A week after playing an aggressive Atlanta Falcons defense, things were not about to get any easier for Drake Maye down in Tampa against an aggressive, Todd Bowles-led defense.
While Bowles did not dial
up his usual blitz rates, Tampa Bay still got pressure on 44.4% of Maye’s drop backs Sunday. But, Maye, who entered the week second in sacks taken and has shown tendencies of taking off running in past games, stood tall in the pocket to find success.
In total, Maye fired four completions for 167 yards and a touchdown while under pressure, highlighting a day that earned him more “MVP!” chants from a large Patriot fan contingent down in Tampa. While it wasn’t all perfect — including a late interception in the end zone after passing up an open receiver — the performance was enough to earn his Patriots a 28-23 victory — their seventh straight win.
Here’s how he got those results on Sunday.
Drive 3
Outside of a strong, in-rhythm completion Stefon Diggs backed up along the goal line, it was a slow start for Maye in Tampa Bay in rainy conditions. With New England’s first two drives ending in a punt, they needed a spark which quickly came from rookie Kyle Williams.
1-10-NE 28 (:11) D. Maye pass short right to K. Williams for 72 yards, TOUCHDOWN. At the line of scrimmage, Maye makes a check pre-snap following Mack Hollins’ motion. New England runs a Yankee concept (deep over paired with a crosser) off play-action with max protection. Maye is left to read the post-safety, who jumps to Hollins’ deep over which leaves Kyle Williams one-on-one on the crosser. The throw is perfectly on the money despite pressure on Maye’s arm side which allows Williams to haul it in in stride and do the rest with his 4.40-second speed.
Drive 5
2-9-NE 23 (5:43) D. Maye pass deep middle to S. Diggs to NE 42 for 19 yards. Back trailing, Maye kickstarts a seven-plus minute scoring drive off another successful play-action attempt. As a pulling guard action sucks up Tampa Bay’s linebackers, the second level is vacated for Stefon Diggs running a crosser. Maye delivers a nice pump fake to Hunter Henry which moves safety Antoine Winfield out of the passing lane, leading to an easy pitch-and-catch to Diggs.
2-7-NE 45 (4:15) D. Maye pass short middle to M. Hollins to TB 43 for 12 yards. Two plays later, Maye moves the chains again from inside the pocket. Even with Tampa Bay bringing a nickel blitz, Maye calmly works through his progressions from Diggs to his left, to Henry over the middle, to Hollins to his right on the curl. With the offensive line picking up the blitz, Maye connects with Hollins for 12 yards.
3-7-TB 40 (2:37) D. Maye pass short middle to D. Douglas to TB 14 for 26 yards. Tampa Bay brings another blitz on third-down which generates two free runners — one up the middle and one outside on the blindside. Maye stares down the barrel and finds Pop Douglas, who is guarded by a Bucs defensive end who drops out in coverage. A nice block by Henry downfield turns the first-down into a large chunk gain by Douglas to get New England’s offense inside the red zone.
4-1-TB 1 (:02) D. Maye pass short left to S. Diggs for 1 yard, TOUCHDOWN. A gutsy call by Mike Vrabel leaves the offense on the field for the final play of the half with New England trailing by three. With Hunter Henry open on the return route and Diggs open on the corner, Maye opts to look Diggs’ way and the veteran makes an incredible toe-tapping catch to give the Patriots the lead at the half.
“Stef made a great play,” Maye said. “I think Hunter [Henry] was open as well, so ‘Stef’ did a great job of getting two feet down. That was a toe-tap extraordinaire.”
Drive 8
3-7-NE 38 (3:23) D. Maye pass short middle to M. Hollins to TB 47 for 15 yards. Maye deals well with pressure again, keeping two hands on the ball to rip it away from Vita Vea in the backfield to somehow keep the play alive to find Hollins working over the middle of the field.
“I think you see him pull through there with two hands on the football, and then complete a pass. I thought that was really cool,” Mike Vrabel said. “It was a big play for us, being able to take care of the football, but then also be able to extend, find and get a conversion for us.”
Drive 10
3-14-NE 38 (7:27) D. Maye pass deep right to M. Hollins to TB 8 for 54 yards. With just a five-point lead, one of Maye’s last drives of the game was a rollercoaster. It began by going up, as New England runs three vertical routes on a third-and-long. Maye uncorks a perfect ball 56.4 air yards to Hollins — the furthest air distance completion of Maye’s career — to set up the unit inside the 10-yard line.
3-2-TB 2 (5:25) D. Maye pass short right intended for M. Hollins INTERCEPTED by T. Smith at TB -5. Touchback. Then comes the downhill part of the ride. A bluff screen results in an open Hollins escaping up the field, but Maye is hesitant to pull the trigger and instead takes off to his right. While in playground mode, Maye tries to squeeze a ball into Hollins but an inside pass results in an interception — one that could have been a disastrous one in a one score game.
“I’m not changing my approach. I wouldn’t change the throw,” Maye said after the game. “I had Mack [Hollins] earlier. [I’ve] just got to make it him or nobody out there, out wide. You’ve got to be mad at yourself, but you know that you have a chance either to go into a two-minute drill to win the game or go in a five-minute scenario to win the game. So, that’s this league, just bouncing back from it, flipping the page. You want to throw things on the sideline, but guys are watching me, and I think the biggest thing is just to get back out there and to show these guys we’re ready to go for the next play.”
