New England Patriots - NESN.com
Both those in the building and those watching the game from their couch received a late-night favor from the Patriots.
New England scored 17 first-quarter points en route to a 33-15 victory against the New York Giants at Gillette Stadium on Monday night. The Patriots were in control from the jump and coasted their way to a win. Meanwhile, many were able to get a full night’s sleep despite the primetime start.
Patriots quarterback Drake Maye, who helped the offense score 10 of those 17 first-quarter points, believed the fast start was a product of a specific sleep-related message from head coach Mike Vrabel.
“I think it was perfect with coach saying, ‘no naps,'” Maye told reporters after the win, per the team. “You want to come in here and start fast. This team has been up in a lot of games and they got good players over there and some good talent. We wanted to try to get on them fast, and Marcus (Jones) helped us with that.”
After the New England defense forced the Giants to punt on their opening possession, Jones returned it for a 94-yard touchdown. The special teams score gave the Patriots a 10-0 lead before a Christian Elliss hit on Jaxon Dart further ignited the group.
“I think starting fast when it’s planned, that’s what we wanted to do,” Maye said. “I think we had some play designs that coach had, and we practiced all week that worked. And I think that’s the biggest thing, is that we knew they had a new coordinator calling it for the first time, so they’re going to bring some stuff that we didn’t expect. I think we tried to handle guys up front, had a great rush, great players up front. I thought the guys did that all night. The one sack we had was my fault.
“I think from there, Coach saying ‘no naps.’ I think we did a better job in the second half of living that and putting them out of reach and getting across midfield and putting the drive together to score a touchdown.”
The Patriots now enter their bye week with the opportunity to get some rest. Maybe even a nap or two.
