Patriots Pulse Check: We're Turning The Clocks Back

I’m not totally sure I know what’s going on. How is it that within a span of weeks, the memories of the last five years have seemed to dissipate, the feelings of heartache and bewilderment vanished, like those years never even happened?

I spent this Sunday watching the Patriots game very passively. Top right corner of the quad box, occasionally checking to make sure Drake Maye didn't throw an incompletion (he didn't). The off-hand glance to see another Tennessee punt formation, or to watch Rhamondre break another tackle for a first down.

Despite being down 10-3 early, there wasn't a second of worry that overcame me. The Titans were playing with new found energy, and the Pats defense got off to their typical slow start. But I knew we'd be fine, that we'd settle in and start moving the ball. That we'd weather the storm while our defense played bend don't break as they figured things out.

It was a weird feeling, a feeling I hadn't had in a long time, and one I didn't realize the gravity of until reflecting on the day. The feeling of certainty, of tranquility, that things would work out. And then them actually working out. I feel like I'm back in 2017.

Playing the Titans certainly helped, I'm not oblivious to that. Cam Ward wasn't lying when he said this team was ass. The injury to Jeffery Simmons also helped, who's still one of the best D lineman in football who consistently gets overlooked because of where he plays.

But regardless of injuries or bad teams or coaching revenge games, this team is playing as good of football as any team in the NFL outside of Indianapolis and maybe Kansas City. And at this point it's past hyperbole.

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Drake Maye is the most efficient passer in the NFL, and I don't think it's close. Goff could make an argument, but in the last six games Drake is one of the most efficient passers in the history of the NFL, and outpaces Goff by 20 YPG on one less throw per game, so I've giving the nod to my guy. He hasn't had a game throwing under 69% completion percentage since the Patriots were considered a franchise in disarray (week 1). He hasn't committed a turnover since week 3, and has thrown for over 200 yards in every game this season.

To use his own words, he's not Check Down Charlie getting these historic numbers either. He's completing deep ball passes over 20 air yards at nearly double the clip of league average. He's had TD throws of over 30 yards in three of the last four weeks, and is the only QB with multiple 50+ air yard TDs this season.

If you want to get real nerdy with it, Drake ranks top five in the following ESPN QBR stats:

• PAA - points contributed by a QB that's above the QB average

• EPA - total expected points added with low leverage plays (no clue what this means)

• PASS - expected points added on pass attempts

• RUN - clutch-weighted expected points added through rushes

• RAW - total QB rating, which values QB on all play types of a 0-100 scale

In other words, he rocks. He's as good as it gets through the air, and also poses a significant threat with his legs. There's just not many QBs playing QB better than him right now.

Outside of Drake, which believe or not exists, the WR room continues to impress. I can't talk highly enough of Diggs, who is every bit of what I hoped for and more through seven weeks. Boutte has become the explosive threat he was in college, and Pop Douglas has emerged in the last two weeks, making likely the most underrated/important/sickest play of the game on Sunday, saving a TD drive that extended the Pats' lead to two scores.

Rhamondre is starting to rebuild his confidence after the early season fumbling issues, and ran like the old Rhamondre today en route to his best performance since week 2, before the infamous Pittsburgh game.

The one concern I have at this time if I have to nitpick is the defense, specifically the pass defense, who seem to sleep walk every first half and allow career halfs against below average offenses/QBs. They settle into every game in the second half, but the bend don't break style they play feels like it's more likely to break once we face better opposition (even though they stood up against Buffalo too). We rank 24th in pass defense, averaging 236 YPG through the air. Given we've played just three teams with more than two wins this season, and only one QB who's worth a damn in the league at this point in time, that's the biggest need for improvement for a team passing every test it's being given.

The first test was to beat the division rivals who've owned the division since Brady left on the road in prime time. Possibly the biggest and most unlikely test to pass, but we did.

Then was the test that Steph and others alluded to in New Orleans, which was to not fall into the trap of losing to a scrappy one-win team on the road coming off the high of the biggest win in a half decade. The final score didn't show it but we controlled that game, and winning in any way or fashion constituted a passing grade in the Superdome.

Then the test of not losing the trap game after the trap game to a team who's getting the interim head coach bump. And while the first quarter was shaky, they aced that test too.

I can't believe we're watching a team that is brand new to success operate with such composure. They're acting like they've been there before when they haven't. They're beating the teams they're supposed to beat, and doing so soundly. They don't get too high when it would be easy to, and are always talking about what's ahead of them and what they can do better, staying grounded when the media is starting to place them on a pedestal.

I haven't been this excited to watch them play football since the guy who's getting his Patriots records broken by Drake Maye on a weekly basis was behind center. Like I can't wait for next Sunday so I can watch them play football again.

If we're in the trust tree, I fully expected them to lose to either the Saints or Titans, for all the reasons I just mentioned about them as a new and young team without a ton of experience in the position they found themselves in, still lacking the top end talent that some teams around the league possess.

But they've passed all the tests. If they lose this week, or even two in a row, at this point I won't be flying off the rails. No one is that good in the NFL, and losses will happen. But what I've seen the last few weeks has me believing we have the makeup of a team that can go places. We have the confidence that we can go anywhere and beat anyone, the resiliency to get back up if things aren't falling our way, and the even-keeledness to keep our eyes on the ultimate prize.

I have absolutely no notes about this football team right now. They're blowing my expectations out of the water. It feels so good to be back.