Foxboro, MA – Well, that had to feel good for head coach Mike Vrabel and the Patriots.

New England trounced the visiting Carolina Panthers by a final score of 43-12 at Gillette Stadium on Sunday. It's the Patriots largest margin of victory since Week 5, 2022 (29-0 vs. Detroit), but this one felt even more like a complete victory with all three phases contributing, and it's the Patriots first time eclipsing the 40-point mark since Week 17, 2021 (vs. the Jags).

At some point, the Patriots had to begin separating themselves from other teams that have also been picking in the top-10 of the NFL Draft over the last few years. To see legitimate progress from Vrabel's regime, beating the Carolinas of the world was a must, with New England having an advantage at coach and quarterback, while one could argue that the Patriots also have a better roster than the Panthers, especially considering Carolina's injuries.

Although you want to see New England win against a playoff-caliber opponent when they get the other teams' best punch, the Patriots can pile up victories by simply outplaying teams that aren't in that elite class. Vrabel likes to say the first step for his team is to "take advantage of bad football" by their opponents. With all due respect to Carolina, the Patriots appeared to take that step by blowing out the Panthers. New England isn't a top-tier team yet, either, but you gotta start somewhere, and the Patriots did that by taking care of business on Sunday.

"When we don't beat ourselves and we take care of the football and we play complementary football and we get stops on third down, the return, the special teams are a factor, and we score touchdowns in the red zone, it can look like something," Vrabel told reporters after the game. "Again, that's not guaranteed every week, but certainly we can see the difference in how critical those phases are and putting them all together."

As we look ahead to a primetime showdown in Buffalo, the hope is that the Patriots use this win as a confidence-builder to stand in the middle of the ring with the Bills next Sunday night. However, even if New England takes a step back in Orchard Park, its October slate includes games at New Orleans, Tennessee, and vs. Cleveland. If the Patriots continue taking advantage of bad football, they could go on a nice little run here. For now, we'll take a good vibes win before we start focusing on the Bills.

Here are eight takeaways as New England finishes the first month of the Vrabel era at an even 2-2 with a blowout victory against the Panthers in Week 4.

1. Play of the Game: PR Marcus Jones's 87-Yard Punt Return Touchdown in the First Quarter Flips the Momentum in the Patriots Favor

The play and player of the game is the All-Pro punt returner, who set a franchise single-game record with 167 punt return yards in Sunday's win.

Jones flipped the momentum in the game with a massive first-quarter punt return touchdown that went 87 yards, where he juked multiple Panthers to cut down the sideline for a huge score. At the time, Carolina had a 6-0 advantage following an opening drive touchdown and a three-and-out by the Patriots offense. Believe it or not, the early momentum was on the Panthers side for the first 10 minutes of the first quarter.

Speaking to reporters after the game, Jones explained his mindset after starting a 42-0 run for his team following his touchdown return in the first quarter.

"It's pretty simple: run fast. That's the main thing, don't get caught," Jones said following the win. "I'm pretty ruthless back there."

Later on, Jones also had a 61-yard punt return that set up a short touchdown drive. Vrabel has spoken repeatedly about the need for the Patriots return game to contribute to wins. In their two victories this season, New England has had a 90-yard kickoff return and an 87-yard punt return touchdown — the returners have been major factors.

"I talked about that throughout training camp and how those return units need to be a weapon for us. We've got the one kickoff return, but to be able to do that on the punt return, fantastic effort by Marcus and everybody else out there. I think a lot of that was just his own individual will, skill, and effort. Again, that has to be a weapon. It was something that we felt like could be through this season," Vrabel said post-game.

On Sunday, Jones was the player of the game with two electric punt returns in the Patriots win.

2. Patriots QB Drake Maye is Extremely Efficient in 21 Drop-Backs

Another theme in the Patriots two wins this season is limiting the offense's exposure to traditional drop-back passing, with Maye only dropping back to pass 21 times on Sunday.

Along with limiting the volume of drop-back passes, New England also called five play-actions and three moving pockets, so it seems pretty clear that this is the Pats offense's formula. Obviously, they won't have two explosive returns that lead directly to points every week, but it's still a good goal to keep Maye's pass attempts at a reasonable amount. On Sunday, the Patriots quarterback finished an outstanding 14-of-17 for 203 passing yards and three total touchdowns, generating +0.86 expected points added per drop-back (99th percentile).

In his first four games this season, Maye is producing the fifth-highest expected points added per drop-back output, pending the conclusion of Week 4 (+0.22). Regardless of the passing-game volume, those are outstanding results for the second-year quarterback, who is playing winning football with only one iffy throw that could be considered turnover worthy vs. the Panthers on Sunday.

