Pats Pulpit
A week after playing an aggressive Atlanta Falcons defense, things were not about to get any easier for Drake Maye down in Tampa against an aggressive, Todd Bowles-led defense.
While Bowles did not dial up his usual blitz rates, Tampa Bay still got pressure on 44.4% of Maye’s drop backs Sunday. But, Maye, who entered the week second in sacks taken and has shown tendencies of taking off running in past games, stood tall in the pocket to find success.
In total, Maye fired four completions for 167 yards and a touchdown while under pressure, highlighting a day that earned him more “MVP!” chants from a large Patriot fan contingent down in Tampa. While it wasn’t all perfect — including a late interception in the end zone after passing up an open receiver — the performance was enough to earn his Patriots a 28-23 victory — their seventh straight win.
Here’s how he got those results on Sunday.
Outside of a strong, in-rhythm completion Stefon Diggs backed up along the goal line, it was a slow start for Maye in Tampa Bay in rainy conditions. With New England’s first two drives ending in a punt, they needed a spark which quickly came from rookie Kyle Williams.
1-10-NE 28 (:11) D. Maye pass short right to K. Williams for 72 yards, TOUCHDOWN. At the line of scrimmage, Maye makes a check pre-snap following Mack Hollins’ motion. New England runs a Yankee concept (deep over paired with a crosser) off play-action with max protection. Maye is left to read the post-safety, who jumps to Hollins’ deep over which leaves Kyle Williams one-on-one on the crosser. The throw is perfectly on the money despite pressure on Maye’s arm side which allows Williams to haul it in in stride and do the rest with his 4.40-second speed.
2-9-NE 23 (5:43) D. Maye pass deep middle to S. Diggs to NE 42 for 19 yards. Back trailing, Maye kickstarts a seven-plus minute scoring drive off another successful play-action attempt. As a pulling guard action sucks up Tampa Bay’s linebackers, the second level is vacated for Stefon Diggs running a crosser. Maye delivers a nice pump fake to Hunter Henry which moves safety Antoine Winfield out of the passing lane, leading to an easy pitch-and-catch to Diggs.
2-7-NE 45 (4:15) D. Maye pass short middle to M. Hollins to TB 43 for 12 yards. Two plays later, Maye moves the chains again from inside the pocket. Even with Tampa Bay bringing a nickel blitz, Maye calmly works through his progressions from Diggs to his left, to Henry over the middle, to Hollins to his right on the curl. With the offensive line picking up the blitz, Maye connects with Hollins for 12 yards.
3-7-TB 40 (2:37) D. Maye pass short middle to D. Douglas to TB 14 for 26 yards. Tampa Bay brings another blitz on third-down which generates two free runners — one up the middle and one outside...
