The New England Patriots are headed to the AFC Championship.
New England’s superb run throughout the postseason continued with a 28-16 divisional round victory over the Houston Texans at Gillette Stadium on Sunday, setting up a matchup with the Denver Broncos.
I’ve got your takeaways:
MAYE MUST MAKE A CHANGE
The Patriots were only expected to go as far as Drake Maye was willing to take them this postseason, but through two games the sophomore signal-caller has been nothing more than pedestrian…
Maye has completed 33-of-56 passes for 447 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions during playoff victories over the Los Angeles Chargers and Houston Texans — while fumbling six total times and putting the ball in harm’s way much more often than otherwise.
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If they want any chance at actually winning Super Bowl LX, that player and this coaching staff are going to have to find a way to turn things back in the right direction.
Maye’s potential upcoming opponents rank second (Seattle Seahawks; -0.12), fifth (Denver Broncos; -0.09) and sixth (Los Angeles Rams; -0.06) in defensive expected points added per play, and we saw how much he struggled against the teams who ranked first (Houston Texans; -0.13) and fifth (Los Angeles Chargers; -0.09).
It’s time to put the big boy pants on and take your game to an even higher level, Drake.
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NEW STYLE
If there was ever something to be particularly negative about, it’s the way in which this team has gotten pressure on the quarterback.
The Patriots have been extremely disruptive through two postseason games, generating nine total sacks and an unbelievable amount pressures (some have charted it at 54, others at 51) — though those came against the No. 27 (Texans) and No. 30 (Chargers) rated offensive lines, according to PFF.
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New England couldn’t get there with four- and five-man pressures, though, as it relied on blitzing to force bad decisions from Justin Herbert and C.J. Stroud, who combined to conclude the regular season with 94.1 and 60.2 quarterback ratings under pressure, respectively.
It’ll be a tad more difficult to successfully blitz against the Broncos, who had the No. 1 ranked offensive line, according to PFF. Jarrett Stidham isn’t exactly someone who should be feared, but cutting the reads down for a backup quarterback typically isn’t smart — it’s just something that seemingly will be necessary in order to play at the same level they have throughout the postseason.
Let’s just hope it doesn’t come back to bite them in the —.
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FOR FUTURE CONSIDERATION
Will Campbell’s limitations reared their ugly head on Sunday.
Maye was only under pressure 27.3% of the time, but the majority of those came on the left side from either Will Anderson Jr. or Danielle Hunter. Campbell allowed two sacks and five total pressures, while the rest of the offensive line only allowed three total pressures.
“I need to play better. I hold myself to a higher standard than what I put out tonight,” Campbell said following the game, per team-provided video. “Whenever you’re going against good players, the margin for error is very small and there’s some stuff I have to clean up. It just takes more practice.”
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Campbell will obviously be given every opportunity to make up for his mistakes, but the coming weeks could ultimately play a role in what happens this offseason — with several options remaining on the table.
Denver’s Nik Bonitto and Jonathan Cooper, Seattle’s Uchenna Nwosu and Demarcus Lawrence, and Los Angeles’ Jared Verse and Byron Young are formidable duos, and equally as unimpressive performances against them could cause the club to try and find someone to replace Campbell. It’s never a bad thing to make upgrades, but you probably weren’t expecting to slide your first-round pick to left guard just one season in, were you?
If you were wondering why people called him a guard throughout the draft process, you’re starting to find out.
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ENJOY THIS ONE
I probably won’t be able to say this at any other time, so this is a quick reminder to enjoy what is currently happening.
The Patriots have no business being in the position they’re currently in, as everybody and their brother, mother, sister and father predicted them to be long gone by this point. If you’re thinking about arguing that you knew this was coming all along in the comments, just know that we all know you’re lying.
It’s a remarkable, improbable, ludicrous and downright absurd season — and should enjoyed as such.
New England is once again the epicenter of football, and given the talent on this roster, might continue to be so for the time being. I just want to warn that the lovable nature of an underdog quickly fades away when that is the case, just as it did with this same franchise two decades ago…
It’s pretty fun right now, though, isn’t it?
Featured image via David Butler II/Imagn Images
