Josh Allen is wasting no time reminding the AFC East who runs the show.
While the New England Patriots came into 2026 with bigger hopes for Drake Maye after adding A.J. Brown and Romeo Doubs, the early returns have been rough.
Maye has not matched the buzz, and the Patriots’ quarterback has been undone by rookie-like mistakes at the worst possible moments. New England sits at 1-1, and the gap between expectation and production is already hard to ignore.
Allen, on the other hand, has opened the season on a tear. The Bills are 2-0, and the quarterback’s first two games have been nothing short of historic. In Buffalo’s 41-31 win over the Detroit Lions, Allen picked up his ninth touchdown of the season, and Bleacher Report’s Julia Stumbaugh noted that he joined former Hall of Famer Ernie Nevers as the second player in NFL history to rack up nine total touchdowns and at least four rushing touchdowns in a five-day span, according to Opta Stats (h/t Bills PR).
That kind of start has put Allen right back at the center of the conversation in New England, where he has long been the problem the Patriots can’t escape. Since Tom Brady left for Tampa Bay in 2020, Allen has been the AFC East’s standard-bearer, and that reality has only sharpened again now that Maye and the Patriots have taken a step back after surprising the league in 2025.
The numbers tell the story clearly. Maye is completing 67.3 percent of his passes, which looks decent on paper, but the production behind it has been thin: one touchdown pass and four interceptions.
Three of those picks came in the fourth quarter of Week 1 against Seattle, a brutal stretch that helped turn a winnable game into a missed opportunity. Allen, meanwhile, has thrown five touchdown passes, added four more scores on the ground, and hasn’t turned the ball over once.
That’s the difference between chasing and leading. Allen has been playing like the NFL’s pace-setter, not just the division’s top quarterback.
For the Patriots, the problem goes beyond Maye’s uneven start. The roster’s lack of depth is showing up everywhere.
New England didn’t exactly stack the bench this offseason, and now injuries are exposing that thin margin for error. The receiving room was supposed to be a strength, but once Brown went down in Week 1 with a high ankle sprain, the whole thing changed.
Brown is not expected back anytime soon, and the Patriots are left trying to patch together production around him.
Doubs has flashed at times, but two costly drops have stood out. Rhamondre Stevenson has also slipped back into his 2024 form after fumbling against Pittsburgh.
Up front, the situation got worse when guard Mike Onwenu went down, likely for the year. Veteran Greg Van Roten, signed on July 22, was the first man off the bench to replace him.
The coaching staff hasn’t helped matters either. The offense still looks restrained, and the Patriots need more than caution if they’re going to survive the injuries piling up around them. When depth is already shaky and the lineup keeps taking hits, the only answer is adaptation - fast.
The defense has at least given New England something to hang onto, but even that unit is being stretched. Harold Landry III remains out, Dre’Mont Jones had a breakout game against Pittsburgh, and Carlton Davis III is also sidelined.
Still, the league rarely lets teams hide behind injuries for long. It always comes back to the quarterback. For the Patriots, that means Maye has to carry the load, and he has to do it in a division where Allen is still the benchmark.
New England beat Buffalo last season. Doing it again will take Maye leading the way. With Allen playing like this, there’s no other path.
In Other News...
Mac Jones Just Became A Painful Patriots What-If Again
Mac Jones is back in the conversation in a way Patriots fans know all too well: not as a starter in New England, but as the quarterback who left town, found a steadier footing elsewhere and suddenly looks like he may have been worth more than the return the Patriots got. After being traded to Jacksonville for a sixth-round pick following a rough 2023 season, Jones resurfaced with the 49ers in 2025 and handled starting duty well enough to reignite the old debate about what he might have been if things had broken differently in Foxborough.
The latest wrinkle is that San Francisco plans to keep him as a backup in 2026, even as his play has reportedly attracted interest around the league. Teams such as the Falcons and Commanders could be part of any trade discussion, and Jones' pending free agency in 2027 only adds another layer to a situation that feels very much alive again. For the Patriots, it is another reminder that the Mac Jones era has not stayed neatly in the past. [Read more 🡒]
Patriots May Have A Rare Chance To Buy Low On Marvin Harrison Jr
A.J. Browns injury has only sharpened the need for teams around the league to think creatively about receiver help, and it has pushed Marvin Harrison Jr. into the conversation for New England. The Patriots have been searching for more offensive weapons, and Harrisons limited early production has only added to the idea that Arizona could be facing an awkward early-stage evaluation of a highly touted young pass catcher.
For the Patriots, the appeal is obvious: a chance to buy low on a receiver whose talent still makes him worth betting on, even if the fit has not yet fully clicked elsewhere. The question is whether New England would see him as a piece that could grow with its offense and whether Arizona would even entertain moving him, but the possibility alone gives the Patriots a rare kind of swing at a premium position. [Read more 🡒]
Patriots Suddenly Have A Bigger Offensive Line Problem Than Expected
The Patriots offensive line took a hit this week when Mike Onwenu was placed on injured reserve with a fractured right ankle, a setback that will sideline him at least four games and could end his season. Onwenu had been a key part of New Englands protection up front, and losing him now forces the team to adjust again in the middle of a stretch where stability on the interior has already been hard to come by.
Greg Van Roten has stepped into Onwenus starting spot at right guard, giving the Patriots a veteran replacement as they try to keep the line together. In a corresponding move, New England promoted punter Mitch Wishnowsky from the practice squad to the active roster to help fill out the depth chart, another reminder that one injury can ripple beyond a single position when the roster is already being managed carefully. [Read more 🡒]