They all count. At home or on the road. Good competition or not so good. Pretty or ugly.
Wins — as the Patriots are well aware after two largely-miserable seasons — don’t come easily in the NFL. And Mike Vrabel didn’t want his team to forget that fact after beating the Falcons, 24-23.
“Understand that that’s how it goes in this league sometimes,” Vrabel said. “It’s tough. But don’t let anybody take the joy of what we do.
“Joy is authentic. Joy comes from these guys caring about each other, being happy for the guy next to them that made a play. Joy is about what we do in here, and I think that they need to embrace that and be thankful for what they get to do and what I get to do.”
For Vrabel, his team’s one-point triumph — which pushed their record to 7-2 — was a coach’s gift. If you’re going to have a litany of corrections to make, make them coming off a win rather than the alternative. And there are certainly plenty of corrections to make.
We’ll highlight those elements of his team’s game that Vrabel will want to see change, areas he must be pleased with and much more in our Week 9 edition of What We Learned…
Maye, Patriots survive self-inflicted mistakes
Drake Maye was able to keep his streak of 200-yard games and 100.0 quarterback-rating performances alive, but he acknowledged in his postgame press conference that he could have been better.
He had a strip sack late in the first half that gave the Falcons seven bonus points. His third-quarter interception led to three more points for Atlanta. He still threw for 259 yards and two touchdowns. But he was sacked six times, and his two turnovers nagged at him after the fact when he was asked what he could have done better.
“We really got a chance to get some more points going into halftime, and free rusher there, first thing I had to do, I told our quarterback coach, just got to tuck the ball to the chest,” Maye said of his fumble. “I’m getting in a bad habit of trying to break tackles on these guys that I don’t have a great chance of breaking a tackle on.
“Then… [on the interception], one of those same pages to [Hunter Henry]. Gave the ball back to them at midfield and it just changed the game…
“Other than that, I think just trying to stay more positive. We were good on first and second down, and I think we were good on third down today, but just trying to stay in third and manageable, and just keep making plays and battling from adversity is what this league is.”
Drake Maye says he needs to play better after throwing an interception and losing a fumble in the Patriots 24-23 win against the Falcons.
Henry was this week’s go-to guy
One of Maye’s greatest strengths this season has been his ability to spread the football around and hit whichever receiver happened to be open on a given snap.
This week, in key situations, it was Hunter Henry upon whom Maye relied.
On those third downs that Maye mentioned he hoped had been more manageable, the QB hit Henry on three of them for conversions, including a 17-yard catch-and-run on third-and-5 at the end of the game to effectively finish off the Falcons. Henry picked up four first downs in total and reminded observers just how dependable a pass-catcher he can be.
Several of Maye’s completions to Henry were tight-window throws, but the Patriots understood headed into the game that those options to intermediate targets might be there for them against Atlanta’s defense.
“I think they played some match coverage,” Maye said. “They were challenging us to beat some man routes, beat some man coverage. I missed some more crossing routes that I wish I could have had back.
“Credit to our guys. We challenged them all week in the receiving room and tight end room to win against match and be physical at the top of the route, and those guys made some big plays today.”
Douglas pops as lead receiver
With Kayshon Boutte out for the majority of the game due to a hamstring injury, it was DeMario Douglas who became Maye’s down-the-field target of choice.
On the game’s opening drive, Douglas won on a wheel route out of the backfield — a nifty design by offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels and his staff — to cap the series with a touchdown. He later snared a deep shot from Maye on third down and weaved through the Falcons defense for 58 yards to set up another score.
His 100 yards on four catches were a career-high mark, and they made him the team’s seventh different leading receiver in nine weeks.
“We’ve got to keep finding Pop,” Vrabel said. “You always look, and when Pop doesn’t have the ball and somebody else does, he’s turning and blocking and doing all the things that we ask him to do to protect our identity. We have to continue to find him on some of these runaways or some of these slot plays that are really good for him.
“I love having him on the team. He’s fun to coach. He sits right up front, and he’s always into it. Great teammate. Always happy for his success.”
