TAMPA, Fla. \u2013 The Patriots have a new signature win.<\/p>\n
Underdogs heading into a Week 10 matchup with the Buccaneers, the Patriots outlasted, outplayed and outshined one of the NFC\u2019s best teams to increase their winning streak to seven games and improve their record to 8-2 with a 28-23 win.<\/p>\n
Credit two Patriots rookies with the team\u2019s biggest plays. The Patriots\u2019 defense also came up strong when it mattered most.<\/p>\n
First, however, the Patriots survived what could have been a grave mistake by quarterback Drake Maye.<\/p>\n
Two plays after M-V-P chants rained down from Patriots fans half-filling Raymond James Stadium, Maye looked anything but.<\/p>\n
On third-and-goal from the Buccaneers\u2019 2-yard line, Maye was intercepted by safety Tykee Smith when a throwaway and field goal to give the Patriots an 8-point lead might have put the game away.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe made it a little closer. We knew it would be difficult coming down here,\u201d head coach Mike Vrabel said.<\/p>\n
Instead, the Patriots gave the Bucs the ball at their own 20-yard line, leading 21-16, giving quarterback Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers life.<\/p>\n
The Patriots\u2019 defense bailed out Maye with a massive stop on fourth-and-3 from the Patriots\u2019 27-yard line.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the end, we got the stops when we needed it,\u201d Vrabel said.<\/p>\n
Rookie running back TreVeyon Henderson clinched the game with a 69-yard touchdown run to increase the Patriots\u2019 lead to 28-16. It was his second 50-plus-yard touchdown run of the game, and his third explosive play.<\/p>\n
The Buccaneers scored one more touchdown but didn\u2019t recover the onside kick, giving the Patriots the win.<\/p>\n
The Patriots\u2019 defense seemingly fixed its issue with starting slow in last week\u2019s win over the Falcons. They couldn\u2019t stop a nosebleed on the Bucs\u2019 opening drive Sunday. The Bucs marched 65 yards downfield on just six plays. Rookie wide receiver Emeka Egbuka scored on a 21-yard catch from quarterback Baker Mayfield. He also picked up 24 yards on another reception.<\/p>\n
The Patriots\u2019 offense went just 11 yards on seven plays on their opening drive. After completing a 9-yard pass to Stefon Diggs, Maye was 0-of-3 of his next three passing attempts, all targets to Mack Hollins.<\/p>\n
A key pass breakup by linebacker Jack Gibbens on third down slowed the Buccaneers\u2019 offense, who was forced to punt. Marcus Jones slipped and fell for a 1-yard gain on the return.<\/p>\n
It was a slightly better showing for the Patriots\u2019 offense, taking over from their own 6-yard line, moving it 33 yards on eight plays before punting.<\/p>\n
After forcing a three-and-out, the Patriots put together a one-play drive. That one play was a 72-yard touchdown, when Kyle Williams ran past the Buccaneers\u2019 defense, showing off his jets on the pass from Maye down the right sideline.<\/p>\n
The Bucs responded with an eight-play, 57-yard drive but had to settle for a 36-yard field goal from Chase McLaughlin, giving them a 10-7 lead.<\/p>\n
The Patriots made things interesting to cap off the first half but ultimatley scored on fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line on a pass from Maye to Diggs. The Patriots picked up no gain on three straight plays before the last-second touchdown to end the half, taking a 14-10 lead into the locker room.<\/p>\n
Coming out of the half, the Patriots were able to complete a double score. After a 10-yard catch from Hollins, Henderson turned on his own jets on a 55-yard touchdown run, reaching an even greater speed than Williams, to give the team a 21-10 lead.<\/p>\n
The two teams exchanged punts.<\/p>\n
The Bucs then went on an impressive 11-play, 92-yard drive. Mayfield found wide receiver Tez Johnson on a 10-yard touchdown over Patriots cornerback Carlton Davis. Their two-point attempt was no good, cutting the Patriots\u2019 lead to 21-15.<\/p>\n
The Patriots took a risk on fourth-and-5 from their ensuing drive, electing to go for it from the Buccaneers\u2019 45-yard line. Maye threw incomplete to Diggs, turning over the ball on downs.<\/p>\n
The Bucs also were in a situation to go for it on fourth down from midfield. An offensive pass interference penalty, when wide receiver Sterling Shepard picked linebacker Marte Mapu, called back a conversion, forcing the Buccaneers to punt. A touchback gave the Patriots the ball back at their own 20-yard line.<\/p>\n
