🏉 Beware the backup QB

Good Morning, Boston.

🎶 Take me home, Castiglione. The lead singer of the local band Dalton & the Sheriffs just dedicated a song to recently retired Red Sox broadcaster Joe Castiglione. I don’t know about you, but it has to be the background music to every Castiglione montage people make from now on. Sorry, we don’t make the rules.

What’s on tap today:

• Swayman’s big payday

• Celtics crush their preseason debut

• Pats’ lose on controversial play

Let’s get into it…

LEADING OFF

Next man up?

Be careful what you wish for with backup QBs. The following adage has been part of football for decades: the backup QB is the most popular guy in town. Unless you have Tom Brady on your squad, fans quickly turn on struggling starting QBs and ask if the next man up can do better. That’s what Pats Nation is doing right now with current starter Jacoby Brissett and rookie backup Drake Maye. The problem: the reality of the backup QB finally playing usually doesn’t match the dream.

Having a good backup QB does matter. Patriots fans have seen firsthand the importance of having good backups. Tom Brady took over for an injured Drew Bledsoe in 2001, led the team to a Super Bowl title, and never gave the job back. In 2016, Brady’s understudies Jimmy Garoppolo and Jacoby Brissett — yes, that Brissett — led New England to a 3-1 record during Brady’s four-game “Deflategate” suspension. Without them, the Patriots’ fifth Super Bowl title of the Brady-Bill Belichick era might not have happened.

But they usually struggle as starters. The normal backup QB experience is more like what the Patriots experienced with Bailey Zappe in 2023. Pats fans deliriously cheered for Zappe to replace Mac Jones in 2022 — only to see Zappe prove just as ineffective as his predecessor when he got a chance to start the next season. Now neither Zappe nor Jones remain in Foxborough – a reminder that the grass isn’t always greener when QB2 takes over.

Fans are justified in wanting Maye. This situation for the 2024 Patriots is different, though. Maye was drafted to be the new franchise QB. Brissett’s days as the starter were always numbered. Plus, the Patriots currently have the worst passing offense in football under Brissett. The vet has faced the sixth-most pressures in the NFL but also hasn’t threatened opposing defenses down the field. Brissett would’ve redeemed himself against the Dolphins Sunday with a game-winning TD pass had Ja’Lynn Polk’s heel not touched out of bounds. But his play still wasn’t good enough to keep Maye away.

But Maye will still likely look rough. Head coach Jerod Mayo may have to play Maye soon if the offense keeps languishing and the locker room questions the decision to stick with Brissett, as some have reported. But don’t expect Maye to fix everything. The offensive line is still in rough shape, and the rookie will have to learn as he goes. For those who say “At least it can’t be worse than Brissett,” oh, yes it can. Hopefully, we’re not pining for Maye’s backup as he goes through his growing pains … (I heard Joe Milton can really sling it.)

POLL

🤔 Would you start Drake Maye next week?

BOSTON SPORTS

Quick hits & headlines

🏒 Bruins strike a deal with Swayman. Crisis averted: Boston finally locked up its franchise goaltender with an eight-year, $66 million contract on Sunday. The new deal officially makes Swayman the fourth-highest-paid active goalie in the NHL in annual salary. After months of contentious talks and verbal salvos fired Cam Neely and Swayman’s agent last week, both Boston and the 25-year-old goalie seem ready to move on. That’s good news for all parties, especially if Swayman’s stellar 2024 playoff run (.933 save percentage) is a sign of things to come. Puck drops on a new season Tuesday night in Florida.

🍀 The Celtics are back in action. The C’s took no prisoners in Abu Dhabi last weekend, sweeping their preseason series with the Denver Nuggets. Sunday’s game was over by the end of the third quarter as Boston eventually won by 26 points. Jaylen Brown was throwing down thunderous fastbreak dunks and hitting Denver’s Jamal Murray with the “too small” taunt after bullying his way to the basket. Payton Pritchard had a four-point play. Don’t tell the Celtics this isn’t “real” basketball yet. 82-0 season incoming.

😫 Pats lose by a heel. For a second, it looked like Jacoby Brissett and rookie receiver Ja’Lynn Polk would snatch victory from the jaws of defeat with a late TD connection. But though Polk’s right toe touched inbounds first, his heel hit out of bounds right afterward. By rule, the officials called the pass incomplete because they judged his right foot hit out of bounds as part of a “normal,” “continuous” step. Those couple of inches were the difference between a thrilling win and a brutal fourth loss.

BEYOND BOSTON

Out-of-town report

Bill Belichick watches his son Steve trounce the Wolverines. The younger Belichick, now the defensive coordinator for the Washington Huskies, helped stifle the defending national champion Wolverines on Saturday evening with his legendary dad in attendance. Maybe the Pats defense (372 net yards allowed vs. Miami) misses them.

Former Sox players make noise in the playoffs. Kyle Schwarber moved into fourth all-time on the career postseason home run list with a leadoff blast Saturday. Alex Verdugo carried his team in Game 1 of the ALDS with stellar defense and a go-ahead single in the seventh inning. The problem: neither of these guys did it for the Red Sox.

LeBron James fires back at Celtics announcers. James took issue with Boston announcers Drew Carter and Brian Salabrine suggesting on Friday that James mistreated Nuggets guard Russell Westbrook during the latter’s time with the Lakers a few seasons ago. Just imagine all the chants Celtics fans will have for him in his next game at TD Garden. Still won’t be as bad as what awaits Steve Kerr on Nov. 6.

ON THIS DAY | OCTOBER 7, 1959

The birth of “Oil Can” Boyd

Dennis Boyd celebrates his 65th birthday. The former Red Sox pitcher played eight seasons in Boston and won a career-high 16 games for the 1986 squad that eventually lost the World Series in seven games. (Who knows what might’ve happened if Boyd had started Game 7 against the Mets the way he was originally supposed to?) Ever the character, Boyd also owns one of baseball’s funniest nicknames, due to his apparent love of drinking whiskey out of oil cans.

THE BEST THING I SAW IN SPORTS

The unstoppable Celtics

🥲 The Jays are already dominating. Is there anything better than watching Jayson Tatum effortlessly splash step-back jumpers on people and Jaylen Brown sauce defenders into oblivion? We are SO back.

🗞 That’s a wrap. I’ll be setting the over-under for Celtics wins at 73.5 games.

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