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Some thoughts following Sunday night’s 28-24 win out in Baltimore:
1) Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel has said on more than one occasion that “it takes everyone” in big games, and it’s safe to say the Patriots were forced to do just that on Sunday night.
They suffered a multitude of injuries on both sides of the football, leaving them badly depleted for most of the night.
Stefon Diggs was the first player who went down, although his absence was fortunately temporary. He was sent to he medical tent with an apparent head injury following an unbelievable 25 yard reception on just their third offensive snap, with the veteran landing hard as he hit the ground.
He seemed OK when he got up, but the officials sent him to the sideline to seemingly be evaluated for a concussion. Fortunately, he did later return to the game, which ended up being critical to the Patriots getting their 12th win of the season.
But his injury ended up being the first of many. The team saw injuries to offensive tackle Morgan Moses (knee), defensive tackle Joshua Farmer (hamstring), and then TreVeyon Henderson (head). Also hurt was offensive tackle Thayer Munford, who had seen time as an extra lineman and did step in after Moses went down. Carlton Davis was also nicked up late in this one, as were Khyris Tonga (foot), Charles Woods (ankle), Kayshon Boutte (head) and Demario Douglas (hamstring).
Yet, somehow, guys stepped up and kept things moving. Drake Maye said after the game that it got to a point where he never really knew who would be in the huddle, he just went with it.
“I feel like we’ve been up a lot and trying to play with the lead a lot this whole season, just being down in the fourth quarter and having a must-need shutdown drive. That feeling is good,” said Maye about what was new and good for him to experience last night. “Just seeing guys left and right, new faces in the huddle. I’m not even sure how many different people we had in the huddle out of 11, probably had like 100 combinations. I wasn’t even blinking an eye with whoever came in the huddle. Those guys practice hard, and I believe in them, and trust. Freaking put the ball in the fullback’s hip and fumbled it. There’s just things in this game that make me want to punch the wall. So just glad we got the win.”
2) For Maye, it was certainly a milestone performance. Despite some shaky moments, the second-year quarterback ultimately settled down and put together a terrific performance. One play he made Sunday night was an incredible 37-yard bomb he threw late in the contest to Kyle Williams up the right sideline, which Williams made an unbelievable adjustment over his shoulder to both make the catch and keep his feet in bounds for the touchdown. That throw got them back in the game, with Maye hitting the two-point conversion to Rhamondre Stevenson to put the score at 24-21 with just over nine minutes remaining in regulation.
That pass also put Maye over 300 yards on the night for the first time in his career, with Maye finishing 31-of-44 for 380 yards and two touchdowns.
Still, the most important thing to Maye when it was over was the fact his club left Baltimore with the win.
“I care about winning,” said Maye when asked about it after the game. “I care about winning, and if that was what it takes, then hopefully I’ll try to do whatever it takes. And that’s what I’m trying to do for this team. I won’t change that, no matter if it’s 500 yards or 40 yards, whatever it does to win the game.”
The Ravens gave him problems in the third quarter, with Maye completing just 4-of-10 passing as the club managed just a 41-yard field goal by Andy Borregales. His kick was the first time New England had scored points in the 3rd QTR since the 45yd field goal he hit against Cincinnati back in Week 12. They still haven’t scored a third-quarter touchdown since Week 11.
But in the fourth quarter, Maye absolutely caught fire. He finished the final quarter 12-of-14 (85.7%) for 139 yards, which included their come-from-behind drive where he went 6-of-8 (75%) for 68yds. On that possession, New England marched 89 yards on 9 plays, which ended with a 21-yard scoring run by Stevenson for the go-ahead touchdown.
Maye admitted that last week’s game in Buffalo was a wake up call and when they had a chance again Sunday night to get the win, he was focused on making sure this game ended with a better outcome.
“Yeah, I think it was kind of a wake-up call last week,” said Maye. “We got a chance to win the game with a game-winning drive. And this week, it was like, ‘Man, let’s not have that same feeling two weeks in a row.’ And I felt like that. It was kind of the elephant in the room, going out there on that last one, once the defense got the ball back. Like I said, it’s just trust and belief. I like our chances when we’re in those scenarios. I like our chances.”
He also was terrific at the end of the game when it came to killing the clock and ensuring Baltimore wouldn’t get another opportunity. One play saw him fake the kneel down and take off 16 yards to move the chains for the final time, sealing the victory.
