Patriots head coach knows when to push his offense, and starting quarterback Drake Maye is a big fan of his in-game decision-making.
New England is middle-of-the-pack in terms of fourth-down attempts this year, (15), but when they go for it, they have the third-best conversion percentage in the NFL, (80%). The Patriots went for it on fourth down on three different occasions in their victory over the Buccaneers Sunday, and they went 2-3 on those attempts.
Maye joined ‘WEEI Afternoons’ for his weekly Patriots Monday conversation and described how he and the team have followed Vrabel’s lead.
“I think you’ve got to love it, especially on offense,” he said.
“Going for it on fourth down, we’ve got to do our part and earn it. But I think I love it. You love your head coach that wants to be aggressive. Fourth-and-one, going into halftime, go for it and good things happen. That’s what these guys have started to get adjusted to and I think we embrace it.”
The Patriots trail just Cincinnati and Indianapolis in fourth-down conversion rate. They’re even better at getting the extra yards at home: their percentage jumps to 85.71% through Week 10 when they’re at Gillette Stadium – tying them with the Philadelphia Eagles for second in the NFL.
And that’s without the ‘Tush Push!’