Maye's best throws came when targeting star WR Stefon Diggs or his favorite security blanket, TE Hunter Henry. On one of his completions to Diggs, the Patriots converted a third-and-15 with Maye showing great poise in the pocket to let Diggs's route develop. The Pats ran double in-breakers against a cover-three zone with Carolina rushing four. Maye waited until Diggs got into the second window and threw a rope with pressure in his lap for a 22-yard gain.

The Patriots must be pleased with where Maye is four weeks into the season. He's playing highly efficient football, limiting the turnover-worthy plays outside of one week and elevating the scheme in late-down situations with his physical tools – Maye is off to a great start.

3. CB Christian Gonzalez Plays 46 Snaps (70.8%) in his Season Debut

After sitting out the first three games due to a hamstring injury, Gonzalez made his 2025 debut on Sunday. The Pats star CB played 46 total snaps, or 70.8% of the defensive plays, allowing two catches for 31 yards into his coverage. The reigning second-team All-Pro had played every defensive snap until the end of the third quarter, meaning he likely sat the fourth quarter because the game was a blowout. At times, Gonzalez looked a little rusty out there, with Panthers first-rounder Tetaiora McMillan catching a 16-yarder comebacker on Gonzo during Carolina's opening drive. Still, it was good to see him back out there. The Patriots will need him at his best next week in Buffalo.

4. Patriots Offense Answers the Call by Hitting Explosive Plays vs. the Panthers

Following last week's loss to the Steelers, Vrabel challenged the offense to be more explosive moving forward.

In the first three weeks, the Patriots were 14th in explosive play rate across the NFL. They were generating some big gains, but New England was only averaging 21.1 on their chunk plays, 30th in the NFL. On Sunday, the Pats answered the challenge from their head coach by hitting plays of 24, 21, 22, 22, 33, 30, and 31 yards — seven total plays of 20-plus yards.

"I felt like it was good not to have 15- to 17-play drives. It felt good to get some lower play drives and end up in the end zone," quarterback Drake Maye told reporters after Sunday's win.

One way that McDaniels schemed more big-play opportunities was by using pre-snap motion. The Pats used pre-snap motion on 60.4% of their plays, setting up several explosives by using window dressing throughout the game. Early on, the Pats gave RB Antonio Gibson a jet sweep, then built plays off that initial jet motion that put the threat in Carolina's head.

After getting a 21-yard gain on a jet sweep to Gibson, the Patriots used motion as window dressing on a 22-yard rush by Stevenson on the following play. The Pats go with split-flow zone action with the line blocking outside zone right with the jet motion and TE Austin Hooper "sifting" across the formation to the left. The jet fake sucks in the play-side edge defender (DJ Johnson), WR Mack Hollins cracks the nickel defender and Hooper blocks the play-side corner to get Stevenson into the secondary – a great play design and sequencing by McDaniels.

"Just creativity, using his weapons. We have a lot of guys that can make plays, and there's only so much you can show in one game. [McDaniels] does a great job putting us into the game plan and doing things like that," Gibson said of the Patriots scheming off motion.

The Patriots went back into the window-dressing well in the second half. New England sends WR DeMario Douglas into motion to carry the play-side corner up the field, creating space into the flat and causing a switch by the Panthers defense. Henry runs a "slide" route underneath the formation while Maye rolls to his left with CB Jaycee Horn switching onto Henry in man coverage. The Pats QB hits his tight end from an unorthodox arm angle, and Henry is down the sideline for a 31-yard touchdown – another explosive play off pre-snap motion.

For those who follow along each week, you know that the Patriots incorporating pre-snap motion and moving pockets with their athletic quarterback is my kind of party. We've been dreaming of this offensive scheme for QB Drake Maye since he arrived in Foxboro.

5. WR Stefon Diggs Records First 100-Yard Receiving Game as a Patriot

For the first time since joining the Patriots this offseason, Diggs went over 100 receiving yards with six catches for 101 yards on Sunday – his 37th-career 100-yard receiving game.

Like the rest of the team, it was great to see the 31-year-old receiver still be able to feast on lesser cover corners, a great sign for things to come for the Maye-to-Diggs connection. Carolina tried covering Diggs with CB Mike Jackson, and the four-time Pro Bowler dominated the matchup, catching three of his six passes for 81 yards with Jackson in coverage.

"He looked pretty fast. I think he's just going to keep getting more comfortable. Shoot, he's a great player with the ball in his hands. He's a great leader on this team. He's great with the energy, being positive, and glad he's a Patriot," Maye said of his No. 1 wide receiver.

