football at about the 25, he broke to his left, avoiding a diving attempt by one Panthers defender and he slipped behind blocks by Marte Mapu and Jack Gibbens as he raced toward the left sideline.

He then broke two more tackles, getting behind Jack Westover and Pettus and it looked like he was off to the races for the second time.  However, with only punter Sam Martin to beat, Martin dove and got a hand on Jones’ foot, tripping him up as he fell down at the Panthers’ 14-yard line.

Jones admitted that he’ll likely hear about that one from the guys in the locker room.

“Whenever it happened, and what’s crazy is usually when someone gets tackled, they get tackled right then and there, but I got clipped and then ran and fell,” said Jones.  “And I was just like, ‘Oh, I know they’re going to say some stuff about me in the meeting room.’ I’m going to hear it from there. I’m going to hear it from my family, but it’s part of the game and everything.”

Drake Maye and the offense finished things off four plays later, with Antonio Gibson taking it in from 1-yard out to put them up 28-6.

But that was a tremendous effort by Jones, who the Patriots later pointed out tied Julian Edelman for the most 60-yard punt returns in team history with 4.  He also joined former Patriot Gunner Olszewski as the only other player since 1970 to have multiple 60 yard returns in a single game.

“He’s not the biggest player, but he’s got great play strength, I think, with the football on his hand,” said Vrabel on Jones after the game.  “He’s got great vision. And again, you have to be fearless at some level to catch that punt and know that you’re going to make the first guy miss. And we’re confident in that.”

“I think it’s just a natural skill. That’s hard to teach. I mean, it’s hard to teach with all those bodies in traffic and catching it first and making great decisions with it back there.  So it’s a lot of comfort with him back there, and we need to continue to make it a weapon.”

2) Drake Maye also put together a solid performance, with the second-year quarterback coming away with a turnover-free day as the offense moved the football and finished off drives.

Maye finished the afternoon 14-of-17 (82.4%) for 203 yards along with touchdown passes to both Hunter Henry and Mack Hollins, while also running one in himself, and seeing both TreVeyon Henderson and Antonio Gibson also each run one in.

Seven different players caught passes on Sunday, with Stefon Diggs leading the way with 6 catches for 101 yards as Maye found him on several big plays.  He hit Diggs on passes of 33, 22 and 30 yards, all of which helped lead to touchdowns by the offense.

But what impressed Vrabel was simply Maye’s ability to spread the football around to whoever was open.

“Just throw to the guy that’s open in the progression as soon as he’s open,” said Vrabel on what he saw from Maye. “Then if not, quickly progress through. Those are the things that quarterbacks have to do, and they have to have a command of it, and we did that.”

The fact they also finished things off is another thing that certainly stuck out.  The Patriots ended up a perfect 4-of-4 in the red zone including 4-of-4 in goal to go.  That’s something Vrabel emphasized in being a big key in their win on Sunday.

“I think the red zone clearly is a big factor.  Our ability to convert those chances into touchdowns was important. I saw a lot of extra effort, guys blocking downfield, springing guys.  Again, I like when everybody is involved, and the quarterback just throws with a guy that’s open every play, no matter who it is.”

3) Defensively, the return of Christian Gonzalez was definitely big.  He did a good job shutting down whoever lined up on him, with Carlton Davis, despite committing multiple penalties, having pretty good success on his side.

That led to Bryce Young being forced to hold onto the football an extra beat as the defense adjusted and started getting consistent pressure on him.

While they finished the game with just one sack, they spent a lot of time in the Panthers backfield and consistently frustrated their young quarterback.

But what impressed Vrabel was how the defense settled down, essentially shutting Carolina down after their first touchdown.  That marks the second straight week where they’ve gotten into a rhythm after a tough start, with the offense doing something they didn’t do against Pittsburgh last week, which was taking advantage and building a lead.

“Just settled down. Just settled down a little bit,” said Vrabel of the defense.  “They did a nice job early on moving guys around. We have to continue to disguise better and tackle better and all those things.”

“I guess if that’s the trade-off for playing great defense the rest of the way, then we’ll have to go through those growing pains early in the game. I don’t anticipate that we should, but it was good to see us respond, and we’ve done that. I’m proud of our guys for not going in the tank or complaining or point a finger or anything like that.”

4) There have been a couple of trends that have emerged in recent weeks, with Sunday adding to those totals.

Through four games in 2025, the Patriots have scored 102 points, which is the most points they’ve scored over that stretch since 2022 (74).  Last season they had just 52 points through the first four games of the season, and in 2023, they had just 55.

They’ve also been better in points allowed, having allowed just 81 points through the first four games, compared to 87 last year.  It’s actually their lowest point total given up since 2021 (70).

With a big game up next against Buffalo, Vrabel said that the important thing now is to both build on it, but also move past it and get ready for the next challenge.

“You only have so many opportunities,” said Vrabel.  “So whatever you do in one week, it doesn’t really matter. It’s about what you do the next week moving forward. Hopefully, we take that same approach, whether we win or we lose. And I think that’s what I’ve tried to do is, whether you win or you lose, we’ve got to embrace moving on.”

“We have to do that. We have to prepare here for a division opponent on the road. It’s going to be a great environment, and hopefully, we’ll see where we’re at.”