In the training I’ve received since birth to be a Patriots blogger, I was taught one rule for the final preseason game: It’s a pass/fail test. A binary decision. If no one is seriously injured, it’s a win. If someone is, nothing else matters.
Much of this stems from the trauma of 1989, when the promising Pats lost Andre Tippett, Garin Veris and Ronnie Lippett — regulars at all three levels of defense — for the season in that final game. As a result, they dropped from the league’s fifth-best defense to 23rd (out of just 28 teams), reached a 5-11 record, fired head coach Ray Berry, replaced him with Rod Rust and reached a 1-15 record the next season. Thanks to that institutional memory, I’m inclined to worry only about their health heading into Week 1 and nothing else.
But this season is different. We’re 13 days away from a new era and there are still important questions unanswered, so this one was a big one. As for the main unsolved mysteries, last night we got answers to the two most important ones:
1. Drake Maye can conduct an offensive.
2. He will have to.
That was A game of two cities. The best of times, the worst of times. It was Harvey Dent after the Joker burned half of his face. It was Janus, the two-faced Roman god of “beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doors, passages, frames and endings.” Because while Alex Van Pelt’s offense in general and Scott Peters’ O-line in particular were a mess of chaos and failure, Maye proved that he didn’t need everything to be perfect – or even acceptable – to make plays, move the chains, put together drives and score points.
We’ll come back to the 99 problems this team had later, but first let’s show that Maye was not one of them:
–I said last week that when you see him without the training wheels that are a red practice jersey, you finally get a chance to see how much more athletic he is than most of the other 21 players on the field. He proved that from the moment he came on for the injured Jacoby Brissett. The first of many bad snaps that night by Nick Leverett pushed the Pats to the 5-man line. Then this 17-yard run:
First, a nice double block by La’Michael Pettway that took out two defenders on the field. But Maye still had the strength to outrun split safety Mychal Walker and get to the line to get the ball. In fact, Walker was lucky to touch Maye’s ankle, otherwise it would have gone another 10 yards or more.
— Then, two plays later, he felt the pressure from behind, stepped forward and fired a sniper shot into Ja’Lynn Polk’s hands, far from the seam defender:
Simply put, we’ve never had a quarterback on the roster with those physical attributes. And those live games showcase those skills in a way that’s not possible in practice. Of course, Tom Brady could overcome it all with his pocket sense, vision, accuracy, ability to read coverages, looks, and power to bend space and time to his will. But Maye’s size/speed/arm represent a combination unlike any Patriot has ever possessed. And even a small sample size this preseason saved AVP’s offense:
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–His touchdown against Kevin Harris was no exception. Normally, trying to hit a target near the perimeter while a defender is closing in on him is about the worst risk a quarterback can take. But the risk-reward ratio is reversed when you can throw a Nolan Ryan fastball to the outside corner like Maye did. Not only did the ball get to the point faster than the defender could have gotten it to Mac Jones or Bailey Zappe, but it also hit Harris on the outside shoulder, allowing him to protect the ball, turn forward, and complete the catch and run:
–The Pats converted three 3rd downs on this drive, with Maye completing 5 of 6 passes for 71 yards. A season ago, drives like this were the stuff of ayahuasca-induced fever dreams. Now they seem set to become a reality sometime in the next few months. If not weeks.
–But of course the pieces we will be talking about will forever as long as it takes us to forget the preseason ever existed are the ones that didn’t count. Because they were erased from the record because someone else made a mistake. Starting with this non-TD to KJ Osborn:
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For the record, that was when he escaped the pocket. Made room to throw. He released the ball at a full sprint without placing his feet properly. And he took it about 40 yards. Not only is that something we didn’t have, that ability to make big, impactful plays out of structure is what the top quarterbacks in this league have done routinely for the last five years or so. Especially the Patriots defense. It’s also exactly what I envisioned when this team secured the 3rd pick. That makes this a beautiful day to live in the City of Champions.
