Nashville, TN – Well, that was something. After some last-second magic forced the game into overtime, the Patriots fell to the Titans in a 20-17 loss in overtime on Sunday.

There are a few ways to look at this one. On a positive note, Maye made some great plays to make this game competitive. The rookie QB had to drop back to pass 52 times with zero run game and a defense that also has issues. Mainly, the Titans game-winning drive in overtime featured eight runs on 13 plays. It felt like a repeat of London, where the Jaguars ran it 16 straight times to put the game on ice. Tennessee ran it down the Pats defense's throat. If it wasn't for a botched snap on a third-and-2 from the NE 7, Maye might've not gotten the ball back in overtime.

In his three full starts, Maye has dropped back to pass 42, 42, and now 52 times: It's just too much on a young QB. Although it's fair to point to the flaws around the quarterback, we must be objective. As good as some plays were by Maye, the third-overall pick also had four turnover-worthy plays, including a fourth-quarter strip-sack and a game-ending interception in overtime.

"Dumb decision. Sometimes the best play is just to throw it away," Maye said after the game. "Throwing into the wind. Had to put more on it."

Welcome to life with a rookie quarterback. Maye has flashed high-end traits that make you excited about the future. However, the bottom line is there's too much on his plate right now. Teams that are successful with first-year quarterbacks don't ask them to carry the offense this much, while there's usually a strong defense on the other side.

Eventually, the hope is that the Patriots will build a viable roster around Maye, who is taking every rep he gets during his rookie season to improve and round out his game. His teammates already feel the energy shifting with the talented rookie under center, with one veteran defender comparing Maye to a certain MVP-caliber quarterback in Buffalo.

"That's young Josh Allen 2.0. He looks amazing. I love watching him on the sideline," NT Davon Godchaux told Patriots.com. "I tell the guys all the time that he plays like Josh Allen 2.0. I played Josh Allen in Miami in his rookie year, and he didn't look that good. Josh Allen is a phenomenal player now. MVP-type player. Drake looks better than Josh did his rookie year."

Godchaux added that he believes Maye will start drawing players to New England to play with the Patriots quarterback, saying, "Everybody wants to play with Josh Allen. Everybody wants to play with Pat Mahomes. Soon, everyone will want to play with Drake Maye."

Although there are still inconsistencies in the rookie quarterback's game, Maye has his teammates believing he's the answer. Now, this young roster needs to learn how to win close games, while the personnel department and coaching staff has a lot of work to do.

Here are eight takeaways as the Patriots fall to 2-7 on the season with a loss to the Titans on Sunday.

1. SERVPRO Spotlight: QB Drake Maye Forces Overtime with Wild Touchdown to Rhamondre Stevenson

With four seconds remaining, the Patriots faced a do-or-die third down that was going to be the final play of regulation, needing a touchdown to send the game into overtime.

New England dialed-up a bunch concept where the play design was to throw the ball into the middle of the field. However, the Titans did a nice job passing off those inside routes, taking away all of QB Drake Maye's options, and that's where the magic happened.

The Patriots rookie quarterback ran this way and that to avoid multiple defenders in the pocket. Maye looked dead to rights several times and even appeared to have room to run at one point. After 11.82 seconds, Maye tossed a prayer up in the right part of the end zone to RB Rhamondre Stevenson. The entire stadium was in shock when Stevenson boxed out the defender to haul in the heave from Maye to give the Patriots new life.

"Just trying to keep the play alive and make a play. Rhamondre, good for a running back out there," Maye said. "We ended up coming up short, so that play doesn't matter at this point."

Although that's not how the Patriots drew it up, Maye's ability to create something out of nothing is what makes his skill set so dynamic. For a brief moment, he and Stevenson saved the day.

2. QB Drake Maye's Peaks and Valleys in Sunday's loss to the Titans

Based on my live charting, Maye rode the rookie roller coaster with nine plus plays to six minus plays in Sunday's loss to the Titans.

