FOXBOROUGH — Just a typical Sunday in the NFL. A few notable scores from Week 9:
Vikings 27, Lions 24
Panthers 16, Packers 13 (Green Bay's other loss was to the Browns ... ewww)
Steelers 27, Colts 23
The Patriots were nearly on that list, but stayed off it with a 24-23 victory over the Falcons thanks, in part, to old friend Parker Romo missing the game-tying extra point.
After the game, you heard a lot of happy talk from the Patriots, who obviously got their message from their head coach/chief of vibes Mike Vrabel (sometimes I can't tell the difference because the guy with a reputation for being an a-hole and tough on players has been anything but when it comes to his Patriots).
"Understand that that's how it goes in this league sometimes. It's tough," Vrabel said. "Don't let anybody take the joy of what we do. Joy is authentic. Joy comes from these guys caring about each other, being happy for the guy next to them that made a play. Joy is about what we do in here, and I think that they need to embrace that and be thankful for what they get to do and what I get to do. We talked about when you get -- sometimes you get this taken away from you, whether you're a player and you get cut or you're a coach and you get fired and you get another opportunity, you want to try to make the most of it and enjoy it."
Obviously the word was spread down to the players, because they were echoing the joy storyline as well.
"It's tough to win in this league, so you've got to enjoy it," said Drake Maye. "You've got to enjoy it."
I don't disagree with any of that. The Patriots, in riding a six-game win streak in which they were only really challenged once (at Buffalo), felt like they were in an adversity-free bubble as the schedule loosened up. Barely any injuries. Maye was playing like a 10-year veteran on his way to the MVP. It seemed like the Patriots were just going to keep rolling to easy victories against subpar opponents.
The first half pretty much played out that way, with the Patriots riding another Maye heater against the best pass DVOA defense they've faced. When Maye had the ball in his hand at midfield with 32 seconds to go before halftime, the Patriots were up 21-7 and were set to get the ball to start the second half.
To that point, he was 11 of 15 for 172 yards, two touchdowns, and a passer rating of 150.6. And a lot of that was Maye, again, as illustrated by his +15.5% completion percentage over expected (2nd highest on Sunday to Mac Jones) — which is where it has been, basically, since Week 1 to make him one of the most dangerous quarterbacks in the league.
And then Maye got strip-sacked by Jalon Walker, the Falcons took the gift and scored to make it a ballgame. And suddenly, Maye and the Patriots were in a rock fight that went down to the final minute. Not only that, but there were injuries to overcome (Christian Gonzalez - said he could have come back, Kayshon Boutte, Christian Elliss), and some questionable defense (9 catches, 119 yards, and 3 touchdowns for Drake London).
In addition, Maye seemed like a different quarterback in the second half, like a player who was questioning himself for the first time in a long time. His passer rating was just 45.8 in the second half, and his CPOE completely flipped to -16.8% (third-worst to Jones and Bryce Young). That means the plays were there, he just wasn't making them. And at times, he did look a little tight and tentative.
That leads me to a series of questions about this team heading into the Bucs game next Sunday, and basically, whether or not I'm all that worried. Let's start with Maye.
Did Maye come back to reality on Sunday, and is that what we should expect now? Also, he was sacked six times for the second-straight week, whose fault is that?
The first is probably the most fascinating question to me, and I can't wait to see how he responds in Tampa. The short answer is, no, I don't think two turnovers with another dropped ball — kind of the Maye we saw last season — is the new norm. The reason I said that is because even though he looked a little shaky in the second half, he did find a way to make some key plays, namely the 3rd and 2 scramble on the first drive of the third quarter, the amazing 21-yard pass to Stefon Diggs on 3rd and 12 through a small window and, of course, the final pass to Hunter Henry to ice the game. Maye might have been a little tight and suffering a little crisis of confidence, but it wasn't like he was choking or anything. He did make plays. That's a great sign to me, but we need to see how he bounces back in Tampa to get a real sense of it.
Pressure and sack rate is, at times, every bit as much of a quarterback stat as it is an offensive line stat. And Maye has certainly factored into it, more lately. Maye factored into about half the sacks against the Browns, and it felt about the same on Sunday as Maye declined to take ready checkdowns to backs and Diggs.
But I don't expect perfection in this area from a young quarterback. The job is hard enough. When you're an athletic QB, it's even more difficult because you have to deal with either staying in the pocket or trying to use your legs. Aaron Rodgers was miserable at it in 2008-09 to the point his teammates called him out on the carpet about it. That part of the game is always going to be a work in progress, and he'll only get better at it in time.
How big is the Kayshon Boutte injury, and who replaces him?
I think it's very big, considering Maye's comfort with him (probably a factor in the second half), and we'll have to see how long he is out. The Patriots play Thursday night after Tampa, so this could be a two-game situation.
The Patriots don't really have another true boundary X receiver, but Kyle Williams and, more likely, Mack Hollins would be the candidate. Williams had another miscommunication with Maye on Sunday, and it feels like he leads the league in those. Patriots will need him to grow up real quick this week. I think it will likely be Hollins getting most of those reps, with some Demario Douglas sprinkled in off his first 100-yard game.
What's the deal with Drake London - the Falcons' only real receiver and obvious favorite target — going off, and getting switched onto Marcus Jones?
Pending the film and Vrabel said he would be able to discuss it on Monday, this goes along with my main criticism of the defensive coaching, as the unit is mired in being the 28th pass defense in DVOA: they haven't found their bread and butter coverages. That could be for a variety of reasons. The Patriots might feel like they have three really good man corners, but two other people have to play man if you're going to become a man team. The coaches might not have confidence in that. They're going to have to sort that out.
What happened in the end zone, that's a coaching decision, and something even a bad OC like Zac Robinson sniffed out. You can either play combo (combination, switch) or locked coverage in man down there, or you can play some sort of zone. Both have their pluses and minuses. The Falcons knew they were going to get the much smaller Jones switched onto London, and took advantage. Other teams are going to keep doing that (same with targeting slow Mike Onwenu on games), so a coaching adjustment is needed.
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The bottom line is, I don't have any huge worries about Maye or this team yet, aside from the lack of depth on the roster, which has been looming over this team.
Not everything is going to be perfect for Maye or the team. That doesn't mean there's an issue, that's just the National Football League. Plenty of teams got tripped up on Sunday. The Patriots weren't one of them. Vrabel's right: enjoy it, but the hard work continues.