Sunday was a rollercoaster ride for Patriots quarterback Drake Maye.
Maye began the day building off his strong start to the season, completing nine of his first 13 passes for 157 yards and two touchdowns.
But after a disastrous strip sack to end the first half, Maye looked hesitant at times and went just 10-of-16 for 102 yards and an interception from that point on — while also being responsible for handful of the six sacks throughout the afternoon.
Still, Maye’s 259 passing yards were the most the Falcons, who entered the week as the top-ranked pass defense in football, allowed all season while he still made his usual tight-window and explosive throws. All-in-all, it was enough to secure a 24-23 W, but Maye knows he can — and needs to be — better moving forward.
“I’ve just got to play better. I’ve got to play better for this team down the road,” he shared after the game. “It’s tough, it’s tough in a game where you win and you can feel in that locker room that these guys know 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, so you’ve got to enjoy it.“
Here’s how he got those results on Sunday.
Drive 1
2-10-ATL 49 (10:07) D Maye scrambles right end to ATL 37 for 12 yards (A. Terrell). Maye’s first impact play of the game came with his legs on Sunday. Running a staple concept (HOSS Juke), Atlanta covers both seams while a pair of linebackers playing zone takes away Diggs over the middle, forcing Maye to step up in the pocket with two hands on the football before stiff arming a defender en route to picking up 12 yards.
“I tried to cut back. Like I said, cutting back is probably not in my repertoire. I need to get down,” Maye said about the end of the play. “I just revert back to my natural instincts in the open field, but yeah, I need to get down.”
2-9-ATL 17 (7:48) D. Maye pass deep left to D. Douglas for 17 yards, TOUCHDOWN. After a 19-yard gain on a downfield screen to TreVeyon Henderson, the Patriots found themselves in the high red zone on their opening drive. That’s where Josh McDaniels went to work, aligning Henderson in the slot to Maye’s right and DeMario Douglas in the backfield. The setup resulted in Douglas matching up one-on-one backside in man coverage against linebacker Jalon Walker — an easy matchup for Douglas. Running the wheel route, the speedster gains a step and Maye drops one perfectly in the bucket for six.
Drive 3
1-10-NE 35 (0:29) D. Maye sacked at NE 33 for -2 yards (L. London). After a second drive three-and-out, Maye began to ride the rollercoaster on drive No. 3. That started with a first-down sack — the first of six sacks on the day. But, as was the case on this instance, most of the sacks seemed to fall on the QB. Here, Maye starts his progression to his tight ends to his right and as he works backside, attempts to take off running and gets sacked instead of hitting a wide open Stefon Diggs over the middle of the field.
1-10-ATL 30 (11:04) D. Maye sacked at ATL 34 for -4 yards (B. Dorlus). Maye overcame the first sack by completing a third-down pass to Hunter Henry, then beat a blitz to find the tight end on the following third-down after a spray miss to an open Kayshon Boutte. Then set up with a fresh set of downs, Maye takes his second sack of the day — looking hesitant to throw the football despite Austin Hooper running open over the middle of the field.
2-14-ATL 34 (10:21) D. Maye pass deep left to A. Hooper to ATL 14 for 20 yards (D. Alford). The very next play, Maye overcomes his mistake again. On a similar play, Maye instead makes a strong move left in the pocket to avoid a rush and fires one back to Hooper working over the middle of the field in a similar style. The completion sets New England up inside the red zone, where a pair of handoffs to Terrell Jennings resulted in a touchdown and 14-0 lead.
Drive 4
3-7-NE 31 (6:19) D. Maye pass deep left to D. Douglas to ATL 11 for 58 yards (M. Hughes). The big plays then came for Maye and the offense. With New England running two downfield crossing routes with Douglas and Stefon Diggs, the post safety seems to give attention to Diggs which leaves Douglas one-on-one again in man coverage. Maye then transitions up in the pocket and hits the speedster for a huge downfield gain.
