In the offseason, the Patriots drafted Drake Maye with the third pick. Not only was he the third pick, but he was also the third quarterback off the board, with Caleb Williams and Jayden Daniels going 1-2. Predictably, Williams and Daniels each started, and also predictably, neither played particularly well.
The Patriots took a different approach. They signed journeyman QB Jacoby Brissett to begin the season as the team’s starter and left Maye on the bench to learn, watch, and stay healthy from the sidelines.
Las Vegas only set the team’s o/u at 4.5 and put them at 300/1, which is the longest odds on the board to win the Superbowl. But a funny thing happened: they went into Cincinnati in week one and came away with a pretty convincing win. The defense held the Bengals to 10 points, and the offense nearly ran for 200 yards. They enter week two tied for first place heading into their home opener against the Seahawks.
Due to the opponent coming in this week and their quarterback, Geno Smith, a thought occurred to me. Brissett’s career is similar to Smith’s. I started to look at the comparisons between the two quarterbacks heading into the game. Smith began his career as the Jets starter in 2013 and held that status for two seasons. He then spent six years as a journeyman backup, playing for the Giants and Chargers, before landing in Seattle.
After two seasons in Seattle as a backup, he was given the opportunity to start in 2022. He led the team to a 9-8 record, which was enough to maintain his starter status and get him a new contract. Last season, he was 8-7, and they won last week. But he’s still a below-500 quarterback with a 31-36 career record.
Brissett’s career record is a tad worse at 19-30, and he has never had any long stretches as a team’s starter. He’s played on five teams, with two terms of duty in New England. He was given the opportunity to start for the Colts in 2017 and only went 4-11. He started 15 games for them in 2019 and was 7-8. In the last five seasons, he started over ten games only once, going 4-7 in 2022 with Cleveland.
Considering how well the Patriots played on Sunday, they have more than a puncher’s chance of leaving Gillette Stadium with another win under their belt. Vegas has them getting 3.5pts at home. Brissett has always managed a game well and takes care of it. His interception percentage is a minuscule 1.4% over his career.
Their ground game was on point against the Bengals, with Rhamondre Stevenson getting 120 rushing yards and the team gaining 170 in total. The defense held the Bengals to only 10pts and 224 total YDs. They have a legitimate shot at going 2-0. Let’s do the exercise…they win this week against a Seahawks team going cross country. They then play the Jets on a short week, in wk.3. The Jets didn’t look good against San Fransisco on Monday. Heading into the Meadowlands 2-0 would give the Pats confidence and momentum. Leaving the Meadowlands 3-0 can happen, and then anything can happen.
Although I can’t see a scenario where they’d go into San Fransisco and pull out a win, they’d still be 3-1 at that point. I don’t expect this team to be 14-3 or even 11-6, but Brissett is a serviceable game manager, which is why they signed him. He can manage this offense with a strong running game and solid defense and go 8-9 or even 9-8 by the end of the year.
Would that type of season be enough to save Brissett’s job heading into 2025? There could be a legitimate QB controversy in New England. It’s obvious the team wants/needs Maye to be the long-term plan…but Trey Lance was supposed to be the future in San Fransisco. A solid season from Brissett will keep Maye on the bench this year and could even make him expendable moving forward. If a team like the Giants wanted to trade up for him at this year’s draft, I wonder what they’d be willing to trade for him in the offseason.
Now, after saying all of this, Seattle will probably invade Gillette Stadium and win 28-6. But I don’t think so. It was clear after the win that the team really wanted this W for their coach. They gave him a Gatorade shower at the end of the game and were clearly ecstatic for HC Mayo. A motivated team is capable of amazing things.
