With the Bills resting their starters for the playoffs, the focus shifts to the Patriots' young quarterback, Drake Maye, and whether the team will prioritize his long-term health over a meaningless win.
FOXBORO -- We're handling the matchup preview, ahead of the Patriots and Bills tilt, a bit differently this week given the circumstances. Buffalo has the No. 2 seed locked up and won't be going for the win. The Patriots say they're trying to win but Call us crazy, but breaking down'Josh Allen vs. DeMarcus Covington' doesn't feel like it's worth your while. Instead, let's get into some of the juicier subplots of what could be one of the weirdest games in recent memory at Gillette Stadium.
There is little reason to have Drake Maye play the entirety of the contest on Sunday. Simply, the risk far outweighs the reward. Among the priorities for today's meaningless game, played against a Bills team that won't be going all-out for the win, has to be Maye's health. Having him go into Year 2 with the ability to have a full offseason and make a real leap going into the 2025 campaign? That matters more than his ability to execute a two-minute drive or run a huddle for a couple dozen more snaps. But Maye is a competitor. And his coaches are competitors. And they've all been mired in a brutally difficult season. Will Jerod Mayo, Eliot Wolf or -- most importantly -- the Krafts ever make it clear that playing Maye less than a full complement of snaps to be the approach on Sunday? Would they be able to prioritize the long-haul over the win-at-all-costs approach that typically permeates every NFL game? It's a delicate balance for this regime. Openly tanking a game by making roster choices that would indicate that kind organizational attitude could rub players the wrong way. But the season is lost. And this year has been about asset management to a large degree -- trading their best pass-rusher prior to the season, benching their young-and-promising quarterback after a strong finish to the summer in the hopes of developing him for the future -- so staying true to that approach is my expectatio
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