From an efficiency standpoint, Maye was nearly net-neutral, which speaks to the highs and lows. The Pats rookie generated -0.03 expected points added per play on his 52 drop-backs. The Pats had a 48% pass-play success rate, and Maye rushed for a team-high 95 yards on eight attempts, the third-most rushing yards by a quarterback in a game in franchise history.

Maye's scrambling ability is a problem for opposing defenses. He's adding yards beyond the scheme and forcing defensive play-callers to stray away from man coverage so they can have eyes on the QB in zone structures. There's a ton of value-added here on runs like his 26-yard scramble on his first drop-back on Sunday. After that, the Titans played 86.5% of the Patriots drop-backs in zone coverage.

As a thrower, Maye's physical tools were on display on a 21-yard completion to DeMario Douglas on a third-quarter touchdown drive. This play design is often called "blade" in AVP's world, with an inside crosser paired with a deep out from the X receiver off play-action. The Titans overload the left side of the line and run a three-man game, inviting Maye to roll out to his right as WR DeMario Douglas runs across the field. Douglas runs by the linebacker against a match-zone and makes a spectacular one-handed catch on a tear-drop throw from Maye.

However, with the good has come some bad. Maye recorded four turnover-worthy plays. His interception in overtime was on a deep post to Kayshon Boutte against a split-safety shell.

Life with a rookie quarterback also hit for the Patriots on a critical fourth-quarter turnover by Maye. The Pats rookie read the left side of the field in his initial drop and wanted to throw in the safety rotation, but the Titans did a nice job of covering both receivers (Bourne, Henry). Maye then held the ball and looked like he was trying to buy time by leaving the pocket to his right, but Titans pass-rusher Arden Key caught him from behind to cause a strip-sack. In this instance, Maye probably should've gotten to an open JaMycal Hasty on a check-down into the flat.

As Godchaux said, Maye's future is extremely bright, and the players around him are starting to rally around their talented quarterback. Now, the key is learning from these mistakes to reduce turnover-worthy plays. The good stuff is tremendous. Hopefully, consistency will come.

3. Patriots Tweak Offensive Line to Start, Then Return to Week 8 Combination

The Patriots somewhat surprisingly made a change in their starting five along the offensive line by re-inserting rookie RG Layden Robinson into the starting lineup on Sunday.

With Robinson starting at right guard, the Pats kicked top OL Mike Onwenu back outside to right tackle. However, the new line combination likely aimed at improving the run blocking was very short-lived. Robinson was benched in the second quarter, with RT Trey Jacobs taking over so the Patriots could move Onwenu back inside to right guard. The move was made so Onwenu could match up with Titans DT Jeffery Simmons, who was taking over the game.

The Patriots decision to reconfigure their offensive line backfired, as the eighth different combination in nine weeks struggled. Overall, Maye was under pressure on 38.5% of his drop-backs with four sacks while the Patriots struggled to run the ball once again. The protection settled down once they switched back to Jacobs-Onwenu, but it still wasn't great, and neither was the run blocking which produced -9 yards before contact for the RBs.

As mentioned, the Patriots have to find ways to manufacture yards on the ground. Their lack of run game is putting way too much on Maye's plate, and they're unable to create layups for their rookie quarterback off play-action, either. Until that improves, Maye will be up and down.

Furthermore, it's fair to second-guess Coach Mayo and offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt's decision to shake up the starting line. Although it was still a struggle on the ground, the line held up well in pass protection last week. The start of this game offensively is on them.

4. Patriots Run Defense Continues to be a Work in Progress

On defense, most of the issues came in the run and play-action pass game. Titans lead-back Tony Pollard had nine successful runs and three runs of 10-plus yards. Plus, Titans QB Mason Rudolph went 5-for-8 for 59 yards and a touchdown off play-action.

New England went with another man coverage-heavy plan, with 38.9% of their defensive plays coming in man coverage. They mostly did well in those coverage shells, holding Rudolph to 5.8 yards per attempt. However, their early-down zones were leaky, with Rudolph averaging 8.2 yards per attempt when the Patriots dialed up zone coverage.

