Drake Maye's heroics force overtime, but Patriots lose to Titans
BOSTON -- Drake Maye was back at quarterback for the New England Patriots on Sunday and led a spectacular game-tying drive at the end of regulation against the Titans. But the rookie also turned it over three times and the Patriots lost, 20-17, in overtime in Tennessee.
Maye led the Patriots on an 11-play touchdown drive at the end of regulation to tie the game at 17-17. It was capped off by some incredible improv by the quarterback, who danced around to buy time on third-and-goal as time expired. Maye lofted up a pass across his body that Rhamondre Stevenson came down with in the end zone for the game-tying score, sending the contest to overtime.
The Patriots defense couldn't get a stop in overtime, as Mason Rudolph connected with Calvin Ridley twice for 30 yards and Tony Pollard rushed for 28 yards. But the Titans fumbled the snap on third-and-2 from the New England 7, and had to settle for a 25-yard field goal from Nick Folk to take a 20-17 lead with 2:34 left.
That gave Maye and the New England offense one more chance. But Maye went deep to Kayson Boutte on the third play of the drive, and his underthrow was picked off by Amani Hooker to end the game.
"Just a dumb decision. One I'd like to have back," Maye said after the loss. "Sometimes the best play is to throw it away. Just a bad decision on my part."
It was one of three turnovers by Maye on the afternoon, as he was picked off by Hooker twice and also coughed up a fumble while he was sacked. The Titans entered Sunday's game with just three takeaways all season.
With the loss, the Patriots fall to a disappointing 2-7 on the year. Sunday was just the second win of the season for the Titans, who are now 2-6.
How the rest of the game played out
The Titans scored on their opening drive and New England trailed 7-3 at halftime.
The Patriots took their first lead of the game after a long drive to start the second half. Maye picked up 36 yards on three scrambles and also had a nice 21-yard connection with DeMario Douglas, who made a one-handed grab down the sideline on the play. Stevenson capped off the 12-play drive with a one-yard touchdown run to give New England a 10-7 edge. The drive covered the first 7:21 of the second half.
The Titans had a lengthy drive on their first possession of the second half too, taking over seven minutes to go 67 yards downfield. But a holding penalty took a Pollard touchdown off the board, and Julius Chestnut was brought down by Dell Pettus at the 3-yard line on third-and-goal as he tried to hurdle his way into the end zone. Tennessee settled for a field goal to tie the game at 10-10 with 34 seconds left in the third quarter.
The two teams traded punts on their next possessions, before Maye was strip-sacked by linebacker Adren Keye on New England's third possession of the half. The Titans needed just five plays to go 26 yards for the go-ahead score: A six-yard TD pass from Mason Rudolph to Nick Westbrook-Ikhine to take a 17-10 lead with 4:27 to play.
Maye was nearly picked off on a second-down pass on New England's next possession, but Jarvis Brownlee Jr. let the interception fall out of his arms when he hit the turf. Maye hit Kendrick Bourne for 22 yards on the next play, but it was taken off the board because of an offensive hold on center Ben Brown.
Maye went deep for DeMario Douglas on third-and-17, but his pass was way too far for his receiver. The Patriots punted the ball away and Tennessee nearly fumbled it back to New England, but Jha"Quan Jackson was able to recover the ball.
The New England defense came up with a stop and Marcus Jones ripped off a 25-yard punt return to the 50 after the two-minute warning. The Patriots got to the Tennessee 22 after an 8-yard scramble by Maye, but his next pass to Bourne in the end zone was broken up by Hooker.
The Patriots got to the Tennessee 5-yard line with eight seconds left, but Maye's pass to Kayshon Boutte was tipped at the line, which negated a DPI on Tennessee. On third-and-goal, the QB danced to buy time, and made his incredible touchdown pass to Stevenson to send the game to overtime.
Drake Maye wasn't afraid to run
Despite leaving last week's game with a concussion, Maye wasn't afraid to take off Sunday against the Titans. It was New England's best way of picking up yards, as Maye ran for 95 yards on his eight scrambles.
Maye also threw for 206 yards while completing 29 of his 41 passes. He was New England's entire offense on Sunday.
Frustrating first half for Patriots
The Titans scored an opening-drive touchdown for the first time since Week 3. The Patriots rushed four at Rudolph on a third-and-12, but let the quarterback get free for a 13-yard scramble to keep the drive going. On the next play, tight end Josh Whyle caught a short pass from Rudolph and stiff-armed Keion White out of his cleats to turn it into a 12-yard pickup for Tennessee.
Pollard followed that up by breaking off a 32-yard run to the New England 9-yard line, and Rudolph hit Nick Vannett for a 9-yard catch-and-run touchdown to give Tennessee the early edge.
The New England offense mustered just three points in the first half, racking up just 124 yards. Maye threw a bad interception and the Pats were just 1-for-6 on third down over the first 30 minutes.
The most frustrating drive of the half came just before halftime. The Pats got the ball back just after the two-minute warning and Maye hit Kendrick Bourne on back-to-back plays for 14 yards and nine yards. It was a promising start, but then Alex Van Pelt abandoned the pass.
JaMychal Hasty was stuffed for no gain on second-and-1, and Stevenson lost a yard on third-and-1. The Patriots punted the ball away with 47 seconds left in the half.
Maye had been distributing the ball well at that point, so it's definitely fair to question the play-calling in that situation. The Patriots ran for 46 yards in the first half, but Maye was responsible for 39 of those yards on two scrambles. Stevenson had just seven yards on his six carries in the first half.
Penalties hurt both teams
There was a lot of yellow to hit the field on Sunday, as the two teams combined for 18 accepted penalties. The Patriots were flagged eight times for 58 yards, while the Titans were hit with 10 penalties for 67 yards.
What's next for the Patriots?
New England has another road game in Week 10 when they pay a visit to Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears. That matchup will pit the No. 1 overall pick in Williams against the third overall pick in Maye.
The Bears are 4-4 on the season after losing to the Arizona Cardinals, 29-9, in Week 9. Chicago has lost two straight, but is a perfect 4-0 at Soldier Field.
