The week predictably began with louder calls for the Patriots to make the switch at quarterback. Watching another week of a toothless offensive attack certainly made those reactions understandable.
But whether it's Jacoby Brissett or Drake Maye at the controls against the Texans on Sunday, the entire operation needs to improve immensely if the results are to change.
Few quarterbacks can overcome the number of breakdowns, physical or otherwise, the Patriots seem to make on a weekly basis. Against the Dolphins – a team without its quarterback, top running back for the final three quarters and its top two pass rushers – the Patriots all but handed the game away.
New England committed an inexcusable 14 penalties (12 that were accepted), missed a 33-yard field goal, failed to crack 300 yards of total offense and allowed a mind-boggling 15-play, 80-yard touchdown drive in the fourth quarter to ultimately lose the game.
Situationally the Patriots threw four straight incomplete passes from the 12-yard line on the penultimate drive, and then ended the game by throwing well short of the end zone from the Miami 36 on the final play as the clock ran out.
The breakdowns were widespread, not just at quarterback, but it looks like the Maye era will get underway soonnonetheless.
In reality, it's probably the right move. Brissett has been shattered by the pounding of countless hits, including nine more against a Miami team that was without pass rushers Jaelan Phillips and Bradley Chubb. The Patriots struggled to protect Brissett for much of the day, and when they did manage to give him some time the veteran missed some opportunities.
The biggest one came at the end when Ja'Lynn Polk was open along the backline of the end zone for a potential go-ahead touchdown but failed to get both feet in bounds after leaping to grab a high Brissett throw.
Could the pass have been more accurate? Yes.
Could the receiver have gotten both feet down? Yes.
But these are the issues that dog 1-4 teams, and a winnable game turned into another loss as a result. And as such it may have been the final straw as Jerod Mayo sang a different tune on Monday when assessing Brissett than he has previously this season.
"It just wasn't good enough," Mayo said when asked to evaluate Brissett's performance. "I thought we played well enough defensively and on special teams to win the football game. As the quarterback – and he understands this – he touches the ball on every single play, and we didn't win the game or score enough points to win the game. I think he would echo that same sentiment that it wasn't good enough."
So, it looks like Maye will get his chance to shake things up. His athleticism should provide him with escape hatches that Brissett doesn't possess, and instead of avoiding sacks to throw the ball away it's possible that Maye could move the chains with his feet more often than his veteran mentor.
His presence should provide some excitement for a fan base that has watched a moribund attack average 12.4 points per game. It should provide some hope as Maye develops with experience. It should represent a new beginning as Mayo attempts to jumpstart the rebuilding process with the quarterback of the future.
It should not, however, represent the cure-all that some are hoping for. Maye can't block, can't prevent his teammates from committing penalties and he can't come up with defensive stops with the game on the line.
Until enough of those things improve, Maye won't be enough to turn things around. But the time has come to see if the kid can make a difference, and that alone is cause for optimism moving forward.
Bad timing
Back in Week 2 Mayo was critical of his time management toward the end of the first half during the loss to the Seahawks. Backed up in his own end in the final two minutes, Mayo chose to allow Alex Van Pelt to throw a pair of incomplete passes, giving Seattle extra time to add a field goal before the break.
A very similar situation unfolded against Miami. After catching a break when the Dolphins snapped the ball to no one just before the two-minute warning, causing a 22-yard loss and knocking themselves out of field goal range, the Patriots faced a similar situation.
Taking over at their 5 with 1:50 left, the Patriots picked up a solid 8 yards on first down. Given the sizable gain, Miami coach Mike McDaniel chose not to use one of his three timeouts, which should have ensured the Patriots ability to end the half in possession of the ball.
But Van Pelt again opted to throw twice, both deep balls down the right sideline, and Miami still had 55 seconds and all three timeouts when the Dolphins took over at the Patriots 44. Only a bad snap on the field goal attempt allowed New England to come away without allowing more points.
"It was like a carbon copy of that [Seattle] game," Mayo said when asked about the sequence. "Our execution throughout the season at the end of the half and the end of the game, they just have to be better."
