2024 Game Report/Fantasy Scouting (Wk10): Patriots 19, Bears 3

We're talking Drake Maye, Caleb Williams, Kayshon Boutte and more...

Game overview:

The battle of the rookie QBs...and Drake Maye won it on the field and on the scoreboard. It wasn’t a masterpiece for either team, but the better team and rookie QB won. It was never really in doubt.

The Patriots (3-7) are trying to surpass the Jets (3-7), which will be hilarious if they actually finish ahead of the Jets this season. Unfortunately, for that comedy to play out...the Patriots might have won their final game of the 2024 season here. Tough road ahead on the schedule...they may sneak one more win out...two at the most.

The Bears (4-5) have descended into madness...coordinators getting fired, rumors of unrest among the players with Caleb...and a schedule ahead that will be all the final nails in their coffin...the head coach will be fired soon and the GM likely done at season’s end...and then a raging QB controversy and then difficulty finding a legit head coach for 2025 because no one who knows anything about the situation wants to be stuck with Caleb Williams. And don’t count them out for yet another #1 overall NFL Draft pick! That schedule ahead is wicked...the worst/hardest in the league from here.

Player Scouting Notes from the game: 

*Note any fractional numbers in parentheses (4/2) or (2/3), etc., are a 'split' stat on our definition of a 'quality start' (or not) marker on a player -- using 14 PPR points in a game for RB-WR-TE and 21 for a QB ...point levels that are good/productive/well above average starts for a Fantasy week. Trying to identify trends, consistency (or not) in players we might not normally realize.

A (3/2), for example, means: 3 times the player hit at/above the QUALITY mark, and 2 times they did not (this current season).

 -- Even though Caleb Williams is getting all the national press/concern right now, let’s begin with Drake Maye (15-25 for 184 yards, 1 TD/1 INT, 4-24-0) because he gets overlooked...but he deserves praise.

Drake Maye is everything Caleb Williams is not...

Maye is patient in the pocket and is trying to read the situation to make throws. Caleb is frantic and frozen in the pocket.

Maye has awful WR weapons to work with...Caleb has an all-star team of WRs.

Maye is willing to run when needed/available...Caleb hates running because he hates contact, and he has admitted it multiple times.

Drake Maye is gonna be the right call OVER Caleb, when we look back in history...but I don’t think Maye will be a superstar in NE any time soon...given the coaching staff and surrounding weapons and weather/climate.

 -- Patriots Receiver report...

I can’t tell you who Maye’s favorite receiver is because it changes week to week. And his options are so mediocre/below average that he doesn’t have anyone to focus on if he wanted to.

Kayshon Boutte (4-47-0/6) got a good run here, but he is a very mediocre...a #4 WR for most teams, type of talent.

If I could get myself to believe it, I might say, recently, that Austin Hooper (3-64-0) is Maye’s favorite receiver. Hooper has 3 or more catches in a game in three of his last 4 games. Hunter Henry (1-14-0/4) was looking like the main guy for the last months or so -- but it was shifted to Hooper here. I still think it’s Henry, but Hooper deserves some notice as well.

 -- Caleb Williams (16-30 for 120 yards, 0 TD/0 INT, 2-15-0) was mostly a hot mess here. He got sacked 9 times, a lot of it because he’s freeing up in the pocket...some of it because the O-Line is not good.

When Williams wasn’t sacked, he was throwing a lot of errant passes...guys open on simple pitch & catch routes and Williams was off the mark by 1-5 yards on the throws.

The bloom is off the rose with Caleb. He got the O-C fired. If he has two more bad games ahead with the new O-C, the HC will likely get fired...and the fans will turn on Caleb after that. It’s already starting to happen...the ‘boos’ are beginning.

And given their schedule, the ‘boos’ are gonna be raining down  all the rest of the season -- GB-MIN-DET-SF-MIN-DET are a ready-made 6 losses, which would push the Bears losing streak from it’s current three to 9.

All hell is about to break loose in Chicago. You can’t say I didn’t predict it all to happen back in the summer.

 -- As I say, about every week this season...as Caleb dies, he takes all the WR/TE options for FF with him. There is no one you can trust here...because of Caleb.

If they turn to Tyson Bagent, which will never happen (willingly)...then we can reassess.

 -- The Patriots-DST had a game...9 sacks. I want to blame it all on Caleb, but the Patriots defense is getting ‘not bad’. They’ve held four of their last 6 opponents to 22 points or fewer and three of them to 17 points or less. When they get a decent matchup, they do all right.

Snap Counts of Interest:

40 = Swift

20 = Roschon

62 = Boutte

57 = H Henry

41 = Hooper

29 = Osborn

27 = Dem Douglas

26 = Polk