Before we get into Musings, a word about the penalties called on Sunday and their overall impact on the game. I say this with all the love in my heart, especially around the holiday season... calls that were made or not made had nothing to do with the Patriots losing to the Bills. Yes, we can quibble about the ticky-tack nature of a couple of calls, but the non-call on Tre’Davious White’s interception was correct. Ditto the DPI on Marcus Jones. You can’t run into the receiver’s chest before the ball gets there (that they ruled it was a catch by Khalil Shakir is ridiculous; however, it wouldn’t have changed the result, which was the ball being placed at the 8-yard line). The Carlton Davis DPI wasn’t egregious; however, he did pull the jersey, and the only reason the flag didn’t come out sooner was that the ref couldn’t get the damn flag out of his belt.
Finally, to close the loop on this (as far as I'm concerned), here’s Mike Vrabel from Monday morning.
“Yeah, there's nothing that we can do. They see what they see. They call it the best that they can. I'm confident in that. We have to know what it is that they're looking for to call penalties. They have mechanics that they're looking for; we have to understand that, and we have to play to that. No more, no less. Officiating or the penalties weren't the reason that we lost the game.”
Anywho, on to Musings...
I have high standards for Drake Maye. He didn’t deliver in the second half. I had Maye for 8.5 negative plays on his 15 dropbacks after the break. Some (myself included) could have been harsher, but I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt on the final offensive snap (the Joey Bosa pass deflection). That play was a cluster from jump. Here's a list of all the second-half pass plays, and how I viewed them.
3rd Quarter
- 2nd & 11 at NE 25 10:49 - Negative — D.Maye pass short right to S.Diggs to NE 29 for 4 yards (M.Milano). Yes, the pass was complete. The throw was poor.
- 3rd & 7 at NE 29 10:06 - Negative — D.Maye sacked at NE 20 for -9 yards (M.Milano). Maye has Hollins on a crossing route. Doesn’t let it fly.
- PUNT
- 1st & 10 at NE 19 03:41 — D.Maye pass short left to R.Stevenson pushed ob at NE 35 for 16 yards (M.Milano). Swing pass. Easy pitch and catch.
- 1st & 10 at NE 35 03:16 — D.Maye pass short middle to T.Henderson to NE 41 for 6 yards (M.Milano). Another checkdown.
- 2nd & 4 at NE 41 02:39 - Negative — D.Maye pass incomplete short middle to M.Hollins. Tight coverage on a deep in-cut, but the throw is high and behind him.
- 3rd & 4 at NE 41 02:34 — D.Maye pass short left to S.Diggs to BUF 43 for 16 yards (Ta.Johnson). Maye’s best throw of the half.
