A short week for the New England Patriots concludes Thursday night as the New York Jets come to Foxborough. Despite the Jets selling off their two top defenders ahead of the trade deadline, New York responded with a 27-20 win over the Browns — their second straight victory — and will look to carry that momentum into New England.
So, a short week brings an early edition of this week’s #PostPulpit Mailbag.
With the Jets coming in after trading Sauce, would you consider trading Gonzo for that same package if the new regime doesn’t want to pay him for some reason? – Mike w.
If they make the decision to not pay Gonzalez for whatever reason, then they should absolutely look for a similar package — two first-round picks plus a player — via trade. You simply cannot lose a player of that caliber for essentially free.
Of course, they should not lose that player at all and instead do whatever they can to try to extend Gonzalez this coming offseason.
Now that the Patriots beat a good team on the road, do you feel any differently about their status (or not) as a contender. Do you have any trade deadline regrets you maybe didn’t before? – Sportzballer
The Patriots are contenders. They’ve beaten down bad teams (part of the reason we did not participate in much schedule talk) and have taken care of the two toughest teams on their schedule on the road. They also have a quarterback who is currently the betting favorite for league MVP.
Outside of maybe the Chiefs, who still deserve the respect with Patrick Mahomes leading an offense that looks better each week, it’s tough to find a team you’d rank above the Patriots in the AFC currently. I’d like New England’s chances against Bo Nix and Daniel Jones atop the conference, although Lamar Jackson and the surging Ravens could be heard from again as well. We also won’t rule out Josh Allen figuring things out by playoff time.
As for the trade deadline, the belief here was that they were a good team before Tampa Bay, so that does not change much about the deadline from this point of view. I think not overextending with future assets and keeping the current locker room dynamic was a perfectly fine decision.
Do you think we’ve gone from will the Pats have a playoff game to will they have home playoff game(s)? – wrw921
100%. With a tough remaining schedule for a Bills team that has hit a bump in the road offensively, the Patriots chances of winning the AFC East look better each week. That locks in a home playoff game, something they could theoretically be playing for when Buffalo visits in December.
Do you think the Pats running game can improve in its consistency with the existing personnel? Or is that more of a wait till next season kind of thing? I mean I love a Henderson Home Run – even after a no gain, no gain, loss, no gain, loss, no gain sequence. But to help keep Maye alive, it seems like a more consistent run game would take the team deeper into the playoffs. – Ricky Hot Pants
I think it mostly is what it is at this point. The personnel is not changing and the down-to-down execution is the biggest weakness right now. Now as seen in Tampa Bay, Henderson getting more and more comfortable could lead to more big hits while Stevenson’s return also could help. I would also push to continue to use at least the threat of Drake Maye’s legs in the run game to help push the numbers in New England’s favor. Their only successful run up the middle against the Bucs came off one of those actions.
Everyone loves a big man TD. Do you think they will get Tonga a TD this year? Handoff or short pass at the goal line? – Felkey
Forget Travis Hunter. We have our impact two-way player. More Tonga on O rolling into defenders like Sonic the Hedgehog. Let’s float him some end zone passes like Vrabel back in the day. Hell, let him tote the rock instead of risking Maye on a tush push. What say you? – BrassBonanza
“Best two-way player in the league, if you ask me,” Stefon Diggs said of Khyiris Tonga earlier this week.
I think we’ll absolutely see a wrinkle where they sneak Tonga out of the backfield downfield — at this point that might be left in the chamber for the playoffs. It likely comes along the goal line which would open up the chance at a touchdown; thinking in a similar fashion to Jakob Johnson’s touchdown against the Seahawks from Cam Newton.
Any players on your upcoming wish list for free agency? – Ben
For a nice change compared to recent years, haven’t done much work on the upcoming group of free agents (or draft prospects to that point). Doesn’t seem like the strongest class, but perhaps one of those edge rushers discussed during the trade deadline (Jaelan Phillips, Jermaine Johnson, etc.) interests them.
Seems like an offseason to use the money internally, although I will start my campaign for tight end Isaiah Likely. A Massachusetts native, Baltimore might not be in the business of letting him go with Mark Andrews over 30. But, Likely is an explosive tight end with plenty of potential as a pass catcher at just 25 years old.
This is implausible, and almost certainly violates all sorts of rules, but imagine Gronk saying, “Let’s make it a 2 day contract,” and suiting up in place of Hooper Thursday night. Sure dude isn’t in football shape but with everyone on the field losing their minds that he’s actually there I bet he finds the end zone once – slunkywontergreen
Robert Kraft joked about this idea on Wednesday, until Gronk asked about the signing bonus. Still, he could probably put up some numbers against the Jets hauling in passes up the seam from Drake Maye. On a serious note, seems more likely we’ll see rookie UDFA C.J. Dippre activated off the practice squad unless the Patriots other injuries force elevations elsewhere.
That’s all for this week’s #PostPulpit mailbag. If you have questions you’d liked to be answered next week, submit them online in our weekly submission post or on Twitter using #PostPulpit. Make sure to be following @iambrianhines and @PatsPulpit as well.
