Was this the best Patriots performance of the season?
In our preview, we suggested the New England Patriots needed to do a few things to win in Week 10. Boy, did they do that!
We mentioned that a key to victory would be to win the time of possession, which they did by five minutes.
We also discussed controlling the line of scrimmage, which they did by notching nine sacks – the most they have had in a single game since 1963.
The offence also improved up front, producing their best rushing output since Week 5 with 144 yards on the ground.
The Drake-down
Neither rookie quarterback was particularly impressive in this game, as both struggled with inconsistencies.
I believe both these quarterbacks have the ability to go and become superstars in the NFL. However, this game was not Drake Maye’s strongest outing in his young career.
Chicago has the fourth-ranked defense in terms of DVOA, and their zone-centric game plan seemed to be designed to prevent Maye from using his legs the way he did against Tennessee in Week 9.
They wanted to make Maye play quarterback from the pocket and beat them with the limited weapons the Patriots have.
This led to some erratic play from the rookie gunslinger at times. PFF logged him with three big time throws (10.7% of throws) and three turnover worthy plays (9.4%).
New England has a pass rush?
I know, the Bears offensive line was largely made up of second and third stringers. However, to register nine sacks against any team in an NFL game is worth celebrating.
The Patriots played man coverage on the majority of snaps, locking down the Bears four primary weapons – D.J. Moore, Keenan Allen, Rome Odunze, and Cole Kmet.
All four of them were kept to below 45 yards and not one of them broke a tackle.
The defense also used a spy/robber on a lot plays to keep contain on Caleb Williams’ scrambling abilities, which forced him to stay behind his crumbling offensive line.
In our preview, we discussed how asking Drake Maye to play hero ball and win games on his own was not sustainable.
This was a far better team win, and it was nice to see the defense pick up Maye after he willed them into overtime last week.
