They won’t hang this one in the Louvre.
Hell, I’m not sure it will get a spot on Mike Vrabel’s refrigerator. But after sleepwalking through the first half in rainy Miami, the Patriots offense found its stride in the second, escaping South Florida with a 24-19 come-from-behind win and improving to 3-0 in the AFC East (and 5-3 overall).
Phew.
“Chip away at it, little by little,’ Vrabel said of the comeback. “Get connected and figure out a way to complement each other. Get some points. Get some stops. Get a turnover. Put ourselves back into it. It’s a good opportunity for us not to be frontrunners and to have that, we can rely that. That’s going to be huge as we move forward.”
“It shows the team’s grit,” added DeMario Douglas (3 catches, 76 yards, TD). “We didn’t start off well in the beginning, but I love the way we came out there in the second half. Heads up, heads high, playing complementary football.”
Drake Maye had 53 yards passing at the half and was pressured on 60% of his dropbacks (per SumerSports). As a team, the Pats had their fewest yards (59) since that Week 17 beatdown the Chargers gave them near the end of the Belichick era. That carried over to the opening series of the third quarter. So what changed? Well, the feeling-out process had to be thrown out the window, down 13-3.
“Coach McDaniels is one of the best at it, and adjusting to it. … the Denver game was like that, back in the playoffs,” Maye observed. “You just got to see how the weather is and how we're doing.”
Not well enough, so Maye put on the Superman cape a day after Halloween, making big plays with his arm, his feet, and his head. He completed 8 in a row and 9 out of 10 to close the game, including two 40-plus-yard touchdown passes. There are probably a handful of guys at the position who could do what Maye did, and I’m probably being generous.
“Kind of the same message we’ve had all year: go be the answer,” Maye said of Vrabel's halftime speech. “Don't wait around for anybody else. Go make it - you go make it. And I think that was kind of the message everybody took in…”
“(You’re) gonna be a great quarterback in the National Football League, there's not a whole lot of excuses,” Vrabel said. “You go out there and you find ways to win for your football team, and I know that that's who he is, and that's what he wants to continue to be.
“He throws to the open guy and controls our offense and gets guys in the right spot. That's being one of the best quarterbacks in the league. That's what the job description requires.”
The coaching staff also leaned on Rhamondre Stevenson, who remains the Pats' most valuable offensive player not named Maye. It’s no coincidence that McDaniels called Stevenson’s number six times over a seven-play stretch during the big swing in the third quarter.
“It was a fun one,” Stevenson said.
The veteran back ground out a pair of short runs, then a terrific shoe-top catch to move the chains. A chunk gain on the ensuing first down (9 yards) opened the playbook for McDaniels, and Maye took advantage, launching a 43-yard scoring strike to Kyle Williams to make it a one-score game. That it took a robust challenge flag throw from Vrabel to overturn the call of an incomplete on the field is a story for another day - expedited review, anyone? - but you could sense the Dolphins realized they brought a knife to a gunfight.
After a second straight three-and-out forced by the defense, Stevenson had gains of 7 and 9 to start the next series before an explosive to Douglas for 26 yards put the Pats in Miami’s half of the field. It still took another on-field call overturned by review on 4th down (short completion to Douglas) to extend that drive, but guess who kept breaking tackles and pushing piles? Yeah, Stevenson (19 carries, 82 yards, now over 4,000 yards rushing in his career). Maye would cash in on a speed-option to give the Pats the lead for good.
“He's been through a lot personally, professionally,” Vrabel said of Stevenson. “He loves the football team, and you can see it by the way that he prepares, the way he plays, the way he protects the guys that don't have the ball, or how he plays when he doesn't have the ball. He does a lot of things for us.”
Including, by the way, recovering the Fins' onside kick to essentially end the game.
Maye, meanwhile, wasn’t done after taking a 17-13 lead. Eli Raridon, who didn’t have his best day, blew a block on the waggle, but the quarterback shook the relentless Chop Robinson and put a dart right on Douglas. Then the little fella used his wheels to split a pair of defenders and ended up with a 48-yard TD.
“We gotta get those guys the ball in space more,” Maye said, smiling as he talked about Williams and Douglas.
“Man, we’ve been preaching opportunity,’ Douglas said. “Our coaches do a great job of having everybody prepare as a starter. When somebody gets hurt, it’s somebody that steps up and knows what they’re doing.”
So, who needs A.J. Brown, right? Oh wait, these guys do. Ditto for Mack Hollins (eligible to return this week) and Romeo Doubs. Oh, and Hunter Henry, who left in the second quarter with a foot injury and did not take another snap.
This is no way for a team with big dreams to make a living, and it certainly adds to the burden on Maye’s shoulders. Yet, once again, Maye elevated those around him. He is growing, and so is this team. Is that enough to overcome all the adversity? This group is showing a resilience and spirit that gives them a chance each week, regardless of who is in the lineup or who’s out. With the QB's playmaking, maybe, just maybe, that is enough.