As Patriots tight end Austin Hooper walked off the field in Nashville on Sunday, he knew his quarterback had an efficient day passing the football. But the veteran tight end just didn’t realize exactly
how efficient until he checked the box score.
“My goodness,” Hooper recalled himself thinking.
That box score for quarterback Drake Maye read 21 of 23 passing — a 91.3 completion percentage that set a Patriots single-game franchise record, besting a mark previously established by legendary Tom Brady.
Maye put up terrific numbers yet again in a 31-13 win over the Tennessee Titans and continued to deliver elite results throwing the ball downfield. In total, Maye completed both of his attempts 20-plus yards downfield Sunday for 61 yards and a touchdown.
The score came on another 1-on-1 opportunity for Kayshon Boutte in an end-of-half situation. With a double-dig concept to Maye’s right and Boutte running the vertical to his left, the receiver takes advantage of poor secondary play and gets behind to defense to haul in a downfield bomb that travels 50-plus air yards for a touchdown.
On the year, Maye is now 14-of-18 for 414 yards and five touchdowns targeting the deep part of the field for a Pro Football Focus grade of 99.9. That also includes connecting on 12 of his last 13 attempts with the lone incompletion going off Mack Hollins’ hands (where there was a strong case for defensive pass interference) in New Orleans.
Elsewhere against Tennessee, Maye found success working the sideline by dropping one in the absolute bucket to Stefon Diggs (below) as the duo’s chemistry continues to grow, and then hitting a beautiful Cover 2 honey hole shot down the right sideline over the cornerback and before the safety arrived to Mack Hollins.
There was also a silly display of his arm talent getting another hole shot to Boutte along the opposite sideline despite left tackle Will Campbell getting pushed back in his lap.
But while Maye’s box score was extremely efficient, the quarterback lamented about some poor decisions to scramble postgame.
“Left some out there that I ended up running that I could have thrown,” Maye said. “I think I tucked it a couple times when I shouldn’t have, and I think maybe I could get the backside progression more. But yeah, I think I’m trying to be careful with the football and trying to challenge down the field and not just be doing check-down Charlie so. Just trying to throw it to the guys that’s open and they’re making great plays.”
In total, Maye scrambled eight times for 62 yards and did appear to pass up open receivers at times even in clean pockets. While New England may live with some of those decisions as two scrambles resulted in 19- and 11-yard gains, other instances were not as successful.
That included an opportunity to find Hunter Henry in the end zone in the second quarter while trailing 10-3. With Henry boxing out a defender and sitting on the goal line to Maye’s right, the path is clear for an anticipatory ball for a touchdown. However, Maye doesn’t pull the trigger and takes off for just a four-yard scramble.
Then, of course, came a trip to the blue medical tent as a scramble ended with Maye slamming his head to the turf. While he missed just three plays as he was evaluated for a concussion, any time he takes off puts him in harm’s way.
Like any team and their franchise quarterback, the Patriots need Maye to stay healthy to get where they want to go; especially as he leads an offense that ranks among the top 10 teams in scoring (25.9 PPG) with the quarterback clearly in the MVP conversation through seven weeks.
