Drake Maye and the Patriots are staring at a brutal matchup this weekend, and the concern starts on the right side of New England’s offensive line.
The Patriots spent the 2026 offseason trying to give their quarterback more support after identifying Maye as their next franchise player. One of the biggest moves was signing Alijah Vera-Tucker to start at left guard, which pushed Jared Wilson to center, the spot he played in college. For the most part, that left the rest of the line intact.
But the unit’s stability didn’t last long. Mike Onwenu, the anchor on the right side, went down in Week 2 with a broken ankle, and since then the Patriots have been patching things together. Morgan Moses, meanwhile, hasn’t been at his usual level.
Now comes Maxx Crosby and the Raiders, and the timing could hardly be worse. New England has already dealt with the toughest strength of schedule in the last 40 years, and Crosby presents another major challenge for an offense that has had trouble protecting Maye all season.
Through the first four games, Maye has lined up against opposing right tackles on 79% of his snaps. That matters because the Patriots’ right side has been the shaky part of the protection, and Crosby is exactly the kind of edge rusher who can turn that into a long afternoon.
The broader problem has shown up everywhere. Keeping Maye upright and giving him time to work through the field has been an issue for two years, and the results have been ugly. He was sacked 47 times in 2025, and he’s already been taken down 10 times this season.
That pressure has also helped bury the run game. TreVeyon Henderson and Rhamondre Stevenson have basically provided no real value over the past month, and if Crosby keeps winning his matchups, that struggle could continue.
Maye’s ability to move around gives the offense a little breathing room. He has already rushed for more than 100 yards this season. But New England should not need to lean on that escape hatch this often.
The immediate concern is simple: can Moses handle Crosby, and can Ben Brown survive at right guard? Brown is the third player to step in there since Onwenu got hurt, which says plenty about how unstable that spot has become.
If the Patriots can’t slow Crosby down, the game could get ugly fast. And after last season’s Week 1 loss to the Raiders, New England would love nothing more than to avoid another rough ending after its big win in Buffalo.
In Other News...
Drake Maye Faces A Bigger Test As Patriots Hope Momentum Is Real
Drake Maye has already gone through the kind of early-season adjustment every young quarterback eventually faces, with opponents getting more tape on him and making life tougher as the schedule has unfolded. He steadied himself in the latest game against the Bills, giving the Patriots a better version of the player they believe can eventually help carry them into a more consistent stretch.
The next challenge comes against a Raiders defense now prepared to study what Maye does best, and the attention around him has only grown as New England tries to sort out whether that recent momentum is a real step forward. If Maye keeps trending in the right direction, the Patriots suddenly have a path to stringing together wins, which would make the early-season growing pains feel a lot more like a necessary detour than a warning sign. [Read more 🡒]
Patriots Offense Just Put More Pressure On Drake Maye
The Patriots offense has taken another hit at a time when it is still trying to find its footing. With New England sitting at 2-2, the team is adjusting its lineup heading into a stretch that starts with a home game against the Raiders on Oct. 11 and continues later in the month against the Bears.
Reggie Gilliam and Mack Hollins are now part of the latest shuffle, a setback that trims some depth and forces more moving pieces around Drake Mayes offense. For a unit already looking to settle into a rhythm, the timing matters, because the next two weeks will offer little margin for error as the Patriots try to keep the season from slipping into an early scramble. [Read more 🡒]
Patriots Face A Brutal Week 5 Test Their Secondary May Not Survive
Gillette Stadium will have a celebratory backdrop Sunday, with the Patriots honoring their 2001 Super Bowl team and Adam Vinatieri while they try to steady themselves against a 3-1 Raiders team that has looked capable early. It is a fitting stage for a franchise anniversary moment, but the football part of the afternoon comes with real pressure, especially for a New England team trying to keep pace in a crowded AFC race.
The challenge is made tougher by the state of the secondary, where the Patriots are already thin and facing a Raiders passing game that can put stress on the middle of the field. Brock Bowers is the obvious problem waiting for them, and with the usual answers unavailable, New England may have to get creative to survive the matchup long enough to make the tribute-day atmosphere matter for something more than nostalgia. [Read more 🡒]