On the late forced fumble and recovery, Ravens QB Tyler Huntley checked the ball down to speedy WR Zay Flowers. Flowers turned upfield to pick up yards after the catch, but his progress was stalled by S Dell Pettus, and OLB K’Lavon Chaisson showed great hustle to not give up on the play, punching the ball out from behind with NCB Marcus Jones recovering it.​

After allowing five consecutive touchdown drives to the Bills last week, New England’s defense wanted to play with a physical chip on its shoulder, while recognizing on tape that the Ravens ball carriers were loose with the football. On Sunday night, they made plays when it counted.

4. Patriots Sustain Several Injuries in a Difficult Night on the Injury Front

Although we aren’t going to use injuries as an excuse, some of the Patriots sloppinnes through the first three quarters was related to numerous injuries all over the roster. The Ravens also had major injuries, losing starting QB Lamar Jackson (back) in the second quarter. Still, as we look forward, we must report on the injury bug in Baltimore for New England.​

In a busy night for the training staff, the following Patriots players were injured on Sunday night: RB TreVeyon Henderson (head), DT Joshua Farmer (hamstring), RT Morgan Moses (knee), OT Thayer Munford (knee), NT Khyiris Tonga (foot), CB Charles Woods (ankle), WR DeMario Douglas (hamstring), and WR Kayhson Boutte (head). Some of those players played through the injuries, but Henderson, Tonga, Farmer, and Woods didn’t return. We’ll monitor the injuries when the Patriots get back to practice on Wednesday.

5. Patriots Wide Receivers Emphasize Beating Man Coverage on Sunday Night

Coming off last week’s loss to the Bills, the Patriots wideouts felt like they didn’t do a good enough job uncovering for Maye in the second half, especially against man coverage. The Ravens entered the week ranked eighth in man coverage rate, while the book on New England has been to play sticky man coverage while taking away Maye’s deep ball. On Sunday night, the Ravens played 14 drop-backs in man coverage, and Maye was 9-of-13 for 131 yards and a touchdown when Baltimore was in man-to-man schemes.

Maye had explosive completions of 33 yards (Diggs crosser), 26 yards (Hooper seam), 20 yards (Hollins crosser), and a 21-yard completion to Diggs on fourth down. If teams continue to play man coverage against the Patriots offense, the receivers need to make them pay by creating separation, and New England’s pass-catchers did that in Sunday night’s win.

6. Banged-Up Offensive Line Struggles vs. the Ravens on Sunday Night

As mentioned, it’s only fair to say that the Patriots were playing with backup tackles at one point, with LT Vederian Lowe already starting, and then Moses going down with a knee injury. Moses gutted it out for his team, which was commendable, but Maye was under pressure all night. According to NextGen Stat, the initial pressure rate on Maye was 43.1%, while Maye also turned the ball over twice while under pressure – it wasn’t great for most of the night.