Plus, fan confidence is at a season-low.
In our latest Pats Pulpit Reacts survey, we wanted to see how you expect the team to perform in October, when you’d like to see Drake Maye, and your overall confidence in the direction of the team.
When asked after Week 1, 77 percent of fans said they wanted No. 3 overall pick Drake Maye to sit until either the back half of this season or next season. That number has dropped to 60 percent, with 40 percent of Patriots fans wanting Maye to take over as the team’s starter within the next month. 23 percent would like to see him starting as soon as this week, a sharp increase from the 4 percent who wanted to see him play immediately after Week 1.
After peaking at 90 percent after Week 1’s upset victory in Cincinnati, confidence in the Patriots has taken a nosedive. It reached a new low of 28 percent following the team’s third consecutive loss last week to the San Francisco 49ers. That news is paired with the loss of longtime captain and center David Andrews for the season.
While fan confidence is low, October could provide an opportunity to get things moving in the right direction. The Patriots play the Miami Dolphins without starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa this week, and they also play the winless Jacksonville Jaguars in London later this month. The team has two other home contests, one against the Houston Texans and the other a rematch with the New York Jets.
A plurality of fans expects the Patriots to win one of those four, with 46 percent saying they believe the team will win one of those games. 24 percent say they expect two wins, with another 24 percent expecting no wins at all. 3 percent think the Patriots will win three of those games, and another 3 percent expect the team to go undefeated in October.
The Patriots take on the Miami Dolphins this Sunday at 1 p.m. ET. New England enters the contest as 1.5-point underdogs, according to FanDuel.