The New England Patriots knew exactly how to attack the Jacksonville Jaguars during their international matchup on Sunday.
The Jaguars were abysmal in pass defense entering Week 7 with the worst-ranked unit in the NFL with just under 276 passing yards per game. That’s exactly the number that rookie Drake Maye compiled for the Patriots, going 26-for-37 through the air with a pair of touchdowns.
In reality, Maye’s statistics could have and should have, been better than that.
The two passing scores were the only two touchdown drives of the day for the Patriots. Maye picked apart the defense through the air on both of them. He completed six passes on the opening drive before he found JaMycal Hasty for the 16-yard touchdown. After the next drive led to a field goal, New England gained just 19 yards over their next three possessions with a total inability to establish the run.
The Patriots didn’t exactly open the game up for Maye after that, either. He did get the chance on one drive in the fourth quarter when he found K.J. Osborn for a 22-yard score. Maye completed five passes on the drive that included back-to-back gains of over 30 yards to Hunter Henry and Kayshon Boutte on excellent throws.
That drive did not come until the middle of the fourth quarter.
The Patriots got beat up front with negative plays in the run game as Alex Van Pelt had no counter as the play-caller. Yes, there’s an argument for finding balance with a rookie quarterback and not allowing the offense to become one-dimensional.
With that said, if the run game can’t create positive yardage and Maye showed his ability to hurt the Jaguars through the air, but the limited offensive game plan took away the quarterback’s ability to win the game for the Patriots against a favorable defensive matchup with Jacksonville.
In-game adjustments have to improve for the Patriots, who fell to 1-6 with a sixth consecutive defeat.