Bad timing II
Bills coach Sean McDermott received heavy criticism when he allowed Josh Allen to attempt three passes from his own 3-yard line with 32 seconds left in a tie game. Allen, who completed just 9 of 30 passes on the day, misfired on all three and the Texans maintained their timeouts and kicked a 59-yard field goal to win it.
The situations are quite different, however. The Bills needed to convert a first down since the Texans had three timeouts at their disposal. An argument could be made that throwing the ball wasn't the best way to move the chains given Allen's struggles, but three runs short of the sticks would have led to three timeouts being used so the timing issue would have been quite similar. In fact, three failed runs followed by timeouts may have taken less time off the clock than the Bills incompletions. By comparison, Miami ran three times before the Patriots used timeouts and the possession took 14 seconds, running the clock from 55 to 41 seconds. The Bills took the clock from 32 to 7 seconds on their series, using 25 ticks.
Houston took over at the Buffalo 46 with :07 left. C.J. Stroud threw a 5-yard pass and called timeout, setting up the field goal. It's possible Ka'imi Fairbairn needed those 5 yards to make the kick, but it's also possible the Texans could have gotten those 5 yards without the timeout. And using the Miami comparison, if the Bills ran three times it's possible the Texans would have had 11 extra seconds to work with.
The issue for the Bills was not completing any of the passes, not necessarily throwing them.
Rookie QBs continue to impress
The trio of starting rookie quarterbacks all won in Week 5, and all now are leading teams with winning records. Jayden Daniels continues to dazzle with his electric play and the Commanders are sitting atop the NFC East with a 4-1 record. Daniels completed 14 of 25 passes for 238 yards and a touchdown to go with an interception. He also picked up 82 yards on the ground on 11 carries to lead his team. Daniels isn't just a Rookie of Year candidate through five weeks. He's in the running for MVP.
Caleb Williams didn't enjoy as strong a start as Daniels but he looks more comfortable each week. The Bears their second straight with a 36-10 blowout of the Panthers, and he connected on 20 of 29 passes for 304 yards and a pair of touchdowns with no picks. He also helped in the running game with 34 yards on five carries for the 3-2 Bears.
Bo Nix has the Broncos at 3-2 as well following Denver's 34-18 beatdown of the Raiders. Nix went 19 of 27 for 206 yards and a pair of scores while avoiding the interceptions that plagued him early on.
The trio combined for five touchdowns and just one interception while piling up 104 points. Pretty impressive weekend for the 2024 draft class.
Extra points
Houston leads the AFC South with an impressive 4-1 record but strangely has a negative point differential at minus-12. The Texans have tight wins over the Colts, Bears, Jags and Bills by a combined 15 points and the lone blemish came in a 34-7 blowout loss at Minnesota. Odd for a team with that record to have a negative point differential. … It was hard not to feel good for Trevor Lawrence following his scintillating performance against Indy. The Jags got off the schneid with a 37-34 win and Lawrence was near perfect, completing 28 of 34 passes for 371 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. The win snapped a personal nine-game losing streak for Lawrence dating back to November of last season. … Although the Niners were able to get the win over the Patriots in Week 4, Kyle Shanahan's team did not look especially sharp. Penalties and turnovers were glossed over in San Francisco's 30-13 win, but all did not seem right in the Bay Area. A week later the Niners dropped a 24-23 decision at home to the Cardinals, blowing a 23-10 halftime lead in the process. At 2-3 San Francisco still looks out of sorts and was fortunate the Seahawks were also upset at home by the Giants, leaving the Niners just one game back in the NFC West with the team's scheduled to play Thursday night.
Power 5
1. Kansas City (5-0) – Mahomes loses key targets and the offense somehow looks better.
2. Minnesota (5-0) – Vikings showed some grit in holding off the Jets comeback bid in London.
3. Baltimore (3-2) – Lamar Jackson turned in another MVP-like performance to steal one in Cincy.
4. Detroit (3-1) – The Lions enjoyed a bye week and the offense looks ready to roll.
5. Houston (4-1) – Houston doesn't always dazzle but the record is what it is.
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
