Maye and Defense Lead the Way in Miami, Home Date with Packers Awaits
In Week 8 of the NFL season, the Patriots shipped down to face off against the Dolphins in the rain for their first matchup of the season. The game was another sloppy performance by the Pats in Miami, earning only their 18th win there with a final score of 24-19. This win makes their record against the Dolphins 19-43 all-time in Miami. The first two quarters were worrying and the team entered halftime trailing 13-3 to the 1-6 Dolphins who seemed to be controlling the clock and capitalizing off New England's miscues.
Once the second half rolled around, the script flipped entirely and Drake Maye came out firing on all cylinders resulting in stats of 9/10 pass completions, 146 yards, three total touchdowns and a perfect 158.3 passer rating. This performance from Maye is even more impressive when accounting for the absence of weapons A.J. Brown (Knee/Ankle), Mack Hollins (Calf), TreVeyon Henderson (Illness), and Romeo Doubs (Shoulder). Maye also lost tight end Hunter Henry early in Sunday's game due to a foot injury. Postgame, Vrabel commented on Maye’s performance, “There’s not a whole lot of excuses, you go out there and find ways to win for your football team. That’s who he is and that’s what he wants to continue to be.”
The Patriots luckily have WR Mack Hollins returning soon, as his 21-day window to rejoin the active roster started Wednesday with his return to practice. Drake Maye and the offense will be more than grateful to have Hollins back in the lineup, especially with A.J. Brown’s health reliability in question and Romeo Doubs placed on IR.
The injuries offensively led to wide receivers DeMario Douglas (3 Rec, 76 Yards, 1 TD), Kyle Williams (1 Rec, 43 Yards, 1 TD), and Efton Chism III (5 Rec, 37 Yards) being the top targets for Maye, who had this to say about them, “Them guys, first off, they do things right, really all the time...we got to get those guys the ball in the space more.” In the absence of running back TreVeyon Henderson, Rhamondre Stevenson shouldered the bulk of the offensive gameplan outside of Maye, carrying the ball 19 times for 82 yards plus 3 receptions for 8 yards.
Despite the slow start in the first half, Vrabel's defense made aggressive game plan changes at halftime. The unit racked up 5 sacks. Cory Durden picked up his first career NFL sack notching 1.5 in total, the same as rookie Gabe Jacas (Injured knee in 3rd quarter and did not return) leading the team. Christian Elliss, Christian Barmore, Jaylen Reed and Eljah Ponder also made contributions in the sack department. They managed to stifle Miami’s run game, snapping their 5-game streak of 100+ rushing yards by holding them to only 74 yards on 23 carries. The interception leader from 2025, Kevin Byard III (S), came down with his first interception as a Patriot leading to a 48-yard touchdown strike from Drake Maye to DeMario Douglas.
ADVERTISEMENT
Week 9 Preview: Packers vs. Patriots
Looking ahead towards Week 9, the Patriots are returning home for an interdivisional matchup vs. the 5-3 Packers. Green Bay bolsters one of the premier passing attacks in the NFL ranking 2nd, averaging 271 yards per game. Their rushing game, on the other hand is struggling significantly, ranking dead last in the league by averaging a measly 60.6 yards per game. They may be without running back Josh Jacobs due to new legal domestic allegations coming out, despite only being taken off the Commissioners Exempt list on October 19th. The run game should not be of any concern defensively; the Packers are on pace to be the first team to finish with less than 3 yards per carry since 1994.
Defensively, the Packers are above average just barely missing out on the top 10 defensive rankings. They have been without superstar pass rusher Micah Parsons so far this season while he recovers from his torn ACL. Parsons returned to practice on Wednesday but is not expected to play vs. New England as he continues to recover. What they do well defensively is force turnovers with 15 though eight games ranking 2nd in the NFL. Not all can be well and good for the Packers defense, as they rank in the bottom third of the NFL for both third down and red zone defense, allowing teams to convert 42% of the time on third downs.
Luckily the Pats have improved in taking care of the ball with Drake Maye throwing seven interceptions through the first four games, to now only one through the last four. In the last four games, Maye has produced a 71.8% completion percentage with 9.6 yards per attempt, 1,129 yards, 11 touchdowns to one interception, capping it off with a 129.9 passer rating, all of which rank at the top of the QB position.
ADVERTISEMENT
My Take?
This game will challenge New England’s secondary to an extent we haven't seen yet this season. The focus will be defending through the air as Green Bay is starting to find rhythm with Watson (WR), Golden (WR), Kraft (TE) and Love (QB). The Patriots will absolutely want the secondary at full force with key players Christian Gonzalez, Marcus Jones, Carlton Davis III, and Kevin Byard III.
I expect Drake Maye’s elite MVP caliber play to continue against the middle of the field Packers defense and wouldn't be surprised to see his running ability prove extremely difficult to contain for them. If his ability to rush becomes a challenge, Green Bay may place a spy on him leading to downfield shots and good opportunities for receivers such as “Pop” Douglas to get into the open field. This would rely on the offensive line continuing their impressive play, despite the numerous injuries. My score prediction is 34-27 Patriots; I believe Drake Maye is in a ‘flow state’ at this point in the season and will take over this game, edging out a good performance by Love. To add to Maye's elevated performance the last couple weeks, he was recently named the offensive player of the month for the AFC.
My Record:
3-3
