Ball Security in the Pocket

[MIT80 Josh]

Drake had at least three instances of loose ball handling under pressure in the pocket against the Chargers. One INT, two fumbles. On both of the fumbles he could have eaten the ball and taken a sack.

Has this been an issue in other games? He will need to be cleaner against the Texans, and maybe take sacks instead of gambling he can make a play.

Go Pats!

 

[UGAPatsfan]

It’s absolutely been an issue before. Comes and goes with him depending on focus and obviously pressure rate. But I’m sure coaching staff is HAMMERING this all week given the defense they are playing

 

[Patsfan1645]

Drake had at least three instances of loose ball handling under pressure in the pocket against the Chargers. One INT, two fumbles. On both of the fumbles he could have eaten the ball and taken a sack.

Has this been an issue in other games? He will need to be cleaner against the Texans, and maybe take sacks instead of gambling he can make a play.

Go Pats!

You need to watch the recent video on Patriots.com. Grant (QB coach) was asked about what you mention. Its interesting to get his take on how they coach Drake.

 

[Toofy]

Drake had at least three instances of loose ball handling under pressure in the pocket against the Chargers. One INT, two fumbles. On both of the fumbles he could have eaten the ball and taken a sack.

Has this been an issue in other games? He will need to be cleaner against the Texans, and maybe take sacks instead of gambling he can make a play.

Go Pats!

It's a double edged sword. If Drake doesn't do that he probably doesn't have those deep balls throws and just keeps running or does screens or dump offs. It's a necessary evil. Let's hope the oline can give him an additional 0.5 seconds in pocket.

I expect will Campbell to have a monster positive performance this week.

 

[n1997y]

Drake had at least three instances of loose ball handling under pressure in the pocket against the Chargers. One INT, two fumbles. On both of the fumbles he could have eaten the ball and taken a sack.

Has this been an issue in other games? He will need to be cleaner against the Texans, and maybe take sacks instead of gambling he can make a play.

Go Pats!

I think that’s a bit of an exaggeration.

The INT wasn’t loose ball handling. Timing on the route was off and the Chargers DL did a good job of getting his hands up to bat the pass which then took a favorable couple of bounces for the Chargers. That was just football with the opponents doing the job the get paid to do.

On at least one of the other two I thought Drake might’ve had room to run out to his left, but he didn’t even have a split second to decide after he felt the pressure; instead he instinctively stepped up and tried to make a play. That turned out to be bad, but I’m not really sure I’d call it loose ball handling. To me it’s more his mindset was attacking not protecting and that needs to be adjusted to be more protective of the ball. Challenge is doing that without losing his big plays.

Noticed you’re new here. I’ll offer a comment about your post, complete with unsolicited advice: it’s obvious from the question you asked that you’re not very familiar with the Patriots this season. Best approach for newbies imnsho is to read and watch and listen much more than to post, and especially to refrain from posts that just stir **** up. Not saying that’s what you were doing, but focusing on a perceived flaw without context can lead you into that. You should know about Drake’s downfield passing, his running abilities, and especially his ability to throw on the run after apparently miraculous escapes, before you start arguing he should just turtle at the hint of pressure. Btw did you know he was the leading rusher for the Pats against the Chargers last weekend?

And, Welcome.

Let’s all enjoy the remaining three games of this season together!

 

[jmt57]

Drake had at least three instances of loose ball handling under pressure in the pocket against the Chargers. One INT, two fumbles. On both of the fumbles he could have eaten the ball and taken a sack.

Has this been an issue in other games? He will need to be cleaner against the Texans, and maybe take sacks instead of gambling he can make a play.

Go Pats!

To my eyes Maye has vastly improved in that regard since last year, and it hasn't been an issue since the Pittsburgh game in week 3.

 

[Betterthanmost]

Against the Charges, none of the TOs were on him. Poor online play on the left, some questionable play calls in the first half were the main issue.

 

[DC Patriots]

Other half of the discussion will be Stroud’s ball safety. Stat wise he throws an interceptable ball about 6% of the time under pressure.

If the Pats can get to him consistently, he should cough the ball up

 

[Ring 6]

Drake had at least three instances of loose ball handling under pressure in the pocket against the Chargers. One INT, two fumbles. On both of the fumbles he could have eaten the ball and taken a sack.

Has this been an issue in other games? He will need to be cleaner against the Texans, and maybe take sacks instead of gambling he can make a play.

Go Pats!

The interception was tipped.
One of the fumbles actually fell out of his hand while throwing.

The Patriots and Maye have been very good in ball security. With the exception of one fluky game, they were near the top of the league in fewest turnovers.
In football QBs get hit. Sometimes the ball comes out.
It’s part of the game.

A bigger part of the game is having a qb who extends plays and creates offensive production. Maye is probably the best in the league that.

