Drake Maye, Patriots had plenty of Ups and Downs in disappointing loss to Titans
BOSTON -- Let's just get it out of the way and say that the Patriots have found their quarterback in Drake Maye. That being said, the kid still has some things to learn.
Maye was essentially the entire New England offense in a 20-17 overtime loss to the lowly Titans in Tennessee. He had his great moments, like the final play of regulation when he made something out of nothing for a game-tying touchdown. He ran all over the Titans, who had no answers any time Maye took off.
He also made some rookie mistakes, including two interceptions. His second pick ended the game in overtime, resulting in New England's seventh loss of the season over the first nine weeks.
Make no mistake, the future appears to be bright for the Patriots and Maye. But the kid cannot do it all, and on Sunday, he didn't get much help from the rest of the Patriots offense. The New England defense ran out of steam in the end, and the Patriots lost to a one-win team on Sunday.
Here are all the Ups and Downs from Sunday's OT loss in Tennessee.
UP: Drake Maye's playmaking
THIS is special. And football fans everywhere deserved an incredible finish to regulation after sitting through a pretty ugly football game.
Maye scrambled for nearly 12 seconds and then threw across his body to find Rhamondre Stevenson in the end zone. The 22-year-old doesn't seem fazed in big moments.
Maye had no problem running around Sunday after leaving last week's game with a concussion. He scrambled eight times to make something happen, picking up 95 yards and averaging 11.9 yards per attempt. He broke off for a 26-yard scramble on his second snap of the day, had a 23-yard scamper in the third, and ran for eight yards on a second-and-2 on the game-tying drive at the end of regulation.
Maye completed 29 of his 41 passes for 206 yards. Now, imagine what he could do with a good crop of receivers and an actual running game.
DOWN: Drake Maye's turnovers
Maye had his share of mistakes, and they were on his shoulders. His first pick was just a bad throw as he felt pressure from the Tennessee defense. Maye badly underthrew Ja'Lynn Polk in the middle of the field and was easily picked off by Amani Hooker. Luckily, the Titans didn't take advantage despite getting the ball at the New England 40.
But his fumble in the second half -- of a strip-sack -- led to Tennessee's go-ahead touchdown, and his second pick ended the game. Maye said his game-ending interception was "a dumb decision" on his part.
There is a lot on the shoulders (and legs) of Drake Maye at the moment. But now it's up to the rookie to learn from these costly mistakes.
DOWN: Opening drive score by Titans
The New England defense gave little resistance as the Titans marched 75 yards downfield for an opening-drive score.
The Patriots rushed four at Mason 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.
Tony 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 Patriots forced a punt on Tennessee's second possession, but five of the Titans' first nine plays went for at least 10 yards.
UP: Jahlani Tavai's great reaction for his first career INT
The Titans got to the New England 3-yard line after Maye's first interception, but then Rudolph gave it back to the Patriots. His third-and-goal pass to Chigoziem Okonkwo was too high and bounced off the receiver's hands, right into the left hand of a diving Jahlani Tavai.
What a great reactionary play by Tavai, resulting in his first career interception. It also saved the Patriots from falling into a 10-0 hole. The Patriots ended up getting a field goal out of the possession to make it a 7-3 game midway through the second quarter.
DOWN: The Patriots defense fell apart
The New England defense played well for the majority of the game, but it looked like they ran out of steam at time in the second half and overtime. The Titans ran all over the New England defense, rushing for 167 yards on 39 carries. Pollard was a monster with 128 yards on his 28 rush attempts, averaging 4.6 yards per carry.
The Patriots defense also struggled on third down for much of the afternoon, as the Titans converted seven of their 16 third-down chances.
DOWN: Patriots not-named-Drake-Maye rush for nothing
The New England run game outside of Maye doesn't exist. Stevenson had the game-tying touchdown catch, but he ran for just 16 yards on 10 carries. JaMychal Hasty picked up no yards on his only carry, and Antonio Gibson lost a yard on his lone attempt.
Maye has led the Patriots in rushing in three of his four starts, and he missed out on being the team's leading rusher last week by just two yards despite leaving after the first quarter.
Running the ball was supposed to be a big part of New England's identity this season. But Maye has been the only guy picking up yards on the ground since taking over.
UP: DeMario Douglas' one-handed grab
Holy smokes this was beautiful.
Douglas caught seven passes for 35 yards on the afternoon.
DOWN: New England receivers were mostly MIA again
It was a quiet day overall for Patriots receivers. Polk was back after missing last week, but the rookie had no catches off just one target. He was also flagged for two penalties, including one that took an 11-yard reception by Douglas off the board.
Kayshon Boutte caught just two of the six passes that went his way for 18 yards. Kendrick Bourne finished with four catches for 41 yards.
Patriots receivers were called out after last week's win, but they didn't do much to answer that call on Sunday. At least tight end Hunter Henry is there for Maye. The big vet had seven catches for 57 yards, and four of those catches moved the chains for New England.
UP: Marcus Jones racked up some return yards
The Tennessee special teams was as bad as advertised on Sunday, and Marcus Jones took advantage.
Jones fielded his first punt of the day at the New England 3-yard line, and returned it 44 yards to set the Patriots up at midfield late in the first quarter. Unfortunately, Maye threw a pick three plays later.
Jones returned his second punt for 25 yards to the 50-yard line, which set up New England's game-tying touchdown at the end of regulation.
Maybe the Patriots should try this kid on offense???
DOWN: New England's last possession of first half
The Patriots had two chances to get one yard to keep a drive alive before halftime, and they couldn't do it. Hasty was stuffed for no gain on a second-and-1, and Stevenson lost a yard on his third-and-1 carry.
That derailed a drive that got off to a promising start when Maye hit Bourne on back-to-back plays for a total of 23 yards. Maye had been feeling it at that point, so why not throw the ball again? Instead, the Pats let 45 seconds tick off the clock between second and third down, and then they ended up punting it away.
It was a bad punt too, as Bryce Baringer shanked it for just 20 yards to the Tennessee 43. Luckily, the Titans are the Titans, and they got nothing out of that short field.
But seriously, Alex Van Pelt, try getting a little creative at times.
DOWN: No momentum for the Patriots
After beating the Jets last week, the Patriots had a chance to build some momentum for the second half of the season. That's not to say that beating a one-win Titans team would spark a run to the postseason, but the Pats were in a good spot to have a much better second half of the season than their first half.
But that is out the window, with another "winnable game" resulting in a loss on Sunday.
