Patriots Could Consider Lineup Change In Divisional Round
The New England Patriots might want to consider making some changes following their wild-card victory over the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday.
I’ve heard the whole “don’t change the mac and cheese” thing that has been floating around, but there are exceptions…
If they’re going to continue advancing, there needs to be improvement from the offensive line.
Drake Maye didn’t play to the standard we’ve all come to expect, as he turned the ball over twice and was one lucky bounce away from doing it a third time. Maye definitely improved as the game went along — finishing the second half 11-for-14 — but ultimately struggled as he faced double-digit pressures and was sacked five times in his playoff debut.
How can they fix that?
Ben Brown could be called upon to replace Jared Wilson — again.
Wilson struggled in his return from injury, allowing four total pressures and two sacks — one of which led to a fumble — after missing the final two games of the regular season against the Miami Dolphins and New York Jets. Will Campbell (three), Mike Onwenu (one), Garrett Bradbury (one) and Morgan Moses (zero) combined to allow just five pressures between them, according to PFF.
Brown was tremendous as the primary replacement along the interior offensive line this season, allowing 10 total pressures across 166 pass blocking snaps (6.02%) in 2025. Wilson allowed 34 total pressures in 526 pass blocking snaps (6.46%) in 2025, while putting together the worst performance of his rookie season on Sunday.
“We had some good plays, had some plays they’d like to have back,” head coach Mike Vrabel said of Wilson and Campbell. “We can evaluate everybody and say that they had some good plays in the run game, had some good pass protections, gave up a sack. We can’t get pushed back.”
Maye needs the best protection possible moving forward, as New England’s potential opponents in the divisional round ranked sixth (Pittsburgh Steelers; 48) and seventh (Houston Texans; 47) in total sacks in 2025.
Brown appears to be the better option right now, so he should play.