Drake Maye delivered a high-level pass through a tremendously small window to DeMario Douglas in the end zone on Sunday.
It was probably the only one of his 46 pass attempts that looked like it was delivered by a high-end, franchise-caliber quarterback. It’s no coincidence that it delivered the only touchdown of the day for New England.
That may be an odd way to evaluate a quarterback, and it potentially may be unfair, given some of the conditions Maye was working with on Sunday. Yet with the entire New England region desperate to see a significant improvement from a team that’s gone 4-13 in consecutive seasons, the reality is that Maye likely will have to carry the Patriots at certain points if they’re going to win football games.
On Sunday, Maye did not really do it.
And on top of that, he had too many throws that were simply not good.
The interception — a back-breaker coming out of halftime with New England holding its lone lead of the game — was the most egregious.
Yet Maye also missed a wide-open Douglas on his first pass of the game and likewise sailed a pass over a wide-open Hunter Henry on his first pass post-interception. He had the ball in his hands for six series in the second half, and he didn’t generate any points until garbage time, when the Raiders essentially conceded a largely meaningless field goal.
The stats — 30-for-46, 287 yards, one TD, one INT, four sacks, 11 rushing yards on four attempts — weren’t excellent, and neither were some of the decisions along the way.
“Just got to be better on my part,” Maye said after the 20-13 loss. “I think down in the red zone and little things with details, and seven versus three is huge in this league, and just make every possession count. I know there’s times that we have looks that we like, and I can think of letting a couple rip that I should have.”
For the Patriots to fulfill even the most realistic of expectations placed upon them this season, he’s going to have to let those rip and deliver them on the money. A mostly safe plan of attack won’t win many games for a team that’s simply going to need more out of its quarterback.
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In a sense, that’s a bit of a different world for Maye, as there were numerous valid excuses that could wash away some — if not most — of his bad play as a rookie. This year, that’s not going to cut it. If he’s as good as he’s supposed to be, it’s time to show it.
Or, in Maye’s own terms, it’s time to let it rip.
But of course, a quarterback is just one man, so let’s look at the rest of them in some leftover thoughts.
— I’d characterize that defense as “Feast Or Famine,” and it does not seem like a very stable way to live. On the one hand, the defense was blitz-happy and got to Geno Smith quite a bit, registering four sacks and five more QB hits. On the other, they were gashed time and time again, with the Raiders getting chunk play after chunk play while essentially carving up Mike Vrabel’s and Terrell Williams’ defense.
The Raiders had nine plays of 20 or more yards (plus another for 19), so it was not surprising to see a back-breaking 30-yard pitch-and-catch from Smith to Dont’e Thornton to essentially put the game away for Las Vegas:
(Rushing seven on third-and-20 at the 25-yard line feels extremely unnecessary, by the way. Play defense, make the easy stop, force the punt, keep playing the game. A sack on that play is only marginally better than any other stop.)
Smith, playing in his 95th NFL game, threw for 362 yards for just the fifth time in his career. Superstar tight end Brock Bowers (five receptions for 103 yards) was wide open far too often, and Jakobi Meyers (eight receptions for 97) was as good as expected, but the ancillary crew of Thornton, Tre Tucker, and Michael Mayer combined for 137 receiving yards.
Christian Gonzalez was out, but the Patriots’ defense did not look like a unit that was one player away from having a successful day. That side of the ball has a lot of work to do.
— Will Campbell had an up-and-down day in his debut. If we were to put a grade on it, maybe it would be a C or a C-minus. Some notable miscues — the false start on fourth down, the strip-sack allowed — but plenty of examples of solid pass protection.
With Maxx Crosby being a huge focal point heading into this game, it looked like Morgan Moses — with occasional help from tight ends — did a good job of largely neutralizing his presence. The Raiders didn’t line Crosby up over Campbell as much as I expected them to with the left tackle’s new ankle injury, but Campbell didn’t seem afraid of that matchup when he got it.
— I kept a leery eye trained on the safeties, and particularly Jaylinn Hawkins. It’s not that I couldn’t fathom a scenario where a team might feel it could get rid of Kyle Dugger and/or Jabrill Peppers, I just had doubts as to whether a depth chart led by a rookie out of Cal and a sixth-year journeyman represents the team in that position.
And though Hawkins had the interception (off a Carlton Davis tip) and a sack (due largely to pressure generated by Harold Landry and Milton Williams), I failed to see the vision that Vrabel has for the back end of his defense. Giving up the aforementioned nine pass plays of 20 or more yards represents a failure for the defensive backfield, and Hawkins gave up a touchdown and was flagged for a personal foul.
Though nobody can bury the safety group after one week, it’ll have to improve rapidly in order to start to gain believers. (Next week’s opposing QB, Tua Tagovailoa, was 14-for-23 for 114 yards with a touchdown and two picks on Sunday, so perhaps the Patriots’ defense will fare better.)