If you want to find the few plays that went badly and use that to suggest Drake Mayr should stop extending plays and flop to the ground before the rush can get to him, you are asking us to be a 4-13 team again. Because that’s what would have happened.

 

[JoeSixPat]

Drake had at least three instances of loose ball handling under pressure in the pocket against the Chargers. One INT, two fumbles. On both of the fumbles he could have eaten the ball and taken a sack.

Has this been an issue in other games? He will need to be cleaner against the Texans, and maybe take sacks instead of gambling he can make a play.

Go Pats!

He has been getting hit WAY too much all season - and that's been against some mediocre Ds

The Chargers were the best D they've faced and they didn't do well

I don't dispute there've been some sloppy ball security moments for him as we all realize this is a learning curve (like learning how and when to slide) but given the pounding he's taken and his ability to get the ball off, his percentage of poor ball security moments are actually relatively low.

The bottom line is that teams will do their best to put the same pressure on the OL and Maye as we saw with the Chargers

Campbell may have needed to shake off the cobwebs last week but he and in particular Wilson needs to play better at LG, which I think will be upgraded in the offseason, though Brown actually looked decent when Wilson was out, as he's a pending free agent.

If we're seeing the OL collapse in the game I'd favor replacing Wilson with Brown as it doesn't help Campbell to be playing next to a weak link.

I'm being a bit harsh on Wilson as a rookie - but at this point he's not a rookie and he needs to play better than his PFF rating

 

[Joey007]

the Falcons strip sack late in the first half came to mind immediately.

It’s definitely a bugaboo in Drake’s game he still needs to work on. It’ll be critical to avoid this Sunday. Can’t be giving them short fields, can’t be losing points in FG range.

 

[sambam94]

Maye has to realize with a most likely defensive game, sometimes throwing it away or taking a sack and punting is a win.

 

[DoubleDeluxe]

Against the Charges, none of the TOs were on him. Poor online play on the left, some questionable play calls in the first half were the main issue.

The one play where he recocked the ball with a defender right behind him, and right after the defender made contact with him once was 100% on Maye.
The other team gets paid too, the QB is going to get hit.
Maye needs to pin that ball to his chest and take the sack.
Other times yes, he should continue to extend the play, but that one play was a very poor decision.

 

[Toofy]

He has been getting hit WAY too much all season - and that's been against some mediocre Ds

Wilson needs to play better at LG, which I think will be upgraded in the offseason, though Brown actually looked decent when Wilson was out, as he's a pending free agent.

I don't know if this was a typo, but Ben Brown has been extended by pats and he is no longer a FA.

 

[Triumph]

I'm hoping that the Pats generate a run game vs Houston so that Maye can use play action to buy extra time in the pocket.

Maye rushing with ball counts too. Just wear that Texans defense down.

 

[n1997y]

The one play where he recocked the ball with a defender right behind him, and right after the defender made contact with him once was 100% on Maye.
The other team gets paid too, the QB is going to get hit.
Maye needs to pin that ball to his chest and take the sack.
Other times yes, he should continue to extend the play, but that one play was a very poor decision.

That was the play that I thought he might’ve been able to escape by running to his left if he broke at the instant of contact, just tucked it away and ran. It looked like there was an opening there. But not much time.

 

[UGAPatsfan]

It's a double edged sword. If Drake doesn't do that he probably doesn't have those deep balls throws and just keeps running or does screens or dump offs. It's a necessary evil. Let's hope the oline can give him an additional 0.5 seconds in pocket.

I expect will Campbell to have a monster positive performance this week.

I’d like to see more TE/RB chips that we saw last game. Texans don’t blitz a ton so should be doable

 

[PlainOldEd]

It's a double edged sword. If Drake doesn't do that he probably doesn't have those deep balls throws and just keeps running or does screens or dump offs. It's a necessary evil. Let's hope the oline can give him an additional 0.5 seconds in pocket.

I expect will Campbell to have a monster positive performance this week.

Right, if he takes the sack in Q4 of the first game against the Bills rather than flipping it out to Diggs for the first down, who knows what happens....?

 

[DoubleDeluxe]

That was the play that I thought he might’ve been able to escape by running to his left if he broke at the instant of contact, just tucked it away and ran. It looked like there was an opening there. But not much time.

He may have had a running lane, I don't recall.
But to try and throw when he already felt the defender right behind him was not smart.
I'm sure it was a point of emphasis this week.
Did you see what McD said yesterday?
He said every drive that ends with a kick is successful.
Punting will not lose the game, turnovers could.

 

[Toofy]

I’d like to see more TE/RB chips that we saw last game. Texans don’t blitz a ton so should be doable

Munford is the D man... He is going to run straight at anderson ...

One random thought . Why can't offensive linemen just go forward and attack the defensive linemen if the numbers are advantageous to us .. 5 linemen + 1 full back + 1 tight end to chip and 1 passing back in backfield against 4 defensive linemen . I am getting influenced by these war movies here