If Boutte is forced to miss time, perhaps the Patriots will make use of Douglas’ speed to give them the deep-ball element they’d miss with Boutte out.
Injuries a factor
Boutte was not the only Patriots player who had to leave the game with an injury Sunday.
Starting linebacker Christian Elliss (hip) did not return, which seemed to give Jack Gibbens more time at the second level alongside Robert Spillane.
Christian Gonzalez (head) left the game and was tested for a concussion. While he was out, the Falcons targeted Drake London in the end zone for his third score of the game with corner Carlton Davis the closest defender in coverage.
Gonzalez said after the game, “I’m good,” and indicated he would have been able to return had the Patriots defense played one more series.
Gonzalez and London duke it out
Christian Gonzalez admitted last week that when he and Drake London saw each other in college, London got him a few times. But he pointed out that he got London a few times, too.
There was a lot of respect there from Gonzalez prior to the game, and given their handshake after their most recent meeting at Gillette Stadium — a meeting where both got theirs when they matched up against one another — it seemed as though that respect remained intact.
Gonzalez had two pass breakups in this one, including one on fourth down that forced a turnover on downs. He also jammed London on one snap to the point where London stumbled and fell, leading to a near-pick by Gonzalez that bounced off his hands.
London, meanwhile, had a monster game. He caught nine passes for 118 yards, including a 40-yard 50-50 ball he wrestled away from Gonzalez — the corner’s head bounced hard on the turf at the tail end of the play — in the fourth quarter. Three of London’s catches for 67 yards came with Gonzalez as the primary player in coverage, per Pro Football Focus.
“We had our battles,” Gonzalez said. “He won a couple. I won a couple. That’s the nature of this position. You’ve gotta make plays. They’re going to make catches. They’re getting paid too. I’m just glad we won.”
On London’s first two scores of the game, the Falcons managed to get Marcus Jones (5-foot-8) as the defender on the much larger London (6-foot-4) and took advantage of the size mismatch. On the second, it actually seemed as though the Patriots chose to align Jones over London with Gonzalez (6-foot-1) initially checking Kyle Pitts (6-foot-6).
Henderson makes the most of his opportunities
The Patriots came into the game without starting running back Rhamondre Stevenson (toe), and they seemed comfortable handing the keys to TreVeyon Henderson in Stevenson’s absence. Though Terrell Jennings, recently signed off the practice squad, finished with 12 touches, it was Henderson (18 touches) who got the larger workload.
The rookie second-rounder out of Ohio State carried 14 times for 55 yards (3.9 per carry) and caught four passes for 32 yards. After a big day running outside the tackles against the Browns in Week 8 (10 carries, 75 yards), Henderson ran with an effective combination of patience and toughness between the tackles against Atlanta.
Henderson also was asked to carry out pass-protection duties Sunday and gave ground at times, but for the most part, he seemed to handle his increased role with aplomb.
Patriots accused of simulating the snap
It was one of the most critical plays in the game. On second down, the Falcons appeared to snap the football before quarterback Michael Penix was ready for it. Seeing Patriots defensive tackle Milton Williams bearing down on him unimpeded, Penix threw the football to the turf.
Intentional grounding was called, sapping the Falcons of a down and pushing them back 10 yards. They couldn’t convert a third-and-20 situation, leading to a punt, and they never got the football back.
The Falcons accused the Patriots of simulating the snap count leading to the early start from center Ryan Neuzil.
“They did a nice job. They simulated a snap,” coach Raheem Morris said. “The ball came early, was snapped early. Within that snap, that was when we got the intentional grounding. Nice job by those guys. Great situational football. Great play. Got to snap the ball. That’s why the ball was snapped early on. … He wasn’t ready for the snap.”
The NFL has a rule that guards against defenses simulating the snap, which calls for a 15-yard penalty if and when teams are found to be in violation of that rule. There was no call, however, and the Patriots moved one step closer to ending the game with that negative play for Atlanta.