30. New England Patriots
The New England Patriots might have found their quarterback of the future, eh?
The Patriots took Drake Maye with the 3rd overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, and immediately after that selection was made, this season had to be all about doing what was best for Maye’s long-term development.
The Patriots determined the best course of action was to have Maye sit a little bit at the start of this season, but we’ve seen some fun progression from him in all of his games so far this season. The Pats couldn’t pull off the win against the Tennessee Titans on Sunday but they definitely showed a little something, especially with Maye out there showing some serious guts and hanging in there to make a throw as the clock expired.
This team just needs to continue to surround Maye, especially on the offensive line, but they look like they might have found someone.
29. Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans stopped a three-game losing streak with an overtime win at home against the New England Patriots, and most of the football world didn’t see it happen. Of course, if you were binging The Red Zone channel on Sunday, you got the chance to see some late-game heroics by Drake Maye spoiled by the Titans in overtime, but what does this win mean for Tennessee?
The Titans’ win against the Patriots helped ensure that there were no one-win teams in the league after Week 9, but they are still in good position for the 2025 NFL Draft, relatively speaking.
The Titans were able to win the turnover battle against the Patriots and if they can do that in games going forward, they will be able to at least keep things interesting. You might not know it by looking at the final score but Tennessee racked up 400 total yards of offense in this game and running back Tony Pollard continues to be a nice addition for that team.
I wouldn’t say the win over the Pats is any reason to start keeping an eye on the Titans, but we’ll see if they can get back-to-back wins for the first time this season.