Sorry for the late posting, but I wanted to go back over Drake Maye’s film against the Broncos (also viewed JT O’Sullivan’s breakdown on The QB School Patreon) to double-check my previous work. Before we get into the Maye film, my ratings and grades for the AFC Championship Game, let’s get into the news….
Drake Maye was listed on the Patriots’ imaginary injury report (they didn’t practice) as limited with a right shoulder injury.
As I reported previously, the injury is not believed to be serious and should not affect him in Super Bowl LX. A third source confirmed that today. Maye’s sore, but not believed to be injured. The last three games — he’s played 20 games now — against tough, physical, and hard-hitting defenses in cold weather have taken a toll, so the Patriots wanted Maye to take it easy for a few days. If it’s still an issue at the end of the week, then that would be something. But that is not expected to happen.
Second and third viewing of Maye’s film backed up what I originally thought: there’s nothing on film to indicate Maye has an injury that is affecting his play. His inaccuracy issues against the Broncos were mostly related to his footwork, which has regressed some against three very good defenses that got a lot of pressure on him (48% in this game). Maye’s been sacked 15 times in three games, and three were on Maye in this game. And if you don’t want to believe me about Maye’s issues in this game, take it from one of the sources. “He wasn’t very accurate, but that’s not anything with an injury.” O’Sullivan also never mentioned seeing any physical issues in his film.
But, as always, we always show our work at BSJ, so here’s a breakdown of Maye’s game against the Broncos, backed up with film analysis:
3-4-NE 14 (12:12) (Shotgun) D.Maye pass incomplete short left to S.Diggs (T.Hufanga)
The near interception. Not sure why Maye was working to that side of the field because the better numbers were to the other side, and DeMario Douglas is the only real option on the play.
2-6-NE 24 (1:45) D.Maye sacked at NE 15 for -9 yards (Q.Robinson)
So I originally put this down as a team sack on the boot back to the right, but O’Sullivan said Maye can’t take a sack on this play. First off, he said Maye was too flat and not deep enough on the play fake. He’s also outside the pocket, so he can just throw it out of bounds. At the very least, with Robinson holding him, Maye could have just thrown the ball at Henry’s feet. I’m sure Maye thought he could stiff-arm Robinson, since he’s done that to bigger players this season, but this time he is corralled for a big sack.
3-15-NE 15 (1:07) (Shotgun) D.Maye pass incomplete short right to R.Stevenson.
The play, just a checkdown to get a few yards, Maye never gets his feet into the throw and throws inaccurately. It’s just bad footwork.
1-10-NE 14 (9:22) (Shotgun) D.Maye sacked at NE 11 for -3 yards (D.Jones).
Morgan Moses just beaten quickly. No chance.
2-13-NE 11 (8:42) (Shotgun) D.Maye pass incomplete deep left to D.Douglas (T.Hufanga).
Maye and Douglas just miss on a hole shot that is there. Maye is slightly high with the throw, but it’s not high if this were, say, Mack Hollins. Maye’s high on this ball because he looks at and reacts to the rush as the Broncos stunt. Maye didn’t seem to have confidence that
