Patriots quarterback Drake Maye picked up a crucial first down on a run around the left side on a third down after the two minute warning in Sunday’s `10-7 win over the Broncos and no one was more surprised to see it happen than center Garrett Bradbury.
After the Patriots booked their ticket to the Super Bowl, Bradbury said that the play was designed as a handoff to running back Rhamondre Stevenson and that he said “oh my god” when he realized that Maye never handed the ball off.
“After the game, Drake’s like, ‘I debated telling you guys if I was gonna [keep] it or not. But I just decided not to’ . . . I’m expecting Rhamondre to try and hit a hole. And I turn around, Drake’s over there with the ball, and I’m like, ‘Go, go, go!’ Because we didn’t know.’” Bradbury said, via Andrew Callahan of the Boston Herald.
Maye confirmed at his press conference that the play was intended to go as Bradbury expected before his improvisation.
“We were in big personnel,” Maye said. “Running the same deal to the right, little stretch play. At some point, they get lackadaisical and got the chance to get around the edge.”
It was the right play at the right moment, which is something the Patriots hope to keep seeing from Maye through the final whistle of Super Bowl LX.
