FOXBOROUGH — Hopefully there won't be many more games like this in Drake Maye's career beyond this rebuilding season for the Patriots.
Basically, Maye did everything he could do (we'll get to the final interception in a minute) to win that game - and the rest of the team let him down.
To do what Maye did on Sunday against a defense that not only was the league's second-best over the previous four games - but threw the kitchen sink at him in terms of pressure and coverage - was impressive to watch. Maye was in complete command nearly the entire game. He looked like a 10-year veteran calmly dissecting a good Rams defense.
"I thought he did a great job of being able to make plays in the pocket today, extend drives," said Rams coach Sean McVay, who knows a little bit about quarterbacks and passing offenses. "I thought he was patient, taking some underneath check-downs where guys were able to create. We had some tighter coverages, and he was able to fit the ball into tight windows. He looks like a stud.
"You can see just the impact that he has on his teammates, the way people talk about him here. He looks like he’s going to be a special player for a long time, and he gave us fits today."
How good was Maye on Sunday in the Patriots' eventual 28-22 loss?
As far as conventional stats go, Maye finished 30 of 40 for 282 yards, 2 touchdowns and one interception for a 100.2 passer rating. He started out hot in the first quarter. Maye was the first Patriots quarterback with at least 100 passing yards and a passing TD in an opening quarter since Tom Brady (Oct. 21, 2019 at the Jets), according to ESPN Stats and Info. Maye also calmly ran three times for 27 yards.
He was even better with advanced analytics.
Maye had an expected completion percentage of 63.8. With an actual completion percentage of 75%, his Completion Percentage Above Expected of +11.2 ranked 3rd in the league in Week 11 through the 4 p.m. games (behind Geno Smith and Jared Goff). It was by far his highest mark of the season (+3.9 vs. Titans).
His Expected Points Added per dropback of 0.28 was his best of the season and ranks 7th in Week 11.
The Team Offensive Throw Success Rate of 65% is fourth-best in Week 11 (and higher than Matthew Stafford - 55.6%)
He did this despite having the 4th-highest pressure rate 39.1%. He was blitzed on 37% of dropbacks (fifth-highest of Week 11).
Basically, Maye was dealing.
“Yeah, I mean, obviously, he has a lot of talent, and we see that day in, day out. But I think just the growth in the offense, growth in seeing things, growth in just even simple things of how he views the run game," said Hunter Henry. "There’s so many little things in an offense that go a long way, and I think each week he’s continuing to grow, and it’s fun to kind of continue that growth with him.”
This should have been the unequivocal Maye coming out party in a victory, if not for a few things - actually, more than a few.
- The defense allowed a struggling Rams offense and Stafford to slice through them on five consecutive drives without a punt (four touchdowns, missed field goal). The Patriots' non-existent plan against Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp (combined for 13 catches, 229 yards, 3 TDs) and inability to pressure Stafford (295, 4 TDs on 18 completions - 16.4 yards per completion) was embarrassing. DeMarcus Covington/Jerod Mayo got completely outcoached by Sean McVay and old friend Nick Caley.
- There were at least two huge drops by the Patriots.
- The Patriots had five offensive penalties that disrupted drives. Two were huge. Vederian Lowe lining up incorrectly erased a 17-yard pass to Henry that should have given the Patriots a first down at the LA 15. The Patriots wound up punting. And a Ja'Lynn Polk false start on 4th and 1 led to a field goal.
- Mayo elected not to kick a 54-yard field goal to start the second quarter ... and of course Bryce Baringer punted it into the end zone for a net 22-yard punt.
- The Patriots had first and goal at the Rams' 5 on the first drive of the second half and went incompletion, 3-yard run, no gain run and kicked a field goal on 4th and goal at the 2.
- The Patriots had 3rd and 1 at the Rams' 19 with 5:45 left and went no-gain run and again took the field goal to cut it to 28-22.
- And, as usual, Alex Van Pelt (who had a good game overall) refused to use Maye's legs as a threat in gotta-have-it situations.
"Do we need to get better? Absolutely, and that’s my job as the head coach of this football team," Mayo said. "It starts with me. I have to do better. We have to demand more from our assistant coaches. We’re going to demand more from our players. We have enough talent in our locker room to be a very good football team, we’ve just got to be able to put it together."
Maye admitted he wasn't perfect.
"Yeah, just can’t hurt our defense on the fumble, third down," he said. "Got to get the ball out. Can’t take a sack there. Same thing I talked about in previous press conferences. Punt, ending the drive with a kick, Coach Mayo preaches that, ending every drive with a kick. I thought we did some good things, but at the end of the day just wasn’t good enough."
Maye probably could have gotten rid of the ball on his strip-sack that led to a TD on the next play, he had options on the sack on the last drive, and the interception was a play he'd like to have back. But no one should expect a 22-year-old making his sixth start to need to be perfect. The Patriots need to support the quarterback better and not ruin sterling efforts like this one.
On the interception, I think Maye was affected by the sack on the previous play. He had room to slide up and hold the ball for a beat longer. I thought Demario Douglas was right to focus on running by the safety because Henry had preoccupied the other safety and Douglas was about to come open.
"Yeah, it was a two-high look and Pop [DeMario Douglas]’s up the middle, and they’re pretty good up front rushing five," Maye said of the play. "I tried to kind of put it on him and kind of hit him over the linebacker, and Pop was thinking probably deep, but at the end of the day, just got to be on the same page, and I think Pop did the right thing, I guess, got to just talk through more conversations. Just goes back to me during the week doing more, talking through different situations, “hey, I may put this one on you versus let it rip.” That’s about it."
Said Rams safety Kam Kinchens, who picked off the pass: “It was a simple play, they came out 4 by 1 and 85 and 3 are their main guys, so it doesn’t get any easier than that. His reads were kind of right there once you saw 85 go right there and 3 went up the middle. I was really going to make the tackle, but when I kind of saw the ball going high and 3 not adjusting to the ball, it was my opportunity to make a play.”
It was a shame the kind ended on that, Maye's sixth interception and fourth in the last three games. But that's what happens when the rest of the team isn't on point and wastes a game like this.
His opponent on Sunday, Stafford, knows a little bit about that after toiling for years with the Detroit Lions. He needed a coach like McVay and a team like the Rams to allow him to reach his ceiling. Hopefully it doesn't come to that for Maye and the Patriots.
"Yeah, a really talented player," Stafford said. "I’ve watched a little bit of crossover tape just from games, but a really talented kid. Obviously, he can move great in the pocket. I thought he stood in there a few times today and made some really nice plays on third down. He’s got a bright future."