New England Patriots - NESN.com
The New England Patriots held on to beat the Atlanta Falcons 24-23 on Sunday, but it wasn’t pretty. The Patriots nearly blew a 21-7 lead at home but escaped with a win after the Falcons missed what would have been a game-tying extra point in the fourth quarter.
New England’s offense sputtered in the second half, managing just three points after halftime. Drake Maye wasn’t at his best, throwing an interception for the second straight week and fumbling twice (losing one).
Maye also took six sacks and completed just 65.5% of his passes — his lowest completion rate since the Patriots’ Week 1 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders in the rain.
Despite the 23-year-old’s struggles on Sunday, Stefon Diggs isn’t losing faith in his young quarterback after one shaky performance.
“To be able to go out there and will us to a win, I’ll take that any day. I’m riding with Drake Maye,” Digg told reporters after Sunday’s victory. “Things aren’t going to be perfect. I tell y’all all the time, it’s hard as (expletive) to play quarterback. I probably couldn’t do it. I’d be a scramble guy.”
Diggs has been in the league for a decade, so he knows how hard it is to be an NFL quarterback. Even the best quarterbacks have bad games from time to time.
Despite Maye’s off game, he still managed to find Diggs for an 11-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter. The four-time Pro Bowler has now caught touchdowns in back-to-back weeks after being held out of the end zone in his first seven games with New England.
Maye will try to bounce back on Sunday in a tough road matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who are 6-2 and coming off their bye week. He will need to be sharper if he wants to outduel Baker Mayfield and help the Patriots stay undefeated on the road.
