The Patriots ripped off their sixth-straight win against the Falcons at Gillette Sunday, but not without exposing a few of their fault lines – especially regarding their young star quarterback.
Nobody can deny Drake Maye’s breakout second season. Even naysayers who cry over the Patriots’ strength of schedule must recognize how, in addition to handling his business against who’s been scheduled, he posted a 158.1 passer rating against the Browns’ highly-touted defense in the second half last week, and he led the team to a victory over the Bills in Sunday Night Football.
Of course, he’s not perfect.
Maye is taking a beating this year and a lot of it looks self-inflicted. The Falcons sacked him six times for 38 yards Sunday, and now he’s been sacked 34 times this year. Maye hung out in the pocket too long, too often. It’s possible he felt a false sense of confidence after a strong second half against Cleveland, but the Falcons brought pressure and stunts that even veterans failed to block on New England’s offensive line.
Mike Onwenu fell for one such look with just seconds left in the first half and allowed Jalen Walker to blow through a hole to Maye. Making matters worse, Maye was one-handing the ball, leading to 24-yard sack and fumble recovered by James Pearce Jr. The quarterback shook his head as in apparent frustration as the team went into the locker room at halftime with Atlanta within one score.
The other big blunder came in the third quarter. Maye looked tight end Hunter Henry’s way early on a crossing route. Henry wasn’t even turned in the direction to see the pass – but Jessie Bates was, and made the pick.
There were plenty of other small misses, like Jalen Walker’s batted pass on 3rd-and-6 target to the flat. Because there were just over three minutes left in the game, a little timing and luck saved New England from another potential game-changing mistake.
These issues are bigger than nitpicking because they’re actually damaging plays. The Patriots let the Falcons, a talented but weaker team, hang around literally all game long. They let them get momentum going into halftime, and then only (possible double-agent?) Parker Romo’s botched extra point kept them ahead for the win.
The softness of New England’s schedule is real. So, if we’re being very cynical, maybe this Atlanta game is a better indicator of how the Maye experience might go against smart competition and rosters stacked with actual weapons. One minute, he’s dropping dimes and Cardi B is waving to the crowd like the queen of Foxborough from the Kraft suite. In the next moment, Maye’s giving the rock back to the other team and fans are wondering how they ever danced along to ‘Twerk’ just a half hour earlier.
But if that’s the floor for the quarterback, his teammates can roll with it, as receiver Stefon Diggs shared postgame.
“That [expletive] happens. Receivers aren’t perfect. We’re not always open. We’re not always doing the right stuff. To be able to go out there and will to a win, I’ll take that any day. I’m riding with Drake Maye. Things aren’t going to be perfect. It’s hard as [expletive] to play quarterback,” he said.
Maye’s mistakes were, obviously, not the only reason for such a nail-biter. The Falcons capitalized on two mismatches in coverage, with the diminutive Marcus Jones covering Drake London in the end zone, twice. New England also lost two of their most productive players, receiver Kayshon Boutte and cornerback Christian Gonzalez, during the game.
Head coach Mike Vrabel expressed gratitude for his players’ composure to seal the win while acknowledging the several self-inflicted wounds the Patriots had on themselves.
“It wasn't great there. We had our spurts. We had our moments,” he said. “But when you're cleaning up, need to take care of the football and be better defensively in the red zone. That's been our issue, and they made some good plays down there, but we've got to be better in the red zone.”
Vrabel spoke earlier in the week about not getting fat and happy on the soft underbelly of this midseason stretch. This game was a cautionary tale, and they’ll have no choice but to learn from the tape when they visit Tampa Bay.
And Maye knows he’s set his own standard higher than what he showed Sunday.
“I’ve got to play better for this team down the road,” he said postgame. “I think it’s tough in a game where you win, and you can feel in that locker room that these guys know that we can play better. I think it’s a good feeling to have, but also at the same time, it’s tough to win in this league.”