There was plenty of Drake Maye magic in the air for the New England Patriots near the end of the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game against the Tennessee Titans.
But then the magic dried up in overtime.
Maye threw a deep pass on a potential comeback drive that fell right into the awaiting arms of Titans safety Amani Hooker. It was a disappointing ending to an ugly game of football on the road for New England.
The defense once again seemed incapable of stopping the run. Tennessee wasn’t even sure if running back Tony Pollard would be healthy enough to play in the game, but he ended up going off for 28 rushes and 128 yards on the ground. The Titans had 39 rushes for 167 yards on the ground in total.
Maye created some drama late in the game by connecting with running back Rhamondre Stevenson with a touchdown pass on fourth-and-goal with defenders draped all around him.
The rookie quarterback had eight rushes for 95 yards on top of going 29-of-41 passing for 206 yards, one touchdown, two interceptions and one fumble. Turnovers proved to be the backbreaking errors for the Patriots.
With that said, Maye is playing under ridiculous circumstances. He’s a first-year quarterback with one of the worst offensive lines in football and no true No. 1 receiver. Tight end Hunter Henry led the Patriots in receiving yards, and Stevenson was in the mix as well at No. 3. The second-leading pass-catcher for the Patriots was wideout Kendrick Bourne.
There isn’t enough consistency at receiver to not expect the rookie to want to carry the offense on his shoulders and make things happen. However, that kind of mentality can often lead to mistakes if the quarterback tries to do too much.
The temporary high from the Patriots’ upset win over the New York Jets was short-lived, and now, it’s back to the drawing board with a tough road game against the Chicago Bears coming up in Week 10.