2-10-ATL 11 (5:18) D. Maye pass short middle to S. Diggs for 11 yards, TOUCHDOWN. Two plays later, New England finds the end zone on the same concept that Maye took his first sack of the game on. This time, however, Maye stays patient in the pocket and comes off his two tight ends to work backside to an open Diggs, who does the rest to find the pylon for six points.
Drive 5
1-10-50 (:32) D. Maye sacked at NE 38 for -12 yards (J. Walker) FUMBLES. Disaster then truly struck in an end-of-half situation. Atlanta covers things nicely downfield to cut off Pop Douglas over the middle of the field, while Mike Onwenu fails to pick up a stunt by Jalon Walker. With the edge rusher coming through unblocked, Maye transitions to hero ball and losses the football with poor ball security. The turnover led to seven points for the Falcons, which ultimately kept them in the game.
“Free rusher, the first thing I’ve got to do, I told our quarterbacks coach, just got to tuck the ball to the chest,” Maye said. “Getting into a bad habit of trying to break tackles on these guys that I don’t have a great chance of breaking a tackle on.”
Drive 6
1-10-NE 31 (14:54) D. Maye sacked at NE 25 for -6 yards (L. London). FUMBLES and recovers. Right out of halftime, Maye puts the ball on the ground again. With bracket coverage on Hunter Henry over the ball, Maye double clutches in the pocket and misses Mack Hollins uncovering over the middle. As he goes to take off he then drops the ball but manages to fall on it for the recovery.
2-14-NE 27 (14:13) D. Maye pass short right to D. Douglas pushed ob at NE 42 for 15 yards (M. Hughes). The rollercoaster continues in a positive direction. The very next play, Maye delivers an anticipatory throw to Douglas running a “squirrel” route on the right sideline. Maye starts his delivery before the receiver even makes his break, a big time throw and display of arm talent that kicks starts a field goal drive for New England.
2-5-ATL 5 (7:57) D. Maye sacked at ATL 14 for -9 yards (J. Walker). The drive only ends in a field goal, however, because Maye is responsible for yet another sack. To his left, Arizona has four defenders to three Patriots pass catchers, while he meanwhile has a two-on-two situation to his right. That includes Stefon Diggs on Jessie Bates who is open on a slant, but Maye hangs up on those to his left and gets taken down for a sack.
Drive 7
2-10-NE 48 (4:46) D. Maye pass deep middle to intended for H. Henry INTERCEPTED by J. Bates at ATL 32. Then comes Maye’s second turnover of the day. With Maye seeing space, he expects Hunter Henry to turn and look for the football early. The tight end, however, likely sees the one-high safety and converts his route to a crosser. The miscommunication between quarterback and tight end leads to Maye throwing his fourth interception of the season right to Jessie Bates.
“I wasn’t on the same page with Hunt, gave the ball back to them at midfield, and now it just changed the game,“ Maye said.
Drive 9
3-12-NE 34 (11:58) D. Maye pass deep right to S. Diggs pushed ob at ATL 45 for 21 yards (J. Bates). Back with the ball, Maye faces a key third-and-12 in a now one possession game. New England dials up a sail concept to the quarterback’s right and Maye delivers a beautiful ball to Diggs downfield just over the flat defender.
3-12-ATL 47 (9:52) D. Maye pass incomplete deep left to D. Douglas. On the following third-and-long, Maye does not find the same success. Running another set of downfield crossing routes between Douglas and Diggs, Maye just misses an open Douglas downfield. Maye did deal with pressure from both tackles, and perhaps thought the receiver would break more downfield towards the open space.
Drive 10
3-5-NE 23 (1:42) D. Maye pass short left to H. Henry to NE 40 for 17 yards. The rollercoaster ends on a positive note. With a chance to ice the game, a double slant-flat combo uncovers Henry for an easy first-down. It’s a high percentage throw — and not pass interference on Hollins — to seal the win for New England.
