Carolina Panthers @ New England Patriots
Final Score: Patriots 42, Panthers 13
Writer: Griffey Geiss (@ggeiss_mlb and @ggeiss_PL on Twitter)
The box score says it all — this was an extremely one-sided victory. The Patriots dominated the game and it looked like they weren’t even trying. Drake Maye excelled, per usual, passing for 200+ yards and 2 TDs for the third consecutive game. He remains one of the most efficient and effective quarterbacks in the league. Stefon Diggs finally broke out in a big way, recording his first 100+ yard game with the Patriots. The RB room as a whole looked good, with all three backs rushing for 25+ yards a piece on relatively even carries. The special teams unit looked elite as well. Best of all? Not one single turnover. As for the Panthers, it was grim. Bryce Young simply couldn’t get anything going after the first drive. He was super inaccurate as well. Chuba Hubbard was fine for the most part but his numbers in the end don’t exactly jump off the page, mostly thanks to the scoreboard. Tommy Tremble was the lone bright spot, hauling in his first touchdown pass in 2025.
Three Up
- Marcus Jones: Returned three punts for 167 total yards and a TD… plus he nearly had a second score.
- Tommy Tremble: The sole bright spot from Carolina’s offense today.
- Stefon Diggs: Finally, a breakout game from the Pats WR1 — he was a full-go and it showed.
Three Down
- Kayshon Boutte: With the emergence of Diggs, Boutte’s production has plummeted.
- Demario Douglas: At least Boutte was on the field… Douglas did not touch the ball once today, including on special teams.
- Bryce Young: Just an unbelievably underwhelming performance.
Carolina Panthers
Quarterback
Bryce Young: 18/30, 150 yards, TD | 1 carry, 3 yards
Young did not look good whatsoever. He was missing targets in stride left and right, should have thrown multiple interceptions (and made two turnover-worthy plays on back-to-back snaps), and couldn’t move the offense down the field. I will say, he looked phenomenal on the Panthers’ first drive, leading his team 76 yards down the field for a touchdown to open up the game. He did — and I mean this literally — nothing noteworthy for the rest of the game. He missed plenty of targets, overthrowing Tetairoa McMillan on sure-fire catches three different times. He’s clearly missing Xavier Legette, Jalen Coker, and David Moore, who went down early today thanks to an elbow injury.
Andy Dalton: 5/6, 58 yards, TD
Dalton took over after the game was completely out of reach in the fourth quarter, passing for a touchdown in garbage time against the Patriots’ second and third stringers.
Running Back
Chuba Hubbard: 10 carries, 49 yards | 3 targets, 3 receptions, 20 yards
Hubbard was active all game long, both in the rushing and passing game. He averaged nearly five yards per rush on the ground and caught a few checkdowns for good measure. His performance was capped off thanks to the scoreboard, as he didn’t even touch the ball in the fourth quarter after the Patriots scored 42 unanswered points. He should have touched the ball more in my opinion, especially over Rico Dowdle (who nearly had as many carries?!) on certain possessions. He was dealing with a calf injury leading into this week’s game, so maybe that had something to do with it.
Trevor Etienne: 7 carries, 33 yards
Trevor Etienne, a special teams option for the first three quarters of the game, returned two kicks for thirty-nine yards and two punts for six yards. He then entered in the 4th quarter as an actual RB option and dominated, ripping off an impressive 33 yards on 11 snaps during garbage time (good for a third of the Panthers’ yards on that possession, their final of this game). He got multiple red zone touches on that drive as well. Perhaps we will see more of him soon?
Rico Dowdle: 9 carries, 32 yards | 1 target, 1 reception, -2 yards
Dowdle did a fine job as the backup running back, generating some yards when he had the chance to, though he could only manage 3.6 yards per rush, the worst among all qualified rushers in the game. His usage came in bunches, taking possessions on and off. It’s a really interesting situation after seeing a season-high in snaps and opportunities last week. He did manage to return four kicks for 100 yards.
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Tetairoa McMillan: 8 targets, 4 receptions, 62 yards
McMillan was good when throws were on-line. That sums up his production. Young missed McMillan a handful of times, and when he didn’t look his way, McMillan was being locked up by one of the best cornerbacks in the league, Christian Gonzalez. It was a bad matchup for him, but Young’s inaccuracy didn’t help.
Tommy Tremble: 8 targets, 5 receptions, 42 yards, TD
Capitalizing on Ja’Tavion Sanders’ injury, Tremble had the best game of his career since December 1st of last season. He scored one touchdown and nearly had a second later in the game. For an abysmal offense to watch, Tremble was a small bright spot. He ventured to the sideline with an apparent injury, however, which is something to monitor.
Bryce Young to Tommy Tremble! @Panthers strike first in New England. pic.twitter.com/Tl602gFDe5
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) September 28, 2025
Brycen Tremayne: 4 targets, 3 receptions, 36 yards, fumble (recovered)
Tremayne was second in line at receiver behind McMillan after Brown went down with an injury. He ran 34-of-38 routes and had the second-most snaps on offense.
