Pats Pulpit
The New England Patriots have ended their offseason program and now break until training camp in late July. While players are out of the facility, plenty remains to break down.
So, let’s get into this week’s #PostPulpit Mailbag.
Hey Brian. Two part question today…
Do you see Maye taking his game to another level this season, and if he does, does the offense have to bail the defense out of a few games this year?
The second part of the question is more due to my concern for the Edge position as it currently stands. – Pat in Agawam
I do believe Maye has another level he can reach this season. I’m not sure what that looks like from a statistical or accolade standpoint — the only way up from being the MVP runner-up is winning the award — but he will still be just 24 years old entering his third NFL season.
I think the biggest area of growth will come on the mental side of his game. The Patriots challenged him this spring by occasionally sending him to the line of scrimmage without a play call, forcing him to get the offense into the right look. Sharpening that aspect of his game — while also expanding what is then available to him on the play sheet — should help eliminate negative plays, which quietly piled up at times last season. The Patriots were often able to overcome those mistakes until they ran into trouble in the playoffs and Super Bowl.
To your second point, another way you could see the growth could be Maye winning the team games in shootouts. Being at his best when it matters most and adding a few comeback or fourth-quarter victories to his résumé would be another step forward. I’d imagine the experience he gained during last year’s playoff run and Super Bowl appearance should help him in those moments.
There was talk after the super bowl that the Seahawks knew our signals or somehow knew what plays we were going to run. That story seemed to die off and I haven’t heard anything about it since. Has there been an assessment of that claim? Was it true? Has anyone with the team addressed this? – kwizzer
My takeaway from Seattle’s comments was that New England’s offense became pretty predictable down the stretch with a lot of young players operating in Year 1 of the same system together. That was especially true in their pass-protection plan, which Seattle took advantage of by attacking vulnerable points with extra rushers.
Like we discussed with Maye, another year for everyone in the system should lead to more answers at the line of scrimmage, more options offensively, and ultimately better results.
How is Doubs looking this spring?
After so much fanfare about his signing, there’s been relatively little reporting on his performance as compared to, say AJ Brown, Chism, Boutte, and Douglas, though he’s likely a much more important player than 3 of those 4....
