Patriots-Colts: Who will win battle of athletic QBs between Drake Maye, Anthony Richardson?
FOXBORO -- The New England Patriots weren't expected to win many games this year, but Sunday afternoon against the Indianapolis Colts is likely their best chance to get another victory before the season draws to a close. That is, if the Patriots can get out of their own way this weekend.
Jerod Mayo's first season as head coach -- and Drake Maye's first season at quarterback for that matter -- isn't going to be judged on wins and losses. The progress of the team will be the real determining factor between "success" and failure. After a decent stretch for about a month, the Patriots have been heading in the wrong direction the last two weeks.
New England is coming off its worst Sunday of the season, an absolute no-show against the Dolphins down in Miami. Losing to the terrible Jaguars in London may have been a worse loss on paper, but at least New England held a lead in that international tilt. The Patriots never had a chance against the Dolphins.
The Colts are just 5-7 on the year but are still within striking distance of an AFC playoff spot, so they're playing for something on Sunday. At 3-9, the Patriots are just hoping to play a competitive game in front of their home fans (they're just 1-4 at home this season after going 1-7 at Gillette in 2023) as they determine which players -- and coaches for that matter -- are worth keeping around next season. With the bye week up next, it's important for the Pats to head into their break with a W.
With games against the Cardinals, the Bills (twice), and the L.A. Chargers to close out the season, this weekend is probably the last time the Patriots can put anything promising on film in 2024. Here's what we'll be watching for during the Patriots' Week 13 tilt against the Colts at Gillette Stadium.
Drake Maye's turnover count
The Patriots-Colts rivalry has a rich history of quarterback play going back to the days of Tom Brady taking on Peyton Manning. That was an old-school quarterback matchup. Now we'll get a new-school showdown with Drake Maye going against 2023 fourth-overall pick Anthony Richardson.
Both are absurdly athletic, have massive arms, and can make things happen with their legs. But both have a lot of work to do at the NFL level.
As much as we love to watch Maye run for a big gain or connect on a deep bomb, he's had a bit of a turnover problem. In his seven starts, Maye has thrown seven interceptions, including five over his last four games. He's lost four of his five fumbles on the year, and has been strip-sacked in each of the last two games.
Maye went a bit back and forth about his turnovers on Tuesday, saying he wasn't "too worried" before saying later that he is indeed concerned about how often he's given the ball to the other team.
"I am worried about turning the football over," Maye said Tuesday. "That's a problem. At the end of the day, you can't turn the football over. I think we're losing the turnover margin in most of the games with me back there. So that's something I need to improve on."
Maye is certainly capable of making big plays in a number of ways, completing 65.5 percent of his passes for 1,458 yards with 10 touchdowns as a rookie. And he'll have an opportunity to put up big numbers against an Indy defense that has the NFL's 27th-ranked pass defense, allowing 233.3 yards through the air per game.
The Colts also didn't force a turnover in their last two games -- a loss to the Lions and a win over the Jets -- and have a minus-one turnover differential on the season. Maye has a chance at a big weekend against the Colts, but an even bigger development would if the rookie doesn't give the ball to the Indy defense on Sunday.
The Anthony Richardson factor
Richardson is having one weird season for the Colts. He's 4-4 in his eight starts, throwing for 1,402 yards, five touchdowns, and seven interceptions. He's completed just 47 percent of his passes (90 of 191), which is the worst among qualifying quarterbacks. His completion percentage has ballooned all the way up to 53.4 percent over the last two weeks.
Richardson came under fire in Week 8 when he took himself out for one play in the third quarter of Indy's game against the Houston Texans because he needed a "breather." He was benched in favor of Joe Flacco the following two weeks -- both Colts losses.
Richardson has played a bit better since that benching, with one touchdown and no interceptions through the air. He's also started to make more noise on the ground with 10 carries in each of the last two weeks. Richardson averaged 4.65 yards on those 20 carries, with two touchdowns against the Jets and a season-high 61 rushing yards last weekend against the Lions.
Richardson is an incredible athlete with big-play capability that the Patriots' defense has to take away on Sunday, but he's not a great quarterback. (Not yet at least.) He's got a long way until getting to that point, and most of it has to do with the head on his shoulders and the decisions that he makes on the field.
While the Patriots have just nine takeaways this season, Richardson should give them opportunities to add to that total this weekend.
Can the Patriots keep Jonathan Taylor from running wild?
A great way for the Patriots to put more pressure on Richardson's shoulders (and legs) is by taking Jonathan Taylor out of the equation. But that's easier said than done with the Indy running back.
"Taylor, he's a problem," Jerod Mayo said earlier this week.
Taylor has played the Patriots twice, and he was a huge problem in one of those contests. In 2021, he ran for 170 yards on 29 carries against the Patriots, which included a 67-yard touchdown run that sealed the victory for Indianapolis.
Last year in Germany, Taylor had just 69 yards on his 23 carries against New England, though he did run for the game's only touchdown. It will be imperative for the Patriots to bottle him up like that again on Sunday.
While the New England defense couldn't stop Miami's pass attack last Sunday, the unit did do a solid job against the run, holding the Dolphins to just 65 rushing yards and a 2.7-yards-per-carry average. The return of Christian Barmore, who now has two games under his belt, has certainly helped in that department.
Taylor is averaging 4.4 yards per carry this season and he has four games with over 100 rushing yards. But he missed a month with an ankle injury, and has been up-and-down since returning in Week 8. After rushing for 114 yards against the Bills in Week 10, he racked up just 92 yards on 35 carries (a 2.6 yards-per-carry average) against the Jets and the Lions over the last two weeks.
The Patriots will either continue their solid play against the run on Sunday, or it will be a get-right week for Taylor.
Laundry Day for both teams?
Unfortunately, we might be seeing a lot of yellow hit the field on Sunday. The Patriots are coming off an embarrassing 10-penalty showing against the Dolphins. The Colts are also coming off an embarrassing 10-penalty showing in a loss to the Lions.
It's been a bothersome (read: infuriating) trend for the Patriots this season. They have 81 accepted penalties against them, which is tied for the sixth-most in the NFL.
Alex Van Pelt called the team's penalty-filled loss in Miami -- which saw five pre-snap penalties -- "horse crap" on Wednesday. (Very fitting ahead of a matchup with the Colts.)
"We talked about not going backwards on first down or second down, and we went backwards. We were digging ourselves in a hole, especially in the first quarter," he said. "So that's just an area of just locking in."
Last week was the second time this season that the Patriots were hit with 10 penalties in a game (they were actually flagged 13 times), and both instances came against Miami. They've had at least seven accepted penalties against them seven times this season.
The Colts are in the middle of the pack in terms of accepted penalties against, ranking 16th in the NFL with 70.
Tune in to Sunday's Patriots-Colts matchup on WBZ-TV -- the flagship station of the New England Patriots! We'll get you Sunday morning with Patriots GameDay at 11:30 a.m. on WBZ-TV and streaming online at CBSBoston.com! After the game, switch over to TV38 for full reaction and analysis on Patriots 5th Quarter!