NEW ORLEANS – The Patriots’ win streak continued on Sunday.
New England outlasted the Saints 25-19 in the Superdome on Sunday afternoon off of a tremendous first-half performance from quarterback Drake Maye to improve to 4-2 on the season.
“None of it was perfect today. Give (the Saints) a lot of credit,” head coach Mike Vrabel said. “They competed, they answered. But we extended plays and made some huge plays down the field and glimpses of good football. We’ll have to clean a lot of things, but certainly good to get on the road and be able to get a win.”
The Patriots proved Sunday that they can beat a bad team with a one-dimensional offense. It might not be so easy in the future, however.
The Patriots’ run game continues to not only be non-existent, it’s actively hurting the offense. The Patriots averaged 0.5 EPA per play on passes and -0.38 EPA per play on the ground.
“Probably one guy away, like always,” Vrabel said after the game. “Had some positive runs, and we’ll keep practicing it and keep working it.”
The Patriots were able to drain the clock with a five-play, 30-yard drive to finish the game. They won a key challenge before the two-minute warning with officials determining that wide receiver Kayshon Boutte stayed inbounds on a 21-yard catch, keeping the clock ticking down to two minutes. That allowed Maye to kneel on the ball and end the game.
Maye, Boutte and wide receiver DeMario Douglas were stars of the game.
On the first play of the game, the Saints identified a weakness in the Patriots’ secondary. The Patriots blitzed cornerback Carlton Davis III, leaving safety Kyle Dugger on an island against Saints wide receiver Chris Olave, who beat him for a 53-yard catch. The Patriots then shut down the Saints’ offense and forced a field goal.
The Patriots responded quickly, picking up a first down on a completion to Boutte, before Maye hit Douglas on a 53-yard bomb for a touchdown. Douglas juked Saints safety Jonas Sanker to get into the end zone.
The Saints responded with another field goal after a 10-play, 43-yard drive to cut the Patriots’ lead to 7-6.
The Patriots scored again on an incredible contested catch from Boutte for a 25-yard touchdown. That was in spite of an atrocious penalty called by the officials on wide receiver Stefon Diggs for pass interference on the other side of the field when Maye completed a 61-yard touchdown to Douglas. A flag was thrown when the Patriots were already celebrating in the corner of the end zone, negating the score.
The Saints cut the Patriots’ lead to 14-13 on a 1-yard touchdown run from “joker” Taysom Hill. The Saints drove just 60 yards on 11 plays after rookie kicker Andy Borregales was penalized for failing to kick the ball into the landing zone.
The Patriots turned the ball over on downs on their ensuing drive when they went for it on fourth-and-7 from the Saints’ 39-yard line. A botched snap from center Garrett Bradbury, recovered by Maye, gave the Saints the ball on the Patriots’ 47-yard line. The Saints were held to a field goal but took a 16-14 lead.
Maye finished the half with a perfect passer rating and hit Boutte for another touchdown 29 yards down the field. Maye scored on a two-point conversion to give the Patriots a 22-16 lead heading into the half.
The Patriots increased their lead to 25-16 in the second half when Borregales hit a 24-yard field goal. Issues in the red zone and in the running game caused the Patriots to settle for the field goal.
The two teams then exchanged punts for the first time all game.
Cornerback Marcus Jones, who had a key pass breakup on the previous drive, forced a 54-yard field goal with a third-down sack on the Saints’ next scoring opportunity. The kick from Blake Grupe was good, cutting the Patriots’ lead to 25-19.
BEST
QB Drake Maye: Maye had a near-perfect first half and finished 18-of-26 for 261 yards with three touchdowns.
WR Kayshon Boutte: Welcome back to Louisiana, Kayshon Boutte. The LSU product and Louisiana native caught five passes for 93 yards with two touchdowns.
WR DeMario Douglas: The diminutive slot receiver should have finished Sunday’s game with two touchdowns, but refs bizarrely called back a 61-yard score for a phantom pass interference penalty on Diggs. Still, Douglas was running great after the catch and caught three passes for 71 yards with a touchdown.
WORST
S Kyle Dugger: Dugger led up a 53-yard pass on the first play of the game to Olave. The playcall from interim defensive coordinator Zak Kuhr can also be questioned, since he blitzed Davis, leaving Dugger, filling in for injured safety Jaylinn Hawkins, on an island.
NFL officials: The offensive pass interference penalty was not only a terrible call, but it was also incredibly late, calling into question what they saw and why they threw the flag. They also badly missed an obvious defensive pass interference penalty on a deep ball to Mack Hollins after flagging Diggs on a ticky-tack offensive pass interference on the previous play.
C Garrett Bradbury: A bad snap on fourth down caused the Patriots to turn the ball over on downs on fourth down in the second quarter.
WHAT WE LEARNED
• Wide receiver Efton Chism made his NFL debut but didn’t see any offensive snaps. He was used as a kick returner, punt returner and on special teams.
• Cornerback Christian Gonzalez looked no worse for wear after being limited this week with his hamstring injury. He went wire-to-wire.
• When Harold Landry briefly went down with an injury, the Patriots used defensive tackle Milton Williams as an edge defender rather than using a backup outside linebacker with Anfernee Jennings and Keion White both out with injuries.
• Marcus Jones briefly got shaken up but played a very solid game with a key pass breakup and sack.
• Give Christian Elliss credit for an impactful play, punching out a ball, leading to a Patriots fumble recovery midway through the fourth quarter. Elliss, Jack Gibbens, Jahlani Tavai and Marte Mapu all saw snaps next to Robert Spillane.
• The Patriots keep acknowledging they need to fix their run game. That remains the case. They averaged just 2.8 yards per game on the ground and can’t spring a big play for the life of them.
• The Patriots are now on a three-game winning streak. If the season ended today, they would hold a wild-card spot in the playoffs.
• Vrabel gave the entire team game balls in the locker room after the win.
