New England are now 3-8 on the season.
Week 11’s loss to the Los Angeles Rams proved to be a mixed bag for New England Patriots fans.
The result, the flow of the game, and the final offensive play were disappointing, but there were some real positives.
Here are some of the reasons to be positive.
The weekly Drake-down
I am going to make this a weekly thing now, as it might be the most pertinent topic for all of Pats nation.
Our rookie signal caller has impressed me greatly so far, but this was his most complete game, in my eyes.
His pocket movement, off-platform throws, and the fact that he did not fall victim to the Rams’ exotic defensive looks were huge positives for me.
However, for the second time in three games, with a chance to win at the end, Maye has thrown a game-losing interception by trying to do too much.
Some blame may fall on Demario ‘Pop’ Douglas not getting his head back around, but I think that ball was sailing over his head, regardless.
Maye is now at 14 turnover-worthy plays, per PFF, which might be the only thing holding him back from superstardom right now.
Is it time to worry about Rhamondre?
To start the season, Rhamondre Stevenson was the shining light of our offense.
However, I am officially starting to get concerned about his lack of big play ability.
In Week 1 and 7, Stevenson combined for 17 broken tackles, which accounts for half of forced missed tackles on the season.
In the rest of the games this season, he has failed to pass three missed tackles.
This showed up again in Sunday’s game, in which he had a couple of check downs where he only had to make one man miss for a big play. He could not seem to make good on those opportunities.
Right now, Antonio Gibson seems to be the more explosive back and that concerns me.
Pass coverage woes
After a special day in terms of pass rush and pressure in Week 10, the Patriots defence did not register a single sack against the Rams – despite blitzing on 63% of plays.
Not only did the Rams’ offense elude pressure well, they pretty much had their way in any regard on Sunday. They averaged 7.9 yards per play, including 5.2 yards per rush and 10.9 yards per pass.
Sean McVey’s scheme stretches teams horizontally and vertically, and marries their run schemes, play action, and bootlegs really well to create confusion.
This took huge advantage of the Patriots’ weaknesses at linebacker, and had the back seven in a blender for most of the game.
Hopefully, going into a big divisional game in Week 12 against the Miami Dolphins, the Pats can correct some of these issues and build on the positives displayed.
