As soon as it was clear the Patriots were going to lose to the Raiders last week, the overreactions came pouring in, decrying a doom-and-gloom outlook for the rest of the 2025 season. Within those dramatizations, however, were some legitimate concerns, among them the state of the secondary without Christian Gonzalez and the lack of run game integration despite a stacked backfield.
Knowing how Josh McDaniels likes to run his offenses, there were high expectations for what the running back roster would produce in Week 1.
The impressive preseason by rookie TreVeyon Henderson and the hope that Rhamondre Stevenson would revert to a previous version of himself were enough to believe that Drake Maye had a solid security blanket to rely on, as he is surrounded by an entirely made-over receiving corps.