FOXBORO — The beauty of the Patriots’ season-opening win at Cincinnati was twofold.
One: the instant high of an NFL upset.
Two: realizing in the moment that the new-era Pats had lit their path forward.
The formula that day would be their formula for the season: run the ball, play sound defense, squeeze juuuuuust enough from the passing game and compete.
Nowadays, that formula, like the season, is lost, and best described as The Drake Maye Show.
Since taking over the starting quarterback job, Maye has been the Patriots’ leading passer and rusher. He’s arguably been his own best pass-protector. Since September, Maye and Rhamondre Stevenson have scored every Patriots touchdown. And last weekend, Maye accounted for 95% of their total offense by himself.
Meanwhile, virtually every opponent continues to steamroll the Pats’ defense, including the toothless Titans, who rushed for a season-high 167 yards last Sunday. The Patriots have strayed so far from their original path they charted it’s hard to re-watch the Bengals game and believe you’re watching the same team.
They can feel it, too.
“We’ve got to just-establish our attitude and identity on the line. That was one of the best things we did as an offense and as an O-line. And we’ve gotten away from that,” Pats left tackle Vederian Lowe told me Wednesday.
Lowe also shared that weeks later the Patriots began to further emphasize pass protection during practices and meetings. Only recently did they bear the fruits of that labor, allowing pressure on fewer than than 40% of their dropbacks in three straight games. But in that same time, the Pats seemed to rob the run game to pay their pass protection, rushing for a league-low 89 yards on handoffs at 1.81 yards per carry.
“We had a lot of problems with (pass rush) games and stuff early in the year, and so we worked really hard on those, getting those cleaned up. And I would say those did get better. But our run game has subsided in recent weeks,” Lowe said. “And we just want to get back to who we are.”
The inability to maintain a balanced offense has foisted more of the game on Maye’s shoulders. The 22-year-old has the potential to carry a team, but the longer the Patriots fail to run the ball and play defense, the greater the risk they run that Maye will revert to bad habits this season.
Namely, playing hero ball.
As a prospect, Maye was knocked for taking too many risks with the ball while chasing big plays; the belief being Maye tried to compensate for a poor supporting cast during his final season at North Carolina, Sometimes, like all über daring and talented quarterbacks, he will succeed. Other times, he’ll hurt his own cause.
To wit: during overtime in Tennessee, Maye took two deep shots and scrambled for 11 yards. The first deep pass fell incomplete, and the second resulted in a pick that ended the game. That is nothing if not instant, do-it-yourself offense from a quarterback who crossed the line going from aggressive to reckless.
Of course, the clock and game situation may have factored into Maye’s thinking, but trailing by just three with 2:17 still on the clock when he threw his interception, could Maye’s greater motivation have been his lack of help? Stevenson had 16 rushing yards to his 95, while DeMario Douglas and Kayshon Boutte had already dropped passes.
Only time will tell.
For now, reviving the run game is paramount. The offensive line must sustain blocks up front and smack the Bears between the tackles, where the Pats have hit their most consistent and effective runs. Stevenson also took some accountability when identifying what the Patriots must do to run the ball again.
“Just in the simplest form, just get downhill. Just get downhill,” he said. “More physical runs, double-team blocks up front instead of single (blocks) and things like that.”
The good news is the Patriots have done it before. Through their first three games, they averaged more than five yards per carry when running inside zone and duo, run plays built on interior double-team blocks. But play-calls are only one piece of the formula.
The rest is on the players, taking a stand and making a decision to help their rookie quarterback help them win games again.
“It’s a mindset thing,” Stevenson said. “And I think it’s just getting back to it; just accepting that we’re gonna have to be a physical team up front, and we’re gonna have to move people up front to win games. And that’s what we’re gonna do.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
