The New England Patriots stayed in the win column on Sunday, celebrating a fourth straight W to improve to 5-2 on the year. Mike Vrabel’s return to Tennessee ended with a 31-13 victory over the Titans.
Here is who caught our eye for better or worse upon live viewing.
Winners
QB Drake Maye: Another week, another near perfect effort for the sophomore quarterback. Maye set a single-game franchise record completing 91.3 percent of his passes (21-of-23) en route to throwing for 222 yards and two touchdowns while
generating +0.37 expected points per drop-back. He continued his elite success throwing downfield with a long touchdown to Kayshon Boutte and had perfect ball placement on sideline throws to Mack Hollins (honey hole) and Stefon Diggs.
Maye also added 62 yards on eight scrambles but the quarterback did admit to potentially being quick to take off at times — while the eight attempts led to a handful of hits and a trip to the medical tent. New England needs their quarterback to stay healthy as Maye is playing at an elite, MVP-type level.
RB Rhamondre Stevenson: After struggling to run the football of late New England had their best statistical rushing performance of the season against the Titans. That was led by Rhamondre Stevenson who dominated the backfield snaps and posted 88 yards on 18 carries (4.9 YPA) while finding the end zone. Stevenson totaled a season-high 56 rushing yards after contact.
Kayshon Boutte and the WRs: Maye continued to spread the ball around on Sunday which led to several receivers making key contributions. The biggest came from Kayshon Boutte finding the end zone again by beating L’Jarius Snead one-on-one for a 39-yard touchdown.
Beyond Boutte, Stefon Diggs led the group with seven catches for 69 yards, Mack Hollins had a pair of explosives, and DeMario Douglas converted a third and fourth down on a touchdown drive — needing just one hand to convert the latter. Even Efton Chism III saw his first non-kneel down offensive snaps of the season and threw a big block to help spring a 14-yard run.
LBs K’Lavon Chaisson and Harold Landry: New England’s top two edge rushers took advantage of Tennessee’s struggling tackle duo. Chiasson found himself in the backfield often and got home for a pair of sacks on Cam Ward. He then capped his day off with a scoop-and-score touchdown on a fumble recovery.
On the opposite side, Harold Landry made an impact in his return to Tennessee with a sack, run stuff, and a drawn hold. He also had the initial pressure on one of Chaisson’s takedowns.
Losers
OG Jared Wilson and the pass protection: While Drake Maye found plenty of success through the air, the quarterback was under pressure on 37 percent of his drop backs and was sacked four times even as the Titans were without star defensive lineman Jeffrey Simmons (hamstring) for most of the afternoon. That pressure percentage also included eight quick pressures — getting to Maye in under 2.5 seconds.
The main culprit seemed to be rookie left guard Jared Wilson, who appeared to allow at least a pair of sacks in live action. One would wonder if the staff would consider a change to Ben Brown in order to give the rookie a breather.
Early pass defense: In a reoccurring theme, New England’s defense got off to a slow start as they saw Cam Ward complete 11-of-16 first half passes for 148 yards and a touchdown. The 38-yard score was the same play Pop Douglas scored on against New Orleans, as Chimere Dike got behind Marcus Jones while rookie Craig Woodson bit on the corner route overtop.
Elsewhere, Carlton Davis gave up a 20-yard completion in man coverage and was flagged for DPI, while Christian Gonzalez also allowed a 15-yard completion on third-and-3. New England found much more success with more zone coverage in the second half, but the slow starts and inconsistent play against the pass remains something to monitor.
Honorable mentions
- Credit to backup QB Joshua Dobbs for being inserted for three plays and keeping the drive alive. Dobbs’ only attempt saw him avoid pressure before finding Douglas on third-down.
- Just two carries (five yards) for rookie running back TreVeyon Henderson as Stevenson dominated the backfield.
- Helluva touchdown catch from Austin Hooper. Mossed.
- Milton Williams got home for a third-down sack to give him 3.5 on the season. And while Christian Barmore did not get in the stat sheet he continued to make his presence felt doing work to free up Harold Landry on two sacks.
- While he was on scene for the long touchdown allowed, Marcus Jones later recorded his second interception of the season.
- Another clean day for Andy Borregales with four made PATs and a 36-yard field goal.
- New England’s kick coverage gave up a 29- and 31-yard kick returns in addition to a 15-yard punt return.
