The New England Patriots continued their winning ways on Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons, nabbing their seventh win of the season and sixth win in a row.
The Patriots (7-2) eked out the 24-23 win partially thanks to a missed PAT from Falcons kicker Parker Romo after receiver Drake London caught a touchdown pass from Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr. that would have presumably tied the game with less than five minutes remaining.
The Falcons fell to 3-5.
Maye does enough
This wasn’t quite the unbelievable performance we’ve seen so often from Drake Maye, but the numbers were good enough to continue the MVP talk around the Patriots quarterback.
Maye completed 19-of-29 passes for 259 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Still, he made more mistakes than usual. At the end of the first half, he was careless with the ball in his hand and while the Pats were driving to potentially go up three scores, he was strip sacked and the ball was brought back to New England’s 5, setting up a Falcons touchdown.
In the third quarter, the Pats had another chance to turn the game into a blowout, and Maye sailed a pass to tight end Hunter Henry that was intercepted. It was unclear whether the throw was more the fault of Henry or Maye, but either way the miscommunication helped the Falcons hang around.
Still, Maye made some incredible throws, including a 58-yard pass to receiver DeMario Douglas as the Pats continued to rely on the deep ball. Also, it says something about Maye’s play this season that this game was not even close to among his best. — Chad Graff, Patriots beat writer
Patriots’ O-line struggles
There hasn’t been much to critique from the Patriots during this six-game winning streak, but an issue is starting to pop up. While the Patriots’ offensive line is playing much better than last season, pass protection is beginning to become a problem. Maye was sacked six times Sunday and has been sacked 16 times the last three games.
As coach Mike Vrabel noted earlier this week, not all of them are conventional sacks since some have come near the line of scrimmage when Maye had begun scrambling. But the pass protection was an issue in this game against the Falcons. That is something to monitor as this otherwise-impressive Patriots season rolls on.
New England’s next game is against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who entered Week 9 ranked sixth in pressure rate and sixth in blitz percentage, setting up a tough task after struggles on Sunday. — Graff
RBs without Stevenson
Even with starting running back Rhamondre Stevenson out due to a toe injury, the Patriots didn’t use rookie second-round pick TreVeyon Henderson as a three-down running back. Henderson split carries with Terrell Jennings, who the team just put on its active roster this week after he was on the practice squad all season.
Henderson turned his 14 carries into 55 yards, while Jennings notched 11 carries for 35 yards. Importantly, when the Pats were near the goal line, they leaned on Jennings, who scored in the first half on a 3-yard run. Henderson got more work in the pass game, recording four catches for 32 yards.
The Patriots drafted Henderson hoping he’d start out as their explosive third-down back who could win on outside rushes and in the passing game. They didn’t expect to lean on him as a traditional bell cow, and so far (even with Stevenson out) that’s holding true. — Graff
London puts on a show
Drake London going against cornerback Christian Gonzalez was worth the price of admission on Sunday. The Falcons’ best wide receiver started slow against Gonzalez but warmed up late and finished with a career-high three touchdowns, nine catches and 119 yards. London’s final touchdown catch, a leaping, one-handed catch on fourth-and-goal from the 8-yard line would have tied the game at 24 if Atlanta kicker Parker Romo had hit the extra point.
Gonzalez left the game with a head injury in the fourth quarter after landing hard on the turf after he and London leapt and battled for what ended up being a 40-yard reception by London. — Josh Kendall, Falcons beat writer
Falcons lose Bergeron
The Falcons suffered another offensive line injury when starting left guard Matthew Bergeron left the game after the first series due to an ankle injury. He was carted to the locker room but returned to the sideline shortly after that and appeared to be trying to jog. However, he did not return to the game. Kyle Hinton finished the game at that spot, and right guard Chris Lindstrom was not on the field for the final drive. Atlanta has been without starting right tackle Kaleb McGary all season due to a knee injury. — Kendall
Defense has big moments
The Falcons stayed in Sunday’s game thanks to big plays by their defense, which sacked New England’s Drake Maye six times and came up with two turnovers. Linebacker Jalon Walker, who returned after missing two weeks due to a groin injury, defensive end LaCale London and defensive tackle Brandon Dorlus each had two sacks. One of Walker’s sacks forced a fumble by Maye in the final minute of the first half that was returned 21 yards by LB James Pearce Jr. to set up a 6-yard, 11-second touchdown drive that cut the Patriots’ lead to 21-14. Jessie Bates III also had an interception. — Kendall