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Patriots vs. Texans preview: Maye faces massive challenge in first start originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
FOXBORO — It’d be easy to say, from afar, this isn’t the right decision for the Patriots.
Playing Drake Maye this week means playing him against one of the league’s most stingy defenses and hard-to-handle pass-rush units. No team pressures quarterbacks more frequently than the Texans (42 percent), and only four have a better sack rate (8.6 percent). They’re third in pass yards allowed per game (154.0) and fourth in pass yards allowed per play (4.8).
Yeah. Not ideal.
Maye could, there’s no doubt, be running for his life. The Patriots have allowed more quarterback pressures than any team in football this season (48.3 percent). Jacoby Brissett absorbed 49 hits over five weeks, and despite being a veteran of nine seasons and having played over 3,600 regular-season snaps, looked at times shaken by the number of times defenders invaded his space in the pocket. His pass protectors allowed a league-high 13.5 percent unblocked pressure rate, per NextGen Stats.
But the Patriots passing game has been dysfunctional. They’ve looked for answers at receiver, with Tyquan Thornton and K.J. Osborn looking like afterthoughts in favor of younger players like Ja’Lynn Polk and Kayshon Boutte. They’ve looked for answers on the offensive line, exchanging presumed starter Sidy Sow for recent practice-squad call-up Michael Jordan, and bumping Michael Onwenu inside to guard in order to play newly-acquired tackle Demontrey Jacobs at tackle.
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While the line showed some “progress” in Week 5, per Jerod Mayo, the offense has remained stagnant. They’re now the owners of the fifth-worst offensive EPA per play figure in the NFL, and only the Browns average fewer yards per pass play than New England (3.7).
Couple those continued failures with the readiness of a young and…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/patriots-vs-texans-preview-maye-230047091.html
Author : NBC Sports Boston
Publish date : 2024-10-11 23:00:47
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