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Patriots-Bears preview: Pats need to lighten the load on Drake Maye originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
CHICAGO — Drake Maye hasn’t yet dragged his team to victory, but he’s been impressive enough that even when he makes a mistake, there’s a chance he’s opening the eyes of his coaches in a positive manner.
When asked this week about Maye’s ability to process while surveying the field, Patriots quarterbacks coach TC McCartney brought up Maye’s first interception in a loss to the Titans last week as an example of sound in-real-time thinking.
“He’s a super fast processor,” McCartney said. “He sees the field really, really well. Even if you watch his first interception from last week, he saw the defender take another route. He ended up being kind of out of rhythm with his footwork and moving and then trying to throw it. But he saw the defender, he just came off of it late. He sees the field well. He processes very quickly. It’s definitely a strength of his.”
In a matchup of highly-drafted quarterbacks Sunday, New England’s No. 3 pick will be tasked with out-scoring Chicago’s No. 1 overall choice in Caleb Williams. And to do it, Maye will have to think his way through the problems presented by one of the league’s best defenses. The Bears rank fifth, allowing just 18.5 points per game, and their average of 191.3 passing yards allowed per game is eighth-best in the NFL.
Unfortunately for Maye, if he doesn’t process quickly and make productive decisions — whether that’s with his arms or his legs — the Patriots have proven lately that they have little other recourse for moving the football.
They’ve handed off 70 times over the last four weeks and are averaging just 1.9 yards per carry with their backs, last in the league during that time. If that continues at Soldier Field, Maye will be forced to create in a way similar to when he accounted for 95 percent of his team’s total yards in Nashville in Week 9.
Not only is that a physically exhausting way to play the…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/patriots-bears-preview-pats-lighten-114014182.html
Author : NBC Sports Boston
Publish date : 2024-11-10 11:40:14
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