The Patriots are a mess on offense — and that includes the line. Forget that they’re not ready for primetime. They’re barely ready for the preseason.
While Maye’s performance, which included some impressive throws and decisions leading to an 88-yard touchdown drive, will grab the headlines, the real story was the dysfunction on the offensive line. You could practically hear the Benny Hill theme song as the Patriots’ linemen tripped over themselves.
The offensive line committed eight penalties in the first half. There was a botched play-action pass that led to Brissett making a free throw and injuring his shoulder. There were low snaps from the backup center. The left tackle was so afraid of getting hit that he was penalized three times for lining up too far in the backfield, and he probably could have been penalized for a couple of false starts, too.
It wasn’t like the Patriots were playing the Legion of Boom defense. They were having trouble with the Commanders’ backups. It got so bad that NBC’s Cris Collinsworth wondered if the Patriots should take Maye out of the game to prevent injury.
And indeed, Maye got up after one hit and shook his throwing hand.
“Despite their own efforts, they are successful,” Collinsworth said.
Maye has shown everything you could expect from a rookie quarterback in the last two preseason games, but the team in front of him is not ready.
Head coach Jerod Mayo seems to sense this. After the game, he said, “the best players will play,” but then described Maye as his “second-best quarterback.”
Not many people will agree with Mayo on this point, but the slow approach is the right approach. The goal of the 2024 season is not for Maye to start in Week 1. It’s about getting him good experience, getting him healthy through the year, and getting him ready to take over in 2025. If Maye starts 12 games this year, that’s still a positive season.
Given the current state of the offensive line, don’t rush Maye. You risk turning him into David Carr, who took 72 sacks as a rookie and never recovered. Or you risk Maye becoming Anthony Richardson and spending most of his rookie season rehabbing instead of playing.
Maye can play, but that doesn’t mean he should play. Patrick Mahomes could have played as a rookie, but the Chiefs stuck to their plan.
Let Brissett start the season and then play his way out of the job. Remember what Bill Belichick always said, that the first month of the regular season is just an extension of the preseason? The Patriots should use that time to improve their offensive line before turning to Maye. Let Brissett take the beating; that’s one of the reasons they signed him.
This season is all about Maye’s development. It’s not about making Maye the starter in Week 1. The Patriots are too messed up to risk that.
▪ Of course, Brissett’s health may affect the Patriots’ decision to play her. Brissett injured his shoulder on his first-quarter sack and grimaced as he got up. That’s about the worst outcome for a coach playing his starters in the final preseason game. (The Patriots were one of nine teams that played their starters this weekend.)
Brissett did not receive any medical treatment on the sidelines, but the injury is worth keeping an eye on as it could force the Patriots to resort to Maye in Week 1 whether they want to or not.
▪ We spent most of training camp looking closely at the plan at quarterback, but maybe we should have spent more time testing the plan at the line. They shuffled guys around for six weeks, and the unit they fielded for Sunday night’s game was a disaster, especially at left tackle.
The return of David Andrews for the regular season will likely fix some of the poor snaps and blocks, but the Patriots’ constant reshuffling of the offensive line was their downfall against the Commanders.
On the sack that injured Brissett’s shoulder, left guard Sidy Sow collided first with right guard Layden Robinson, then with the running back, leaving the Commanders’ defender completely free for a free shot. Later in the first half, running back JaMycal Hasty was dropped in the backfield, resulting in a loss after Robinson, a fourth-round rookie, was late coming over on the pull.
The offensive line was also penalized for four illegal formations, three holds and one false start in the first half. The biggest offender was left tackle Chukwuma Okorafor, who was penalized three times for illegal formations – standing too far in the backfield. Okorafor was exclusively a right tackle in his first five NFL seasons and is clearly uncomfortable on the left side.
Things looked odd this offseason when the Patriots signed Okorafor and drafted two right tackles, Caedan Wallace, to replace the left side. After Sunday night, things look even worse.
Mayo and Eliot Wolf have stressed that training camp is about finding the right five guys for the offensive line, but they seem far from answering those questions.
▪ As for Maye, it’s hard not to be impressed. He came on the second series and promptly led the Patriots 88 yards in 11 plays for a touchdown – a drive that was actually only 96 yards because the first play was botched.
Maye completed 13 of 20 passes for 126 yards and a touchdown, showing all the traits that made him a No. 3 overall draft pick. On Sunday, he made his two best throws of the preseason: a 29-yard pass to Ja’Lynn Polk after stepping up and avoiding a pass rusher from the left side; and a 48-yard touchdown pass to KJ Osborn that was taken off the board for a penalty but was an impressive downfield pass from Maye while rolling to his left and throwing against his body.
That throw alone should excite Patriots fans. Mac Jones certainly didn’t have the athleticism or arm strength to throw the ball against his body. But Maye also had a 17-yard run on third-and-14 and a nice 16-yard throw to DeMario Douglas on third-and-8.
It’s important to remember that Maye faced a standard defense made up of the Commanders’ backups. Still, Maye looks good. He’s not the problem – it’s everyone around him.
Ben Volin can be reached at [email protected].