3) Stefon Diggs came up big Sunday night, finishing with 9 catches for 138 yard, including catching 2 of Maye’s 4 third down completions to move the chains.
He took a shot early in the game where the officials seemingly had him go to the sideline for concussion protocol, but reports on the broadcast said he fought with them about it on the sidelines and eventually was cleared and made his way back into the game.
We covered it in-depth in terms of Diggs’ effect on the offense, and his presence ended up being important again on Sunday night.
Maye talked about how much Diggs means to the team when it was over, emphasizing just how key his leadership has been this season.
“Diggs, people have no idea what he means to this team,” said Maye. “He’s a leader. He’s been great in the locker room. He wants the football in his hand.”
“Deservingly so. He just keeps showing up and making plays, and he’s doing it at a really high level, and he’s just bouncing back and vocal, and he’s awesome to play with.”
4) The defense came up big down the stretch, forcing a couple of big turnovers that ultimately turned the tide in this game. One of those was a fumble that was punched out by K’Lavon Chaisson on what proved to be Baltimore’s final drive, helping seal the victory for the Patriots.
Overall, they struggled for a good portion of the game, with Baltimore’s ground game causing them problems as Derrick Henry finished the night carrying the football 18 times for 128 yards and two touchdowns. Nevertheless, New England’s defense appeared to determined to make sure they left this one with the victory and managed to do just enough to win this one.
Vrabel talked about their effort after the game and was proud of the way his team played.
“That was something that we’ve been practicing and focused on,” said Vrabel on their aggressiveness late. “Even just looking at Gonzo’s tackle when it got out on the edge in the stiff arm and breaking it down, something that we had talked about and practiced and tried to get and held him to four yards. I thought there was a switch there, especially from Gonzo in a sequence where he stabs the ball out, we blitz him, he blitzed with a demeanor. Then I look out there because we need him, and he’s out there as the corner on the punt return. I told him, this isn’t going to be a shock, but those are the efforts that we need to have from him. He does know this. Our best players have to play good each and every week for us to win.”
5) The officiating continues to be a point of contention, with several questionable calls again in this one.
The biggest one was arguably a non-call on what appeared to be a pass interference play where Kayshon Boutte was grabbed and seemingly pulled around before his head hit the ground on a deep throw late in the contest. Boutte had it but seemed to be dazed as his arms fell briefly, letting the football go before it was swatted away.
Vrabel was again puzzled after it was over, and was clearly not happy about the call.
“The penalty or whatever they called over there is completely… Whatever they called over there,” said Vrabel. “Then his ability to go down, which I thought he was competing for that ball, and I thought we were going to have that one. But Kayshon is going to help us out. All the receivers are going to play roles throughout this year.”
When asked if he got an explanation, Vrabel didn’t like the response.
“No. Here’s what the explanation I got. ‘You have to survive the ground.’ I said, ‘I’m very aware of the catch rule,’ but that’s all I got.”
One thing to consider is the fact that he’s been very vocal about the officiating the last few weeks, and they’re likely aware of it, and it feels like they’re calling everything tight, at least as it pertains to his football team.
Fortunately, they made enough plays to overcome that, but it remains a trend that’s definitely been a little puzzling in recent weeks.
6) One thing that Vrabel has been pleased with is the amount of poise his team continues to play with, which he feels has certainly been a big key to their success.
For a team that is now 7-0 on the road this season, Sunday night was impressive, especially given how tough it is to play in Baltimore.
After talking about “play demeanor” going back to when he got hired, that’s something that’s continued to stand out to him.
“Well, I think as the snaps increased, and again, it was a resiliency not to fold and panic,” said Vrabel about his team. “They hit some plays on us. They made guys miss. They had some X plays, and we got stops when we needed to. Offensively, we hit a little bit of a lull. But then, really, I felt like those last few drives in the second half, we were clicking. Again, just to have the resiliency to battle here on the road in a tough environment on Sunday night.”
For now, as nice as it is to have earned a playoff berth, the job at hand remains making sure they win the Division.
“We’re going to try to win the division. We’re going to focus on that,” said Vrabel. “We just take it one day at a time, whatever happens, we figure out what’s the best thing for the team.”
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