Mitchell Evans: 4 targets, 3 receptions, 23 yards, TD
Evans caught his first career touchdown from Andy Dalton in garbage time with less than two minutes left.
Evans for the TD
📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/cRyDmWsQyk
— Carolina Panthers (@Panthers) September 28, 2025
Hunter Renfrow: 2 targets, 2 receptions, 10 yards
Renfrow caught his only two targets in garbage time.
James Mitchell: 2 targets, 2 receptions, 17 yards
New England Patriots
Quarterback
Drake Maye: 14/17, 203 yards, 2 TD | 3 carries, 11 yards, TD
Maye was uber efficient as always. He looks like the true franchise QB1 that Patriots fans have dreamed of post-Brady. Maye didn’t need to do much today, hence the small volume of passing attempts, but when he did, he lit up the Panthers’ defense. His favorite target this afternoon was notably Stefon Diggs, who recorded his first 100+ yard game as a Patriot just a week before he faces his former team, the Bills. His ability to spread the wealth and sprinkle the ball to all parts of the field is remarkable. He’s joined some elite company as well:
Drake Maye has had a 75+ completion percentage and thrown 2+ TD passes in 3 consecutive games The only player in NFL history with a longer streak within a single season: Tom Brady's 4-game streak for the @Patriots in Week 1-4 of his first MVP season in 2007@NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/G2VMlD8i9Z
— Jack Andrade (@RealJackAndrade) September 28, 2025
Josh Dobbs: 0/1
Running Back
Rhamondre Stevenson: 9 carries, 38 yards | 1 target, 1 reception, 3 yards
Rhamondre Stevenson provided solid production, mixing and matching in the run game today. The biggest news overall was ball security — no fumbles today. He remains a steady option as a pass protector and on check-downs. He remains the majority snap owner for early and third downs.
TreyVeyon Henderson: 7 carries, 32 yards, TD | 2 targets, 2 receptions, 14 yards
Much, much better usage of Henderson today. Though he only had 15 snaps, it’s progress. Henderson was dynamic as always, effective in both the passing and run games. I’d really like to see more of him in the near future. He’s consistently making guys miss and fighting for extra yards. We did see his short yardage usage tick up a bit this week, which is a super positive sign. Henderson also returned one kick for 20 yards.
TreVeyon Henderson TD:
(It only took 18 fumbles for him to touch the field) pic.twitter.com/4Hvsu6KAi7
— Sleeper (@SleeperHQ) September 28, 2025
Antonio Gibson: 6 carries, 27 yards, TD
Gibson looked good as the third option in the run game. He was mixed in a bit more as well, notably on the goal line leading to a tuddy. He crafted his way through traffic for extra yards — the best example of this came on a nifty end-around play for his game-long of 21 yards. Gibson also returned one kick for 28 yards.
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Stefon Diggs: 7 targets, 6 receptions, 106 yards
Finally! This is what you want to see out of Stefon Diggs. I noted earlier in the year that anything you get in the first 3-4 weeks from Diggs would be fine, as many (including myself) did not expect him to be ready to go before Weeks 4-5 after suffering an ACL tear in Week 8 last year. He looked the part and then some this afternoon as a true WR1, hauling in balls all over the field.
It appears as if he’s taken over the slot role in the Patriots offense, bumping out Demario Douglas (0 touches today), and has made the most of it thus far. He led the team in routes run. Outstanding stuff today.
Another Drake to Diggs DIME 🪙
📺 FOX pic.twitter.com/fG7Ap8nqrM
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) September 28, 2025
Hunter Henry: 2 targets, 2 receptions, 39 yards, TD
Hunter Henry remains a solid safety valve for Maye, hauling in yet another touchdown this afternoon. Both of his receptions came in the red zone, not to mention he missed a second touchdown by mere inches. Henry, despite a drop off in production compared to last week’s elite totals, remained the leader in snaps amongst skill players this week.
Hunter Henry down the sideline!
CARvsNE on FOX/FOX Onehttps://t.co/HkKw7uXnxV pic.twitter.com/tlGgrV7jkm
— NFL (@NFL) September 28, 2025
Austin Hooper: 1 target, 1 reception, 24 yards
Hooper has been fantastic as the backup tight end, making crucial blocks and being an effective option over the middle when he does run routes. He’s bound to get involved with Maye’s ability to spread the wealth. A solid stash in deep leagues.
Kayshon Boutte: 3 targets, 1 reception, 18 yards
With Diggs’ emergence, Kayshon Boutte‘s time as WR1 appears to have come to an end. He’s still a very solid WR2 option for the Patriots (and fringe FLEX option based on matchups in fantasy in deeper leagues). Maye still looks his way quite a bit and is bound to get him involved. He remains second on the team in snaps.
Mack Hollins: 1 target, 1 reception, 4 yards, TD
Mack Hollins, the Swiss Army Knife, gets so much love on the Patriots’ staff thanks to his ability to do whatever the offense needs. He’s effective in the blocking game — notably lining up wide — and has been a solid medium yardage receiver (90.9 PFF grade) thus far. He hauled in his second touchdown pass of the year today.