FOXBOROUGH - After matching their offensive total over the first three weeks by scoring 29 points in the win over the Bills, has the offense cured itself of everything that ailed it? Let’s pump the brakes and not start hoisting a banner at Gillette or building Drake Maye a statue. Yes, Maye and the Patriots took a step in the right direction, but they still have a lot to do before this group rivals last year’s.
“I think we’re just starting up the mountain,” Maye said. “It’s a race for us to improve, knowing that you have to improve throughout the season and throughout the year… These teams, once you get closer to the end, are going to be at their best, and I think that’s one of the things that you strive to do throughout the year.”
Maye hasn’t forgotten what happened in September: “The first three weeks weren’t what we wanted to put out there,” he said earlier this week. However, the offense found more answers last time out, albeit against a Buffalo defense that, quite frankly, isn’t good or complex, at least not right now. The Raiders, on the other hand, may not be a top-tier defense yet, but they pressure and force turnovers at an impressive clip (9 takeaways, leading the league).
“It starts with their front and how disruptive they’ve been up front,” Josh McDaniels said, pointing to several players, starting with Maxx Crosby. “They’ve got some really impactful players that play on the D line.”
The Bills do too, but Maye saw it much better in Buffalo than at any point this season, especially in the second half. On Sunday, he won’t be facing a static defense (cough, Buffalo, cough). The Raiders have been good at changing the picture from pre-snap to post-snap; per SumerSports, they rank second in safety rotation - something the third-year QB has struggled with.
“I think they do a good job of building different coverages behind (the pressure),” Maye said. “I think that’s one of the best things when you bring different guys and bring multiple blitzers, not bringing just linebackers – they bring some corners and do some different things, and that catches you off balance.
“So, they do a good job of trying to disrupt you, keeping you on your toes. You’re just trying to pick it up and exploit the extra room that you get when they try to bring some and double-drop a guy into coverage. But at the same time, you have to be able to see and have your eyes in the right place, and I think that’s the big thing we’re trying to focus on every week: to have my eyes in the right spot, trusting what I see and letting it rip.”
“I think what you've seen from the secondary is a lot of eyeballs on the quarterback,” McDaniels added, “and so when the front creates problems in the pocket, the secondary is very opportunistic and they see all the mistakes because their eyes are back there in the zone. It's mostly a zone scheme.”
The Pats have seen a lot of