— It’s never a good sign when the best player in the game has the ball with zero defenders in the camera shot:
Raiders tight end Brock Bowers (89) makes a catch in the second half. Patriots defenders not pictured. (Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images)
— I don’t care if you have a Patriots tattoo on your head and a Patriots license plate or if you named your child Tom Belichick Smith. You have to tip your cap and respect the “Dirty Dancing” move by Tre Tucker and Jackson Powers-Johnson after the touchdown:
Raiders wide receiver Tre Tucker celebrates with his dance partner, Jackson Powers-Johnson, after a touchdown. (Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images)
That is, quite simply, beautiful.
— On the positive side, Kayshon Boutte turned a very strong spring and summer into a tremendous season debut. With six catches for 103 yards, he had the best day for a Patriots receiver in a real NFL game (I’m excluding Boutte’s own performance against the Bills in Week 18 last season) since Kendrick Bourne on Christmas Eve in 2022.
Boutte may not become a household name around the country, but he’s a testament to A) a team developing a player and B) that player putting in the required effort over multiple years to eventually break through. It’s a nice little story.
— Another positive development? Alex Austin. Was he perfect? Of course not. Nobody in that secondary was. But he had a nice pass breakup on a third-down pass intended for Brock Bowers, and he also had a tackle for a loss on Ashton Jeanty.
When Christian Gonzalez returns, he looks fully capable of handling the third cornerback role, which should have a ripple effect across the secondary.
— TreVeyon Henderson looked better than Rhamondre Stevenson. Some may take that assessment as a dig at Stevenson, but I actually thought Stevenson looked pretty good in this game, despite his low production. (Please don’t throw fruit at me.)
Henderson, though, looked like you’d want a promising rookie running back to look. Fresh legs, eager to seek out contact and drive through it, always looking like a threat to make a big play.
Perhaps that will inspire Josh McDaniels to remember to call some running plays going forward. Henderson had one carry in the second half, and Stevenson had none.
— This is largely irrelevant, but Jakobi Meyers caught a short pass on a third-and-20 before halftime after the Patriots had used their second timeout, and he … ran himself out of bounds to stop the clock. It wasn’t nearly as foolish as his infamous lateral toward Mac Jones a couple of years ago. Obviously. But man, sometimes he makes some curious decisions.
— Though rookie kicker Andy Borregales will get plenty of warranted attention for missing a 40-yard field goal to begin his career, don’t look past punter Bryce Baringer. Following Will Campbell’s false start, Vrabel changed his mind and opted to punt with 4:53 left in a two-score game. The decision was what it was, but it was certainly made worse by Baringer only punting the ball 21 yards to the Vegas 35-yard line.
After the game, Vrabel didn’t really call anybody out on his team … but he did say “would like a better punt.”
It’s a safe assumption to believe it’s a very uncomfortable feeling to be a punter who is not in the good graces of Mike Vrabel. Big week upcoming for Bryce Baringer.
— The larger story on Maye was obviously not spectacular, but this pass? This pass was special:
(Douglas finished the game with two receptions for minus-2 yards and a touchdown. You’d be hard-pressed to find a weirder stat line.)
— Stefon Diggs made his Patriots debut. He described his performance as “decent.” That’s about right.
Realistically, expectations shouldn’t be for more from decent from him for at least a few weeks. Leaning on a player still less than a year removed from a torn ACL is probably a bad strategy.
His 9-yard reception on a third-and-5 at the end of the third quarter was a significant play, though, as it saved New England from a third straight three-and-out after the interception.
— The most critical play defensively was a fourth-and-1 in the fourth quarter. The defense took away Smith’s first read and prevented him from running for the first down … but Christian Elliss got caught watching as Mike Mayer slipped away to the middle of the field. Smith made a nice throw against the grain/across his body, Mayer made a good grab on the off-target ball, and the drive continued and ended with the Raiders kicking a field goal to take a 20-10 lead.
A stop there, and New England takes over down by a touchdown at their own 38 with plenty of time left. But if ifs and buts were candy and nuts, then it would be Christmas every day. And the Patriots only later got a third-down stop on that drive because Jeanty … fell over on his own. So it’s probably not worth spending too much time on that one.
— In the “When Did This Happen?” department, both Harold Landry and Mike Vrabel referred to the defense’s focus on not allowing “X plays” to happen. Some deductive reason allowed me to figure out they meant explosive plays, but how long have they been using the “X plays” terminology? Is it new? Have I aged out of the world? Sound off in the comments, all of you youths.
— Let’s finish with a tweet that is sure to make you feel something:
There is something poetic about it, perhaps, in that Pete Carroll obviously had a somewhat spotty three-year run as Patriots head coach before launching a heck of a second (and third?) act, and that Bill Belichick (who’s just seven months younger than Carroll) replaced Carroll should be the coach who is eventually setting these records in Gillette Stadium over the coming years. Alas, sports are strange. They make for funny stories.
Good for Pete, though. I guess.