— And here’s another blocked play that, while not quite as spectacular, still shows what he can do to get a 1st down from a dirty pocket (on what I consider a flat slant, but don’t hold me to that):
— As much as it pains me to admit it, Maye himself was far from perfect. He let the ball sail past his target on a simple flow screen. He threw a hospital ball to Polk, and the TV cameras seemed to catch him apologizing for it on the bench. But he also put a ball on Jalen Reagor’s hands in the scrum that was dropped. But he finished the faux-ball season with a stat line of 21-of-34, 62%, 192 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT. With another 32 rushing yards on 7 attempts and a TD. And that’s despite playing in a completely rebuilt offensive scheme and behind an O-line that is in total disarray. And this Friday is his 22nd birthday. Maye’s future is so bright I may start putting all my money in the sunscreen futures market.
–The present, however, remains bleak. You know it’s bad when you have to listen to the snarky remarks of another generation of Hochulis:
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It’s been more than five months since Eliot Wolf decided not to make offensive tackle a priority in free agency, and four months since he more or less ignored the position in the draft. (Experts consider Caeden Wallace more of an OG/OT in-between player.) Yet with less than two weeks to go until kickoff, The Wolf is still shuffling his cards and trying to find a winning hand. It’s still possible that a veteran could end up in the discard pile for him to pick up. But that’s a hell of a risk at this point in the game.
–Beyond that, there are the mental errors. The only person in the same stratosphere as Brady when it comes to how hard he is to replace is Dante Scarnecchia. If Scar had even a tenth as many illegal formations, false starts, bad snaps, and various unforced errors as he did last night, he would have killed his starting lineup with curse words alone. And I cannot fathom with my feeble brain that they are still experimenting with moving Michael Onwenu back to RT after using him at RG for most of training camp. Buckle up and prepare to watch them struggle all season long to find a combination that works. Hint: It wasn’t.
–Joe Milton remains what Joe Milton has always been. A very interesting candidate with outstanding qualities who needs a lot of time, work and patience. He also has what it takes to make a big game for us:
… because he is plotting against his opponent:
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It’s definitely worth keeping a spot on the roster for Milton. Specifically, Bailey Zappe’s spot. However, if the need for a third quarterback arises, I’d rather trust a free agent off the waivers list than him right now. But watching his development over the next year or so will be one of the great subplots in the history of this franchise.
–Before we turn to the other side of the ball, here’s the latest on the biggest question of all: whether Brissett or Maye will start Week 1. It sounds like a tie. But you can’t help but read the subtext that it will be Brissett, as long as his shoulder allows it:
–On defense, there was a mixed group of starters – Christian Gonzalez and Marco Wilson at cornerback, Jahlani Tavai at LB, Keion White on the line – and backups that opened the game. Most of the snaps seemed to be taken by reserve players. White in particular stood out. Just like last week against Philly:
I think his emergence is ultimately the reason they traded Matthew Judon. Well, his emergence and tens of millions of dollars. But still.
–The real stars on defense were the Hyphenated Guys. Even before Joe Giles-Harris’ interception (assisted by a corner blitz from Joshua Bledsoe):
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… he flew around on the underlying routes, made tackles and limited yards after the catch. He engaged in a zone read play that forced Washington back inside the 5 and led to a long gain. But he showed some potential as a backup.
–Likewise, Giles-Harris’ brother, William Bradley-King, disrupted the entire line of scrimmage. He had a quarterback hit with a very effective stunt. And he was on the ball often enough to at least be considered as a potential part of a crowded front-7 depth chart.
–The most encouraging thing about the defense is something Devin McCourty talked about after the game. More than anything, this unit has always been in the hands of the players. To be allowed to dictate the game based on what they see. And to be able to do that effectively despite Kyle Dugger, Jabrill Peppers and Ju’Whaun Bentley having an off night speaks to the program Bill Belichick has built and that Jerod Mayo has played, captained, refereed and continues to be the head coach.
–Offensively, the situation is obviously the opposite. And still needs to be resolved. Until then, let’s just appreciate the prospects offered by a future superstar who can play with 50% of the shoes a normal, human quarterback needs:
