Patriots GameDay Patriots vs Saints Week 6
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Patriots GameDay Discussion
they should start to think about extending him before his market explodes
turning out to be an amazing pick at #4
remember all the bullshit in offseason about eighths of an inch arm length defining this kid?
captain stone
Well-known member
Patriots’ offense is one-dimensional, but Drake Maye is so good it might not matter
The Patriots struggled to run the ball against the Saints on Sunday, but their second-year quarterback lifted them to victory anyway.www.nytimes.com
A little less than three minutes separated the New England Patriots from a third straight win and their best six-game start since Tom Brady was the quarterback.
But it’s hard to close out wins when your running game isn’t working and you’ve been swimming upstream against a slew of questionable calls from the officials.
The Patriots tried to win it on the ground, as teams with a lead late typically do. But their last five designed rushes produced minus-4 yards. Four of the five went backward. Finally, on third-and-11 with 2:39 remaining, there was no more use for the running game. If they could pick up the first down, the game would be over.
So the Patriots turned to Drake Maye, their talented second-year quarterback who keeps one-upping himself with career day after career day.
On the most important play of the game, with everyone at the Superdome knowing he had to throw it beyond the sticks, Maye put a strike right onto the back shoulder of Kayshon Boutte. Ball game. Patriots 25, Saints 19.
The Patriots are now 4-2. They’ve already matched their win total from a year ago. And the year before that. And there are still 11 games to play.
“Let’s go get win No. 5,” Maye said of matching last season’s win total. “Last year is in the past.”
There are a couple of ways to look at a game like this, won like this, with a quarterback like this.
The positive is that Maye continues to put together one of the best seasons we’ve seen from a second-year quarterback this century. On Sunday, he was 18-for-26 passing for 261 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. This season, his expected points added per dropback ranks fifth among all Year 2 quarterbacks since 2000, one spot ahead of Daunte Culpepper. He’s so good that he can go on the road after an emotional win and nab a victory without any running game to support him. That’s great.
The concern is that it’s hard to ask Maye to be Superman all season. At some point, you need a running game to help him out. The Patriots may have survived without one on Sunday, but that was possible because the Saints are, well, not a very good football team. If you want to be a playoff team that could surprise in the postseason, which the Patriots absolutely can be, you need a more balanced offense.
On the other hand, New England is a young team that got out of New Orleans with a win despite not playing its best.
“That’s better than an old team getting out of here with a loss,” Vrabel quipped. “We’ll never not enjoy and embrace winning in this league. But I do think that guys are very aware of the fact that it can be better, and it will have to be better as we go along here. I think that’s a good sign that they know there are some plays we left out there and that we could have played better.”
View: https://x.com/Patriots/status/1977494174522905062?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1977494174522905062%7Ctwgr%5E8263719177f3142860b36af67b95de59dda90ac4%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2Fathletic%2F6711749%2F2025%2F10%2F12%2Fpatriots-drake-maye-offense-new-orleans-saints%2F
To be sure, it’s nitpicking to bemoan the run game’s struggles after a third straight victory. But in recent years, the Patriots haven’t had enough wins to nitpick. Any win was welcome, regardless of what it looked like, because of its rarity.
Slowly but surely, Vrabel is raising the standard of what Patriots football should look like.
That’s why it’s fair to both celebrate how incredible Maye was in this one, helping the Patriots overcome a number of questionable referee calls, while noting how much better things could look if the running game got going.
On Sunday, Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson combined for 45 yards on 22 carries. They didn’t have a single run longer than 7 yards. And they didn’t get it done in important situations, either.
The Patriots could’ve taken control of the game in the third quarter. They had the ball on the New Orleans 2-yard line, first-and-goal. They ran it on back-to-back plays. The plays went for a combined minus-2 yards. After an incomplete pass on third-and-goal, they had to settle for an Andres Borregales field goal.
“Probably one guy away, like always,” Vrabel said of why the running game didn’t get going. “But had some positive runs, and we’ll keep practicing it and keep working it.”
Still, the most important aspect in the big picture is the play of the team’s most important player. We’ve said all year that Maye’s development and success will define this season for the Patriots. And so far, he’s been the best player on a team where the expectations are rising every week.
Maye’s stat line would have been even more impressive if a flag-happy crew of officials hadn’t brought back several big Patriots gains with highly questionable calls.
What’s impressive, too, is that the 23-year-old isn’t just leaning on one receiver. After Stefon Diggs topped 100 yards receiving in each of the last two weeks, Sunday was a different story. In this one, Boutte had five catches for 93 yards and two touchdowns. DeMario Douglas also had a touchdown — and it should’ve been two — to go with 71 receiving yards.
Maye came into the league as a raw prospect with big upside. Six games into his second year, he’s living up to the lofty ideal of what kind of player he can be.
On Sunday, the entire offense leaned on him. They asked him to make a difficult pass on third-and-long with the game on the line, and he did so perfectly to punctuate another impressive day.
But the game as a whole certainly wasn’t perfect for the Patriots. The defense struggled in the first half. The running game is the worst in the NFL based on EPA per carry.
But when you have a quarterback playing the way Maye is, sometimes he can carry you to an impressive — albeit imperfect — win.
I hope this article finds its way on the desks of those fucking lazy, arrogant, incompetent fucking nepo-tards upstairs.
captain stone
Well-known member
captain stone
Well-known member
Our Safeties: Worst in the Entire Fucking League. Tell me again why Peppers wasn't retained?
captain stone
Well-known member
And too many players playing too many snaps; with too many also playing too few of them.
captain stone
Well-known member
I hope he's NOTHING WHATSOEVER like that fucking filthy little fucking entitled, protected, lying, cheating, nappy-headed, half-nigger bastard of a fucking nigger-loving, traitor whore cunt mother.
This team missed some seemingly easy opportunities in free agency, and should have traded up for Justin Simmons to fix the OT spots for at least 5 years, but the depth issue is more about having so many crap drafts in a row.
captain stone
Well-known member
Numbers matter for a FUCKING REASON, fanboi.
I just meant in terms of winning Super Bowls. That’s a quality rant though, Cap.
That first throw, which i believe was the Diggs non-OPI was thrown from around the 23yd line to the other 25yd line, but it was just inside the left hash to the opposite sideline, what a fucking throw.
PATS16N0
Well-known member
This makes me want to commit acts of homophobia.
captain stone
Well-known member
