No formalities or preambles needed for this short week.
Time for Mike’s Musings as I process Caleb Williams’ 24-for-24 performance from a clean pocket during the Bears' win in Atlanta on Sunday.
We’re back to the nitpicking part of the program with Drake Maye. His accuracy and ball placement weren’t consistently at the level they were over the previous couple of weeks. He sailed one high over DeMario Douglas’ head on a 3rd down, threw behind Douglas on a crosser, preventing potential YAC, and chided himself for making Romeo Doubs lay out on the TD pass. All of these were “easy” throws. He was also unwilling to throw a couple of guys open, including A.J. Brown in the red area (on what turned out to be the Douglas touchdown). But otherwise, your 24-year-old QB is in a groove. I wrote about him after the game, citing his patience, pocket presence and poise. Not much more to add here, other than how often he kept his head up and made plays with his arm instead of bailing on a play and relying on running. Good stuff.
If I told you A.J. Brown would have four drops, a fumble (and own recovery) and let an onside kick go through his hands (Douglas with the save) and the Pats still won, I’m not sure you would have believed me. His stat line was bad but…the dude got open — a lot. I didn’t consider any of the throws to him “forced.” Brown will need to be on his game if they are to go into Chicago and win.
Will Campbell sure didn’t look like a guy who hurt his knee the week prior and was limited in practice all week. He surrendered a pair of pressures, blocked well in short yardage out of an unbalanced look (he shifted over to the right side), and climbed to the second level for a nice run block in the low red.
Meanwhile, Caleb Lomu came in for an injured and struggling Morgan Moses (two pressures during his short stint) and, while he still has this habit of surrendering short corners, which means he’s sometimes already in Maye’s airspace by the time he engages, had a