In his first career Monday Night Football start, Patriots quarterback Drake Maye was in complete control as he led New England to their tenth straight victory with a 33-15 win over the Giants.
After a shakier game last week in Cincinnati, Maye was decisive throughout the night finishing the game without a turnover-worthy play while generating +0.31 EPA per play (82nd percentile).
Entering the week, Maye had totaled 1,927 passing yards (240 more than any other quarterback) and a 70 percent completion percentage (3rd highest) against single-high safety looks — something the Giants deployed at the sixth-highest rate in football. That success continued for Maye Monday night, as he completed 12-of-13 pass for 174 yards and a touchdown against the structures.
While their were some plays left on the board in the red zone — where the Patriots went 1-of-5 to sink the unit to the 24th-ranked in the NFL — it was a big-time bounce back game that now has the 23-year old as the leader for MVP. Here’s how he got there.
(12:57) (Shotgun) D.Maye pass short right to S.Diggs pushed ob at NYG 23 for 13 yards (A.Phillips). With the run game moving the offense across midfield after a big opening kick return to start the game, a 13-yard completion to Stefon Diggs sets things up outside the red zone. On the play, New England runs a staple with HOSS Juke out of pony personnel (two RBs) which creates a one-on-one matchup with Diggs on a linebacker. With the veteran on the juke series against the linebacker, it’s easy pickings for Maye — something he did throughout the night picking his matchups and operating efficiently from the pocket.
(11:20) (Shotgun) D.Maye pass short middle to H.Henry to NYG 7 for 9 yards (C.Flott). Facing a following third-down, New York shows cover-zero pressure pre-snap but bluffs the blitz and instead drops out into coverage. Maye starts to his left on a stick concept before working to Hunter Henry on the backside — where he then moves the safety with a pump fake to his check down option before hitting Henry in the passing window off one leg.
(1:49) D.Maye pass deep right to H.Henry to NYG 3 for 36 yards (T.Nubin). After leading a 12-play opening drive that resulted in a field goal, Maye truly got going on drive two — which started with a 10-0 lead after Marcus Jones’ punt return touchdown. Maye needed just five plays to march the unit downfield, largely thanks to the 36-yard explosive to Hunter Henry. With the veteran tight end running a corner route on a sail concept, Maye pump fakes to move safety Tyler Nubin yet again underneath and creates a passing lane to a wide open Henry.
(1:04) T.Munford reported in as eligible. D.Maye pass short right to K.Boutte for 3 yards, TOUCHDOWN. The very next play, New England finds the end zone as Maye takes the pass option on an RPO to Kayshon Boutte, who is one-on-one on the outside, and drops one in the bucket on the goal line fade for a score.
(4:19) (Shotgun) D.Maye pass short left to K.Boutte to NYG 33 for 13 yards (P.Adebo). Following a second-down holding penalty, New England faces a 2nd-and-22 backed up behind the sticks. They deploy their pony personnel to deliver chip help out of the backfield to both tackles, leaving a clean pocket for Maye to deliver a ball to Boutte for 13 yards to set-up a manageable third-down.
(3:35) (Shotgun) D.Maye pass deep left to K.Williams for 33 yards, TOUCHDOWN. The next play, New York threatens a blitz look but ultimately bails out again. With Kyle Williams manned up on the outside, the rookie dusts cornerback Paulson Adebo off the line of scrimmage and Maye drops another one in the bucket for a 33-yard touchdown. It also came from another clean pocket as the Patriots leave seven in on protection.
With the game largely over at halftime, there were not many more key plays needed from Maye in the second-half — although Mike Vrabel credited the QB’s mental ability for a getting down in bounds twice on the final possession to keep the clock ticking.
“I thought some of the best plays, I think, are just the extensions, the scramble for a first down, the scramble and stay in bounds there late in the game, knowing the situation forces them to call a timeout,” Vrabel explained. “Then not throwing an incompletion there at the end of the game and scramble unselfishly. He probably could have said, ‘Hey, I’m going to try to throw a touchdown, just go and slide and use the clock.’ So, those are the things that probably don’t show up on the stat sheet.”
Elsewhere, the only miscues from the game seemed to come in the red zone as the Patriots offense continued to struggle going 1-for-5 and failing multiple times to punch it in on goal-to-go situations.
For Drake, accuracy proved to be the biggest issue as he threw behind TreVeyon Henderson in the flat early and had a pair of contested targets to Hunter Henry broken up — the second late in the game a more egregious miss behind the tight end.
While it gets harder to throw the ball as the field gets more condensed — and the Patriots run game is not doing any favors (and perhaps they use Maye’s legs more in more important spots in the future) — finishing off drives with touchdowns will be key for New England down the stretch and in the playoffs.