For New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye, these last two weeks certainly haven’t been easy.
He came into Sunday’s contest set to face yet another difficult defense, with Maye already having battled what ended up being a tenacious Chargers unit the week before.
Against Houston, things were even more difficult.
The match-up between rookie left tackle Will Campbell and Houston defensive end Will Anderson certainly turned out to be a tough one. Anderson ended up sacking Maye three times and forcing two fumbles, which saw New England’s offense struggle for a good portion of the afternoon.
Some players, when they’re under that kind of duress, often get frustrated. They start getting tentative, and it sometimes causes them to spiral the longer the game goes on.
However, that wasn’t the case with Maye on Sunday. He remained steady each time he took the field, trying to just battle through it before eventually coming out the other side and making a play.
That’s exactly what he was able to do during yesterday’s 28-16 Divisional Round victory over the Texans. After a frustrating third quarter, Maye eventually put together a 6-play, 71-yard fourth quarter drive that was aided by a pass interference penalty on a 3rd-and-8 on a throw to Kayshon Boutte.
With the officials making some questionable calls, the Patriots finally had one go their way, and Maye took advantage. He finished the drive off three plays later with a terrific throw that saw Boutte haul in a one-handed grab for a 32-yard touchdown to put the game out of reach at 28-16.
That’s the kind of performance we’ve seen from Maye all year, and after the game, Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel praised Maye for his resiliency on Sunday. Despite the turnovers, Vrabel said the second-year QB did what he needed to do.
He kept going and kept fighting, and that’s what helped his team finish off the Texans and get the win.
“Yeah, we talk about not going in the blender, and I think it’s hard,” Vrabel told reporters. “They put pressure on us, and we know we’ve got to take care of the ball. Drake knows that. But to be able to stay the course and to trust Kayshon and give him a great ball that was him or nobody. Those guys have kind of done that all year. When we needed to play, they’ve been able to do that for us.”
Sunday’s game was certainly somewhat of a grind. Both teams exchanged punts to start the game, but it was Maye and the offense who managed to get on the board first on their second possession. Maye completed a 9-yard pass on a catch-and-run by Rhamondre Stevenson, with the running back then following that up with a 20-yard run that got them into Houston territory.
Houston then dropped New England for two back-to-back losses, but Maye managed to get most of those yards back after firing a pass to Stefon Diggs that went for 13 yards on a 3rd-and-14. Facing 4th-and-1, Vrabel then decided to roll the dice from the Houston 28-yard line and go for it rather than attempt a field goal.
That decision turned out to be the right one, but the call was even more impressive. Instead of trying to run for the first down, Maye fired a pass to Demario Douglas as he was coming across, which saw Douglas snag the throw and then slip past Houston’s defense and into the end zone for the 28-yard touchdown.
But from there, the offense struggled. Despite nine first-half possessions, they punted five times and turned it over on a fumble by Maye. But thanks to an interception that was returned for a score by Marcus Jones, New England managed to maintain a 14-10 edge over Houston long enough for Maye to eventually make a play late in the first half.
He tossed a beautiful pass that went for 25-yards to Kayshon Boutte, and then followed that up with another two plays later that went for 18. He finished things off with a terrific laser to Stefon Diggs for a 7 yard touchdown, with Diggs making an uneblievable grab on the play to put them up 21-10.
But that’s been the Hallmark of Maye’s play this entire postseason. While he’s yet to light things up, the biggest thing he’s done is not get rattled and he’s continued to come through despite the challenges he’s faced to this point.
Maye said after the game that despite the turnovers (he lost two fumbles, although his lone interception came on a Hail Mary) and the challenges they’ve faced, he knows he’s got to play better as the stakes continue to get higher.
“We scored 21, and our defense helped out with seven,” said Maye after the game. “So we did what we had to do in the game, and the elements were a little tough.”
“I got to be better with the football when I’m taking off from running. And from there, just know that the football is the prized possession. When we don’t turn the ball over and put our defense in bad spots, I like our chances.”
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Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
