The New England Patriots answered their opening-week disappointment the right way in Week 2, and Drake Maye made it clear the standard still isn’t high enough.
Mike Vrabel’s team shook off the season-opening loss and handled business behind another strong defensive showing. Zak Kuhr’s unit was stout again, and holding Aaron Rodgers and Mike McCarthy to just three points was no small thing. The offense, meanwhile, looked far better than it did in Week 1.
Even with that bounce-back, Maye isn’t letting the offense off the hook.
“They’re playing at a really high level… It’s fun to watch, and at the same time, we gotta help them out… They’re making plays out there. We gotta match them,” Maye said (h/t CBS Sports)
That message comes with some context. The Patriots went from facing what was described as arguably the deadliest defensive front in the game in the opener to meeting a middle-of-the-pack unit in Week 2.
Still, the task stays the same: handle the opponent in front of you. With an MVP candidate under center, there’s no excuse for the offense not to stay ahead of the chains.
There was also the boost of getting TreVeyon Henderson back in the mix. He gives the backfield a jolt with his twitch and explosiveness, even if he still needs to be more patient and improve his vision. That extra burst also helps Rhamondre Stevenson when the two are rotating touches.
Maye himself looked much more like the quarterback the Patriots need. After getting in his own head in Week 1, he settled down, cut down on negative plays, avoided forcing the issue, and kept taking what the defense gave him. That’s exactly what New England needed from him after the rough opener.
The bigger picture is still pretty simple: the Patriots are not as bad as they looked in Week 1, and they’re not as dominant as they looked in Week 2. They’re somewhere in between, and they’re moving toward that reality.
Next comes a Jacksonville Jaguars team whose defensive numbers may not tell the whole story, considering the opponents they’ve seen through two weeks - Deshaun Watson and Bo Nix coming off major injuries.
Maye has already put the offense on notice, and if he’s going to lead by example, he’ll need to be at his best when the Patriots kick the wheels on Sunday.
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Patriots Still Have One Special Teams Question Hanging Over Them
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Wishnowsky has now appeared in two games this season, and the move back to the practice squad leaves New England with a familiar question at a position that can quietly shape close games. The Patriots can keep cycling through options while Baringer remains unavailable, but the way they manage the punter spot in the coming weeks will say plenty about how stable they feel about the depth chart. [Read more 🡒]