The star receivers' first explosive catch came on a double-post concept with Diggs running a backside crosser against man coverage. Carolina plays post-safety coverage with FS Nick Scott as the deep-middle safety, and Scott stays over the top of the double posts, leaving Diggs 1-on-1 with Panthers CB Mike Jackson. Diggs runs away from Jackson on the crossing pattern, and Maye hits him in stride for a 33-yard gain.

Later on, Maye connected with Diggs for another chunk. This time, Diggs was isolated on Jackson on the outside on 4th-and-3 from the CAR 34. Maye attacked single coverage by pulling the string on a back-shoulder throw to Diggs, who timed his route perfectly by selling the fade and then working back to the quarterback just in time to make a 30-yard catch.

The Patriots had been building to targeting Diggs on more downfield routes, and it was great to see the star receiver separating from man coverage.

6. Patriots Defense "Settles Down" After the Panthers Opening Script (First 15 Plays)

Speaking to the Patriots top defenders, the theme from that side of the locker room was playing better during the opponents opening script. Carolina grabbed an early lead by scripting a 7-play, 76-yard touchdown drive and then drove to New England's 45-yard line before stalling out on the Panthers second possession. From there, the defense shut down the Panthers during a 42-0 run, holding Carolina scoreless from 10:51 in the first quarter to a garbage-time touchdown late in the fourth quarter.

"They did a nice job early on moving guys around," Vrabel said of Carolina's fast start. "If that's the tradeoff for playing great defense the rest of the way, then we'll have to go through those growing pains early in the game. I don't anticipate that we should. It was good to see us respond, and we've done that. I'm proud of our guys for not going in the tank or complaining or pointing a finger or anything like that."

On Sunday, Carolina's script was to run away from the interior defensive line on sweeps and wide zones, then work boots and short passes off those outside runs. The good news is that offenses are scheming away from stud DTs Christian Barmore and Milton Williams because they're impact players – it's good to have those kinds of defenders. But the slightly bad news is they're finding success early in games. Eventually, the defense pressured Panthers QB Bryce Young on 40.6% of his drop-backs, with Barmore leading the way with five total pressures.

Ultimately, we can debate how much the slow starts are hurting the Patriots. At some point, they'll face an opponent that can sustain offense past their first 15 plays, which is when it could come back to bite the Pats defense. For now, letting the game declare is working just fine.

7. Rhamondre Stevenson Still Leads Patriots Running Backs in Snaps

As Vrabel said earlier this week, the Patriots didn't appear to limit Stevenson's playing time due to his two fumbles in last week's loss. Stevenson led all Pats RBs with 28 snaps, followed by 14 snaps for rookie TreVeyon Henderson and nine for Antonio Gibson. Although his snaps weren't decreased, the Pats gave the goal-line carries to Gibson and Henderson, a slight change after Stevenson fumbled on the goal-line in Week 3.

Another notable change was that WR DeMario Douglas only played seven snaps. Douglas's role was decreased after a shaky Week 3 performance, but Vrabel did point out Pop's block on Henry's 31-yard touchdown as a good example of unselfish play. Here were the Patriots wide receiver snap counts: Boutte (33), Diggs (30), Hollins (24), Williams (14), Douglas (7).

8. Patriots Offensive Line Delivers Solid Performance in Sunday's Victory

Playing down starting left guard Jared Wilson, the Patriots offensive line fared well in pass protection. On initial viewing, Maye was only under pressure on 14.3% of his drop-backs, with the O-Line surrendering three total pressures (one hurry each for Bradbury, Onwenu, and backup LG Ben Brown). Although the game script was a factor in controlling the pressure rate, the O-Line still did its part, as it has for the majority of the season.

New England also had some solid goal-line run blocking. Overall, the Pats continued to be an inconsistent rushing team with a 26 percent success rate on the ground. Still, they had two rushing touchdowns from inside Carolina's five-yard line. Above, the Pats got a great double-team from LT Will Campbell and Brown, with the Pats left side finishing their block into the end zone, which has been a mantra for Vrabel with his offensive line.

"Man, that was a fun one. That was a lot of fun to double-team with big Will [Campbell] right there. We were just doing whatever we could to score with our man, as we say, just trying to drive him as far back as we could," Brown told Patriots.com. "It's a mentality that [Vrabel] wants us to have down there. If we're driving our defender into the end zone, then we're right."

The Patriots run game still needs to find that next gear, which starts up front. But the pass protection has been a pleasant surprise this season.

DISCLAIMER: The views and thoughts expressed in this article are those of the writer and don't necessarily reflect those of the organization. Read Full Disclaimer