NFL notes: The Patriots’ midseason MVP, biggest surprise and more awards

The Patriots’ season will hit its exact midpoint at halftime Sunday in Tennessee.

But why wait to hand out some hardware?

Here are the Herald’s midseason awards for the Patriots’ 2024 season:

MVP

Rhamondre Stevenson: It says something about a team that its MVP can fumble in four straight games to start the season and still land this award. But, hey, sometimes that’s life at 2-6.

Around those fumbles, Stevenson has powered the Patriots to both of their wins and almost single-handedly powered the run game for a run-first offense. He scored three of the team’s four touchdowns in upsets of the Bengals and Jets. Stevenson is also averaging 3.2 yards per carry after contact and averaging a broken tackle on more than one of four carries.

Stevenson’s ability to make defenders miss has papered over serious blocking issues, as the Patriots’ own the fourth-worst run-blocking grade at Pro Football Focus. Overall, he’s rushed for 422 yards and five touchdowns and made 18 catches, third-most on the team. Stevenson’s go-ahead touchdown on fourth-and-goal with less than a minute left against the Jets is the highlight of the season.

“I’ve never wavered in saying that Rhamondre is one of the best backs in the league, and why not give it to him?” Patriots coach Jerod Mayo said. “You should give it to him in that situation, and the offense capitalized.”

Offensive Player of the Year

TE Hunter Henry: When in doubt, find No. 85.

Henry is not only the Patriots’ leading receiver with 32 receptions, but the definitive security blanket for both Jacoby Brissett and Drake Maye. His ability to find soft spots in zone coverage and win versus man-to-man coverage on key downs has sustained several drives, including the Pats’ game-winner against the Jets. Offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt called his 12-yard catch to convert the first third down on that series the biggest play of the drive.

No Patriot has moved the chains more often this season than Henry, who has at least eight more first-down conversions than every other receiver on the team. Henry has also delivered from a durability standpoint, playing 80.1% of offensive snaps, third-most on the team. His impact goes beyond the box score.

Defensive Player of the Year

CB Christian Gonzalez: The only choice for this award, Gonzalez is a budding star.

Last week, he held Davante Adams, a three-time All-Pro, without a catch. In Week 1, Gonzalez locked up Ja’Marr Chase for three catches and 14 yards. In between, he blanketed Tyreek Hill and mostly limited Garrett Wilson.

It’s not to say there haven’t been bumps in the road for Gonzalez (see: losses to Houston and Jacksonville), but without him, the defense would be completely lost. He is instead their greatest reason to believe the unit will bounce back later this season and could return to top-10 level next year.

Rookie of the Year

QB Drake Maye: Another no-brainer.

Maye instantly suppled the Patriots with some needed juice and their two best quarterback performances of the season. The rookie has unlocked a deep passing game previously dormant with Brissett and led the offense in rushing over his first two starts. Between his natural arm talent and ability to create plays off-schedule, Maye has done more for the Patriots offense than most players this season, let alone rookies.

“He’s getting better every week,” Patriots offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt said this week. “Decision-making is exceptional. He knows where to go with the football. Some of the stuff he does in practice, understanding where he’s going to be hot, how to handle some of the pressure issues, that gets better every week. The throws down the field in practice, the accuracy he shows on some of the deeper throws, that’s been there and continues to be there.”

Overall, he’s completed 63.1% of his passes for 564 yards, five touchdowns and two interceptions. He’s also rushed 13 times for 114 yards and a touchdown.

Biggest surprise

Run defense: Less than 24 hours after leading an upset of Cincinnati, the Patriots’ biggest upset since 2016, Jerod Mayo declared the Pats would always field a strong run defense.

Whoops.

Through eight weeks, the Pats rank fourth-worst against the run by DVOA and PFF. They’re allowing 4.5 yards per carry and rarely generate stops in short-yardage. Injuries must be accounted for – the Patriots lost three of their top seven tacklers from last season and the spine of their defense in defensive tackle Christian Barmore, linebacker Ja’Whaun Bentley and safety Jabrill Peppers – but the drop-off has been worse than expected.

Biggest disappointment

Wide receivers: Woof. Where to begin?

Even for a unit projected to be bottom-10 in the NFL, the Patriots have to be disappointed in the production from their best free-agent addition, K.J. Osborn, and highest draft pick, Ja’Lynn Polk. Both players rank in the bottom of the league against man-to-man coverage, per PFF, and are among the worst separators in the league, according to Next Gen Stats. On the season, Osborn has just seven catches, while Polk has dropped three of his last 13 targets.

Overall, Polk is catching fewer than 40% of his targets, and the offense has a success rate of 26.9% when throwing in his direction. But unlike fourth-rounder Javon Baker, at least he’s seeing the field. Elsewhere, Kendrick Bourne and Kayshon Boutte both had two drops last weekend and are also struggling to separate, though Boutte has flashed some new big-play ability at the NFL level.

The good news: Mayo expects more from this young group moving forward.

“I would say I was especially proud of the way the receivers responded throughout the week of practice,” he said. “Just the extra work that they put in in the classroom and also on the football field. They had a great week of practice. We did 1-on-1s this week, they went out there and competed. They caught the ball well, and hopefully that transfers over to the game.”

“We’re excited to see what those guys can do.”

Best coaching performance

Week 1: 16-10 win at Cincinnati: The Pats struck an early lead, turned projected MVP candidate Joe Burrow into a Checkdown Charlie, won the turnover battle and controlled the game with their run-first game plan.

They looked sharp, prepared and more physical than the Bengals. The labor of a hard training camp paid off immediately, as did installing defensive disguises most often seen from defenses in midseason form. All told, this was the Patriots at their best.

Worst coaching performance

Week 7: 15-10 loss to Miami: There are a few contenders here, but starting slowly and getting out-toughed by a finesse Miami at home takes the cake.

The Patriots couldn’t move the ball, or stop a bad Dolphins rushing game late. There were blunders with bad penalties, poor clock management and mental mistakes. All of that leads back to coaching, something that was identifiable post-game.

Coach of the Year

Safeties coach Brian Belichick: Peppers is out. Kyle Dugger has missed multiple games. And yet the Patriots safeties keep on rolling.

That starts with Belichick, who’s primarily been working with one-time special teamer Jaylinn Hawkins, second-year hybrid Marte Mapu and undrafted rookie Dell Pettus. Mapu played every snap in his season debut in Week 5, when he came off the Physically Unable to Perform list after missing virtually every practice since late July. Pettus, meanwhile, hasn’t missed a tackle in 112 defensive snaps this season.

The communication, coordination and fundamentals have been consistent regardless of personnel. This group is a credit to Belichick, and something Mayo pointed out almost immediately after beating the Jets last weekend without Dugger.

“The safeties definitely stepped up today, especially without having Dugger and Peppers back there,” he said. “I thought the three of those guys did a good job.”

Stat of the season

0 – Zero touchdowns scored with a lead this season

Quote of the Week

“The best throw? Oh, no, that’s nine years. It’s a long time, man. I don’t know how many – I think all of them were good throws, right? None of them were bad.” – Patriots quarterback Jacoby Brissett on the best pass of his NFL career