In the run game, outside runs were once again an issue for the Patriots defense. All three of Pollard's explosives came on runs outside the tackles, with a game-planned crack toss scheme in the Titans opening script going for 32 yards on an opening-drive touchdown for Tennessee.

After the game, the defense seemed pleased that they got the ball back to the offense with a chance to win in overtime. However, that ignored the context that the Titans had to settle for a field goal after botching a snap on third-and-2 from the NE 7.

Overall, the numbers don't look as bad as in Week 7, with the Titans producing just a 32% success rate on 39 rush attempts. But it was still a London-like feel in overtime watching Tennessee go on a 13-play scoring drive that proved to be the game-winner.

5. CB Christian Gonzalez Shadows Titans WR Calvin Ridley

Another marquee matchup in this one was Patriots top corner Christian Gonzalez shadowing Titans number one receiver Calvin Ridley. Gonzo shadowed Ridley on 24 routes, with the Titans wideout catching three passes for 51 yards with Gonzalez in coverage. The Pats CB logged a first-half pass breakup on a perfectly covered slot fade, but Ridley converted a key third down in overtime vs. Gonzalez's man coverage. Yes, there are leverage rules at play there. Still, you'd like to see Gonzalez come up with a play on third-and-5 with the game on the line.

6. LB Jahlani Tavai Plays Best Game of the Season in Nashville

Tavai's play has come under fire this season without partner Ja'Whaun Bentley next to him at the second level of the defense, including from this scribe. However, Tavai was great on Sunday. The Pats linebacker led the team with 11 tackles, had a tip-drill interception, a five-yard TFL, and a key QB hit. The Patriots defense needs this version of Tavai for the rest of the year.

7. Patriots End-of-Half Offense Needs Work, Starts with Coaches

My assessment of Van Pelt is that the Patriots offensive coordinator has been moving in the right direction. Mainly, AVP's had rookie QB Drake Maye on an upward trajectory, which is his number one priority over in-game coaching. Still, they must figure out the end of first halves, and, overall, the first-half play-calling left a lot to be desired.

At the end of the first half, Maye completed back-to-back throws to WR Kendrick Bourne for 23 yards – the rookie had them moving. Then, on 2nd-and-1 with 1:38 left from the NE 38, Van Pelt prioritized the first down over gaining yards in the two-minute drill. Philosophically, I disagree with that approach. If you keep your foot on the gas with a 2nd-and-1 pass, moving the chains will take care of itself. The clock and field position are your enemy there, not a new set of down.

Instead, Van Pelt went gun-run on second down (stuff) followed by a stuffed third-down run out of heavy personnel. If you're going to prioritize the first down there, then you better get the yard. We've seen Maye lead successful two-minute drills before, and he was cooking, so putting him on ice in that spot is a head-scratcher.

Also, what's the clock management plan? After the second-down stuff, the Patriots didn't call a timeout despite having all three, so the third-down run came with 52 seconds left. Even if you get the first down on third down, you have about 47 seconds to go another 30 yards or so. That's theoretically possible, but that entire sequence was bad coaching and execution.

The Patriots have routinely botched end-of-half scenarios this season. It has either cost them opportunities at points or even handed the other team points before halftime.

8. Special Teams Caputilze on Clear Advantage Over Titans

The Patriots special teams had an advantage in this game and made the most of it. Tennessee came into the week as the league's worst special teams unit in DVOA and is historically bad in punt coverage. The game started with an illegal formation penalty when the Titans moved early on the opening kickoff. Then, Pats return man Marcus Jones had a 44-yard return and gave his offense great field position on a 25-yard return to set up the game-tying drive that sent it to OT. That last one was almost blocked by Ochaun Mathis, too, and Marcellas Dial also forced a fumble on a punt return. Jeremy Springer's group won the field position battle.

DISCLAIMER: The views and thoughts expressed in this article are those of the writer and don't necessarily reflect those of the organization. Read Full Disclaimer