The Patriots had to punt the ball back to the Bucs after getting inches short of a first down. Going for fouth-and-inches at their own 29-yard line would have been tempting fate.<\/p>\n
The Patriots forced the Bucs to punt after a three-and-out. Maye led the Patriots down to the Bucs\u2019 2-yard line and threw an ill-advised pass on third down, resulting in an interception. It was a massive error for Maye, since a field goal would have given the Patriots an 8-point lead.<\/p>\n
BEST<\/p>\n
RB TreVeyon Henderson: This was the player the Patriots were expecting when they selected Henderson in the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft. He took off on a 55-yard touchdown run to start the second half. Overall, he had 14 carries for 147 yards with two long touchdowns, including a 69-yard game-clincher.<\/p>\n
WR Kyle Williams: Welcome to the NFL, Kyle Williams. After catching two passes on six targets for 20 yards in his first nine games, the rookie wide receiver caught a 72-yard touchdown to cap off the first quarter.<\/p>\n
WR Stefon Diggs: The Pro Bowl wideout had a productive performance, catching\u00a0five passes for 46 yards with an impressive toe-tapping touchdown.<\/p>\n
OLB K\u2019Lavon Chaisson: The veteran edge defender now has a career-high 6.5 sacks on the season. He was able to chase down Mayfield for a sack late in the first quarter.<\/p>\n
WORST<\/p>\n
CB Marcus Jones: The Patriots\u2019 slot cornerback was involved in a coverage breakdown on Egbuka\u2019s 21-yard touchdown catch, leaving the rookie receiver wide open. It wasn\u2019t a great game by any of the Patriots\u2019 top cornerbacks. Christian Gonzalez was flagged for a defensive pass interference penalty, and Carlton Davis allowed a touchdown to Johnson.<\/p>\n
Special teams: The Patriots had two holds on two punt returns, backing them up into their own territory early in the game.<\/p>\n
Offensive line penalties: Right tackle Morgan Moses and left guard Jared Wilson were both called for false starts on the same drive late in the first half.<\/p>\n
WHAT WE LEARNED<\/p>\n
\u2022 The Patriots opened in a base defense with Jahlani Tavai starting at outside linebacker over K\u2019Lavon Chaisson. The idea was to stop the run. The Patriots\u2019 defense couldn\u2019t stop anything on the Buccaneers\u2019 opening drive.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Defensive tackle Khyiris Tonga was used on offense at fullback to pick up 1 yard on fourth-and-1 on the Patriots\u2019 first offensive series.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Caleb Murphy made his Patriots debut, but it was still Elijah Ponder and Anfernee Jennings as the team\u2019s top backup edge defenders.<\/p>\n
\u2022 The Patriots have some explosive rookies. Williams was clocked at 21.78 MPH on his 72-yard touchdown. Henderson one-upped him by going 22.01 MPH on his 55-yard touchdown run.<\/p>\n
\u2022 The Patriots suffered a ton of minor injuries in this game, but the majority of players returned. Running back Terrell Jennings (knee) did not, leaving the Patriots to test their depth with D\u2019Ernest Johnson getting snaps.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TAMPA, Fla. \u2013 The Patriots have a new signature win. Underdogs heading into a Week 10 matchup with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":282294,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[14037,1826,54793,8225,20024,1815,17351,42056,149261,8088,149259,149260,80375,149262,149263,23431,24143,99],"class_list":["post-282293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-2025-nfl-draft","tag-drake-maye","tag-eliot-wolf","tag-mike-vrabel","tag-new-england","tag-new-england-patriots","tag-nfl-draft","tag-nfl-news","tag-nfl-patriots","tag-patriots","tag-patriots-2025","tag-patriots-game","tag-patriots-news","tag-patriots-schedule","tag-patriots-stats","tag-pats","tag-robert-kraft","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282293","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=282293"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282293\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/282294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=282293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=282293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=282293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}