Drake Maye and the New England Patriots offense largely knew what to expect out of Indianapolis Colts defensive coordinator Gus Bradley’s defense on Sunday.
Coming from Seattle, nobody runs more zone coverage than Bradley — something that was on display in Gillette Stadium. With the Colts zone structures forcing quarterbacks away from the deep passing attack, Maye leaned on the quick game with an average depth of target of 6.3 yards (his second lowest as a starter).
Similar to the matchup against the Rams, Maye was extremely sharp underneath as he completed 80 percent of his passes with a +8.9 completion percentage over expected rate. The rookie’s timing and anticipation in the passing attack stood out to find and create passing lanes against zone coverage. Then in the few reps on man Indy played, Maye made them play with his arm and legs.
Lets’ get into it all as we discuss some of his most notable moments from Sunday in this week’s Maye’s Plays.
Attacking Zone
Indianapolis played zone coverage on nearly 90 percent of Maye’s drop backs on Sunday. Offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt responded well, primarily with a West Coast staple that has now become a New England staple as Maye has found plenty of success with the concept on early in his career.
After working off the left side read, Maye works back to the right to Hunter Henry (spot) and Kendrick Bourne (dig) on a ‘Bow’ concept. Reading high-to-low, Maye starts to throw before Bourne even clears the linebacker that’s working towards Henry to hit his receiver in the created passing window. It goes for a 16-yard gain that overcomes a holding penalty and kick starts a two-minute drive.
Maye struck on the same exact concept other times throughout the game. That included hitting Henry on the frontside choice out in the second quarter and again attacks the linebackers to hit Bourne on the backside dig in a nearly identical fashion.
Both throws again highlight the timing and anticipation Maye played with on Sunday. Those were also apparent on a pair of identical third-down conversions to his top tight end — where both balls were thrown before Henry broke out of his route with perfect ball placement (the first completion coming against man coverage).
*herb brooks voice*
Again! https://t.co/7OuwQPuQjA pic.twitter.com/SQ1lWYFFEU
— Brian Hines (@iambrianhines) December 2, 2024
The main blemish on the day came on the interception near the goal line. While Maye’s ball is ideally on Henry’s opposite shoulder away from the coverage, it’s still a play you would like to see the veteran tight end make. Instead it’s bobble into the air and goes the other way.
“Just tried to get to him quick, and hopefully he gets in. I think I put it on the wrong shoulder,” Maye explained post game. “I think if I put it on the opposite shoulder away from the defender, and I think that’s maybe a completion there. Just unfortunate that it got tipped up. Just a bummer.”
The turnover did not count as a turnover-worthy play according to Pro Football Focus, which lowered his turnover-worthy play rate to 4.0 percent this season. While that ranks 35th out of 41 qualified quarterbacks, Maye’s 1.4 percent rate over the last three weeks is tied for eighth best. Improvement.
Outside of that, Maye had a few misses from an accuracy standpoint and left some potential plays on the field in the red area — admittedly leaving the pocket too early with a backside option on the first allowed sack.
Shredding Man
As Indianapolis zone coverage on almost 90 percent of their drop backs, Maye didn’t see many man coverage looks. When he did, however, the rookie made the Colts pay with both his arms and legs.
His biggest play of the game came on a 41-yard scramble in the first quarter. With everything covered and the defensive backs in man coverage with their backs turned to Maye, nobody is on scene to pick up or even see the rookie take off. His athleticism is then on display as he takes it 41 yards on the ground.
Maye’s lone touchdown pass of the game also came against man coverage. New England tries to floods the left side of the field expecting zone (which may make the spacing look poor), but the man coverage look still results in Austin Hooper soloed up on Zaire Franklin. As Maye sees Franklin’s back, he knows where he is going with the football.
The ball placement — right on Franklin’s head — is then perfect to let Hooper make a play and virtually carry him into the end zone for six.
Overall, it was an impressive performance for the rookie and the Patriots offense — where Van Pelt is due some credit for some new unique wrinkles — to enter the bye week with. They’ll now look to continue to build on it after a week off in the final month of the season.
