Ruins of Pompeii.

[Soapy]

Samuel was stealing yall lunch money

i didn't even realize it was him scoring all those touchdowns until i did the scoring summary

[Captain Canada]

I cannot wait until we're good because this is painful

[Soapy]

A Season In Review: Nothing but upside for the offense after finding their franchise quarterback
This season for the New England Patriots was always going to be about the development of third overall pick Drake Maye, regardless of how many in-game snaps the rookie quarterback took.

Fortunately for Patriots fans, it ended up being many with Maye taking over after the Houston game and starting most of the season. Beyond the flashes of brilliance, Maye also strung together consistent performances to showcase his ability to play at a high level, finish eleventh in the NFL in yards per game, sixteenth in completion percentage and had the same or more passing touchdowns than Lamar Jackson, Justin Herbert and Kyler Murray despite playing in less games.

Now that the quarterback position is solidified, New England can spend this offseason building around Maye. A position by position breakdown:

Quarterback
Under Contract: Drake Maye ($6.47m cap hit), Joe Milton III ($790k)
Expiring Contracts: Jacoby Brissett

By any metric you want to use, besides raw numbers since they started more games, Maye outplayed both Caleb Williams and Jayden Daniels. The Patriots will likely bring in another veteran arm and with Maye's cap number being so low on the rookie scale for a starting quarterback, New England can afford to get a high-end backup as well.

Running Back
Under Contract: Rhamondre Stevenson ($5.6m), Antonio Gibson ($4m)
Expiring Contracts: JaMycal Hasty, Tyrion Davis-Price

Lost in the Maye hype is Stevenson's career numbers who returned to his 2022 form after taking a dip in 2023. Gibson also showed that he's a capable backup running back and with two talented backs, locked up under contract through 2026 and 2028 for Stevenson, New England might take a rookie or add another veteran but its not a position of need or focus.

Wide Receiver
Under Contract: Kendrick Bourne ($7.9m), Tyquan Thornton ($2.24m), Ja'Lynn Polk ($2.04m), Javon Baker ($1.11m), Kayshon Boutte ($1.08m), Demario Douglas ($1.06m)
Expiring Contracts: None

Decisions, decisions for New England. They can opt to run it back with this same unit where their best receiver make $1 million in Pop Douglas and their best outside receiver, Polk, is still on his rookie deal or opt to make things interesting by bringing in a veteran, proven receiver or two.

It is a logjam with all of these guys that have shown flashes so the older guys like Bourne or Thornton could be on their way, especially if New England uses one of their top-100 picks on a receiver or go after a free agent receiver like DeAndre Hopkins, Keenan Allen, or Amari Cooper?

Tight End
Under Contract: Hunter Henry ($10.5m), Jaheim Bell ($810k)
Expiring Contracts: Austin Hooper

Henry had his first 1,000-yard season and the connection with Maye is undeniable. With Brissett, he averaged five catches for 44 yards, which was already on pace to give Henry his best season since joining the Patriots. With Maye, however, he took it to another level, averaging a career high 66 yards per game with three games of over 100 yards and seven touchdowns.

With Maye's affinity for getting his tight end the ball, it might behoove New England to invest in a young tight end as Henry is 29 yards old. Bell showed some promises down the stretch but not enough to stop the Patriots from drafting or going into free agency to get an upgrade over him and Hooper.

Offensive Tackle
Under Contract: Mike Onwenu ($21m), Caedan Wallace ($1.3m), Vederian Lowe ($980k)
Expiring Contracts: Chukwuma Okorafor, Demontrey Jacobs

Even with Big Mike's hefty price tag, this is a unit that New England needs to spend more on. They brought in Okorafor to be their left tackle but he quit before the season even started and as a rookie, Wallace had the predictable struggles while Lowe is a practice squad level player, with all due respect.

Let's say that Wallace is the left tackle of the future, New England still needs a bridge veteran tackle until he is ready. There will be options from David Bakhtiari, Garrett Boles or Tyron Smith. There's also the route of a reclamation project in Jedrick Wills, who is still only 25 years old. Either way, they need an upgrade to protect Maye's blindside.

Interior Offensive Line
Under Contract: Cole Strange ($3.9m), Sidy Sow ($1.22m), C Jake Andrews ($1.23m), Layden Robinson ($1.11m)
Expiring Contracts: C David Andrews, C Nick Leverett, Michael Jordan, Zachary Thomas

David Andrews will be a priority to re-sign, likely somewhere around his $8 million cap hit from last year which would still make this one of the lowest paid offensive line in the NFL, which is unacceptable for a second-year quarterback that's on the rookie pay scale, playing at a high level. It's time to invest, invest and invest some more on this offensive line and it starts in the trenches where New England should be looking to improve at every position, maybe even center if an upgrade is available.

