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BALTIMORE – There are happy days, and there are astounding days. President Roosevelt (FDR, not Teddy) was merely hoping for just the happy ones.
Patriot fans have largely been a spoiled lot. Six Super Bowl wins will do that to you. In one win, the coaching staff melted down. In another game, the team overcame a 28-3 deficit and won in overtime. In two other wins, a kicker who should be in the Hall of Fame kicked two of the most clutch field goals in history.
This win over the Baltimore Ravens seems to be right up there with the most exhilarating wins in Patriots history.
This is a story of another team renaissance. This is a story of getting back to the mountaintop and conquering still another obstacle along the way. This is a story of remembering how you felt in the first two decades of this millennium and getting to experience that feeling once again.
The Patriots put on a show for the ages in the fourth quarter Sunday night at M&T Bank Stadium. NBC flexed this game into Sunday night, and they are almost as happy as the Patriots are that they made that decision. The Patriots won, 28-24 and clinched at least a playoff berth with two layup games left on the schedule.
Combined with Denver’s 34-20 loss at home to Jacksonville, the Patriots put themselves back in play for the one seed. If the Patriots win out against the Jets and Dolphins, they win the one seed with one more Bronco loss. A win next week at the Meadowlands gives the AFC East title to the Patriots. Hope they still have all that gear.
At the epicenter of this win is Drake Maye. We now know two more things about this kid: one, he has a short memory, and two, he learns from mistakes and adversity. On a national stage, he led the Patriots back from a 24-13 fourth quarter deficit to beat the hometown Ravens, which included his first-ever 300-yard passing game.
How great is Maye right now? Cris Collinsworth on the NBC broadcast said this several times: “I’ve seen the greatest quarterback of all time do things like this in his second year in the league!” How many of you at home screamed at your flatscreens “Come on, Cris! Just say Tom Brady!” Collinsworth was a studio host for Fox when they did Super Bowl XXXVI. He was as overcome with positive emotion as he watched Brady win his first Vince as he was overcome with negative emotion when Pete Carroll and his coaching staff blew Super Bowl XLIX with the worst call in league history.
Someone, maybe Mike Tirico, also offered this: “You always want to win. Last week, the Patriots needed to lose.” He then explained how it helped the team to reset and get up for this game, and to never take their foot off the gas pedal. The result was this Sunday night win over Baltimore, who also had a lot to play for.
This writer believes that to beat Lamar Jackson, take away his running game and dare him to beat you in the air. Three things happened in this game which changed everything: first, Jackson left the game midway through the second quarter due to a back injury. Second, the Patriots almost had no answer for Derrick Henry, who played six seasons for Mike Vrabel in Nashville. Third, former Boston College receiver Zay Flowers had a monster night, giving even Christian Gonzalez a ton of fits.
Jackson had seven yards rushing on two carries. He looked nothing like the runner he has always been. So, the Patriots win, right?
Well, um, yes. But it had nothing to do with containing Jackson. He finished with 7 of 10 passing for 101 yards and a 102.5 rating. That was largely due to Flowers, who finished with 7 catches for 84 yards.
The other problem was Henry. He gashed the Patriots for 128 yards on 18 carries and scored two touchdowns. Before you start complaining about getting Milton Williams back (next week?), Henry will gash most any NFL team for 128 yards or (usually) more. Henry is such a unique physical specimen, who is big and fast and can run through defenses and make them all look like peanut butter.
So, what really did it for the Patriots?
First, despite yielding 330 total yards, the Patriot defense made plays when they needed to. The biggest play of the night was during the final drive for the Ravens. On second down and 15 from their own 27, backup quarterback Tyler Huntley hit Flowers in the left flat. He was stopped short of the line to gain for a first down, but K’Lavon Chaisson hit Flowers so hard that the ball popped loose. Marcus Jones recovered at the Baltimore 25. Needing maybe one first down to end the game, Rhamondre Stevenson and Maye responded with two first downs, the first one a ten-yard run around right end, then two plays later, Maye scrambled for 16 yards to officially close the refrigerator door.
Maye finished with 31 of 44 passing for 380 yards, two touchdowns, one interception, and a rating of 102.5, which oddly was the same as Jackson. Stefon Diggs had his best game as a Patriot, hauling in 9 passes for 138 yards. Stevenson finished with 51 rushing yards on eight carries, and a 6.4 per carry average.
In the second half, Maye looked invincible. Here he was, on national TV, coming off a discouraging loss last week against Buffalo, and he is slinging it out there as if he was a six or seven year vet. Slinging it. Brady and Bledsoe would be proud.
Next week, the Patriots find themselves in the purgatory of the NFL that is the Jets. They will still command all of Vrabel’s attention. A win next week gives the Patriots the division. That’ll make the difference. They won’t fumble that chance like last week.
Settled down yet? Believe it, folks, you need to keep your January weekends flexible. If I were “breaking it down” old style, I’d say “How do we feel about the PLAYOFF-BOUND New England Patriots??? Ohhhhhhhhhhh, YEAH!!!”
Enjoy the holidays, how you feel during the holidays, and how pro football used to feel around here.
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