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Patriots’ pass-protection issues are mounting as Drake Maye ties worrisome stat from last year
"We need to be better for Drake," center Garrett Bradbury said
The good news is that the Patriots‘ downfield passing attack is back.
New England is hitting on explosive plays consistently, and they’ve all of a sudden morphed into a team that can put up 30-plus points on any given Sunday. They’re averaging 26.3 points per game, which is good for seventh in the league.
The bad news is that Drake Maye is taking a beating while doing it. New England has given up 34 sacks this season, which is second-most in the NFL. Twelve of those have come over the last two games, including six in Sunday’s win against the Falcons.
And that’s just sacks, not counting the amount of times he has been hit, pressured, or hurried. It’s also not counting the occasions when Maye runs the ball.
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The issues have been fairly consistent, and somewhat to be expected with a pair of rookies starting on the left side and new starers at center and right tackle.
But this is back-to-back weeks where they’ve given up a season-high in sacks, a sign of regression.
“We just talked about it in the room. It wasn’t our best game, and it makes everyone sick,” center Garrett Bradbury said. “Six sacks yesterday, that’s not good enough. … We need to be better for Drake.”
Will Campbell is getting the highest marks among the Patriots’ offensive line starters from Pro Football Focus in pass-blocking with a grade of 74.2. He’s 27th among 75 eligible players at his position according to the PFF rankings. He’s followed by Mike Onwenu [72.1], Garrett Bradbury [65.2], Morgan Moses [63.8], and Jared Wilson [53.6].
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Campbell has given up five sacks and Wilson has given up four, putting both players in the top-15 of sacks allowed. Wilson has given up a team-high 21 pressures, the second most among guards in the league.
Quarterback play also factors in when it comes to sacks, as it’s on them to get rid of the ball before a defender can get to them.
Maye has already tied his sack total from last season, despite playing four fewer games.
“It’s pretty simple, just getting the ball out, not holding it,” Maye said. “Stats don’t always tell the case. I think those guys are playing their butts off up front and a lot of them are really on me.”
Maye said he needs to do a better job at that during an interview on WEEI on Monday.
Staying out of obvious passing situations will be a key part of getting those numbers down, Bradbury said. The Patriots have dug themselves into holes at times.
“I think some of it is putting ourselves in better positions to where we don’t get negative plays on first downs,” Bradbury said. “Then when you’re on second and long it’s like everybody in the world knows you’re going to drop back here, then if you don’t get that everyone knows we’re going to drop back on third and long. So, it’s all tied together, but we need to get better.”
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