[Soapy]

I cannot wait until we're good because this is painful

we shall overcome

[James]

Boy oh boy what a season.

[Soapy]

NFL Wild Card Results
Indianapolis Colts 21 - 48 Houston Texans
--- QB Anthony Richardson: 15-27, 209 yds, 2 TD, 2 INT, sacked once
--- WR Josh Downs: 7 rec, 112 yds, 2 TD
--- QB C.J. Stroud: 27-32, 386 yds, 3 TD
--- HB Joe Mixon: 18 att, 84 yds, 3 TD

Philadelphia Eagles 10 - 41 Dallas Cowboys
--- QB Jalen Hurts: 16-27, 178 yds, TD, sacked 5 times, 7 att, 35 yds, fmble
--- TE Dallas Goedert: 5 rec, 60 yds, TD
--- QB Dak Prescott: 18-27, 196 yds, 3 TD
--- HB Ezekiel Elliott: 18 att, 161 yds, 2 TD

Los Angeles Chargers 12 - 28 Kansas City Chiefs
--- QB Justin Herbert: 23-34, 245 yds, TD, INT, sacked twice
--- LB Junior Colson: 8 tkl, TFL, INT
--- QB Patrick Mahomes: 31-41, 345 yds, 3 TD, INT
--- WR Rashee Rice: 9 rec, 148 yds

Detroit Lions 30 - 27 Atlanta Falcons
--- QB Jared Goff: 28-34, 325 yds, TD, INT, sacked 4 times
--- WR Amon-Ra St. Brown: 10 rec, 141 yds
--- QB Kirk Cousins: 29-39, 282 yds, 2 TD
--- TE Kyle Pitts: 9 rec, 75 yds, 2 TD

Buffalo Bills 24 - 38 Baltimore Ravens
--- QB Josh Allen: 23-34, 239 yds, TD, sacked 4 times, 7 att, 39 yds, 2 TD
--- WR Khalil Shakir: 8 rec, 89 yds, TD
--- QB Lamar Jackson: 25-35, 307 yds, TD, 15 att, 77 yds, 3 TD
--- DE Nnamdi Madubuike: 3 tkl, 2 sacks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers 16 - 24 Seattle Seahawks
--- QB Baker Mayfield: 19-27, 166 yds, TD, INT, sacked twice
--- LB Deion Jones: 7 tkl, INT
--- QB Geno Smith: 14-25, 144 yds, TD, INT, sacked once
--- HB Kenneth Walker III: 21 att, 101 yds, TD
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
NFL Divisional Round Schedule
Baltimore Ravens (13-5) at New York Jets (13-4)
Kansas City Chiefs (14-4) at Houston Texans (14-4)
Detroit Lions (12-6) at Minnesota Vikings (13-4)
Seattle Seahawks (12-6) at Dallas Cowboys (12-6)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Notable Playoff Injuries
S Eddie Jackson: Season (groin)
DE Haason Reddick: Season (ankle)
DE Jermaine Johnson II: Season (ankle)
HB Isiah Pacheco: Season (tibia)
WR Marquise Brown: Season (leg)
DT Denico Autry: Season (suspended)
HB Jahmyr Gibbs: Season (tibia)
C Frank Ragnow: Season (pectoral)
LT Taylor Decker: Out (hip)
TE T.J. Hockenson: Season (knee)
LT Christian Darrisaw: Season (knee)
RT Abraham Lucas: Season (finger)
CB DaRon Bland: Season (foot)
EDGE Micah Parsons: Season (shoulder)

[Soapy]

Boy oh boy what a season.

drake maye showed me something, all i could ask for

the defense, ratings wise, is pretty bad outside of the secondary. MY COLUMN:

[Soapy]

A Season In Review: The engine for New England's defense needs to be redone
The Patriots have one of the NFL's best young corners in Christian Gonzalez while the rest of their secondary is average to above average in Jonathan Jones, Marcus Jones, and safeties Jabril Peppers and Kyle Dugger.

Yet, New England finished bottom ten in scoring defense, 31st in rushing defense and 16th in passing defense. Some of that had to do with injuries with Christian Barmore and Ja'Whaun Bentley being sidelined with injuries along with the trade of veterans Matthew Judon and Davon Godchaux.

The bulk of this defense, secondary aside, needs a completely retooling as there's just not a lot of juice to this front seven. A position by position breakdown:

Interior Defensive Line
Under Contract: Christian Barmore ($16m cap hit), Eric Johnson II ($1.1m)
Expiring Contracts: Deatrich Wise Jr, Jeremiah Pharms Jr, Daniel Ekuale, Armon Watts, Siaki Ika, Leonard Taylor III

This front line is absolutely void of talent. Wise is a solid player and Barmore, when he returns, should give them a boost but the rest are borderline practice squad level players, let alone starters in this league.

The Patriots will have plenty of cap space to spend in free agency and they should invest on the trenches on both sides of the football as its no wonder they finished near the bottom of the league when it comes to rushing defense with this unit.

EDGE
Under Contract: Anfernee Jennings ($3.85m), Keion White ($2.11m)
Expiring Contracts: Josh Uche, Oshane Ximines, Jamree Kromah

The numbers don't lie from a production standpoint and when looking at the salary sheet as the team simply didn't invest enough at the position once they traded Judon. The room should and will look drastically different next season with free agent acquisitions and also the draft as the team should use at least one of their top 100 picks on an edge rusher and need to bring in a veteran around the $10 million mark -- at least -- to help bolster a consistent pass rush outside of White.

Linebacker
Under Contract: Ja'Whaun Bentley ($7.35m), Jahlani Tavai ($3.94m), Sione Takitaki ($3.86m), Curtis Jacobs ($960k)
Expiring Contracts: Raekwon McMillan

Bentley is 28, so is Takitaki and Tavai is 27. They need youth, speed and explosiveness at the position in order to combat modern NFL offenses. Even if those three are your core players and starters that take up most of the snaps next year, behind them need to be some fresher legs to push them and (hopefully) eventually overtake them for the future and beyond. It's a quality linebacker draft with guys like Harold Perkins that could be day one impact players.

Cornerback
Under Contract: Christian Gonzalez ($4.01m), Marcus Jones ($1.65m), Marcellas Dial ($960k)
Expiring Contracts: Jonathan Jones, Marco Wilson, Alex Austin

The NFL is all about tough decisions and the Patriots have a tough one when it comes to Jonathan Jones. He's still very good but he's 30 and an undersized corner that relies on his quickness to be effective as a boundary corner, which is where he's played post Stephon Gilmore.

Marcus Jones is improving at nickel and ideally, they'd have another traditional outside corner opposite of Gonzo with Marcus Jones at nickel. Where does that leave Jonathan Jones, who could be looking for his final pay day now that he's on the wrong side of 30?

Safety
Under Contract: Kyle Dugger ($15.5m), Jabril Peppers ($7m), Marte Mapu ($1.46m)
Expiring Contracts: Brenden Schooler, Jaylinn Hawkins,

New England has invested at the position and it shows with Dugger and Peppers as one of the better safety combos in the NFL while Mapu has emerged as a solid sub-package linebacker hybrid that can line up in a variety of ways.

[Soapy]

NFL Divisional Round Results
Baltimore Ravens 27 - 21 New York Jets
--- QB Lamar Jackson: 16-21, 191 yds, TD, 15 att, 61 yds, TD
--- LB Trenton Simpson: 6 tkl, INT
--- QB Aaron Rodgers: 21-32, 263 yds, 2 TD, 2 INT, sacked twice
--- WR Davante Adams: 9 rec, 99 yds, TD

Detroit Lions 17 - 23 Minnesota Vikings
--- QB Jared Goff: 20-31, 207 yds, 2 TD, INT
--- DE Aidan Hutchinson: 6 tkl, 1.5 sacks
--- QB Sam Darnold: 13-19, 129 yds, sacked 4 times
--- HB Ty Chandler: 15 att, 60 yds, 2 TD

Kansas City Chiefs 31 - 38 Houston Texans
--- QB Patrick Mahomes: 28-41, 283 yds, 3 TD, 2 INT, sacked twice
--- TE Travis Kelce: 8 rec, 90 yds
--- QB C.J. Stroud: 19-30, 212 yds, 2 TD, INT, sacked 3 times
--- HB Joe Mixon: 16 att, 121 yds, 2 TD

Seattle Seahawks 21 - 28 Dallas Cowboys
--- QB Geno Smith: 16-26, 146 yds, TD
--- HB Kenneth Walker III: 12 att, 88 yds, TD
--- QB Dak Prescott: 24-32, 250 yds, sacked once
--- HB Ezekiel Elliott: 18 att, 64 yds, 3 TD
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
NFL Conference Championship Schedule
Baltimore Ravens (14-5) at Houston Texans (15-4)
Dallas Cowboys (13-6) at Minnesota Vikings (14-4)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Notable Playoff Injuries
S Eddie Jackson: Season (groin)
DT Denico Autry: Season (suspended)
CB DaRon Bland: Season (foot)
EDGE Micah Parsons: Season (shoulder)
TE T.J. Hockenson: Season (knee)
LT Christian Darrisaw: Season (knee)

[Captain Canada]

I'm ready for the off-season to end all off-seasons