New England previously struggled versus man coverage in recent weeks.
The New England Patriots were left with a bad taste in their mouths after their collapse against. the Buffalo Bills. That included a wide receiver group that struggled over the final two quarters.
With the Bills playing more man coverage in the second half, New England’s pass catchers had difficulty breaking free for quarterback Drake Maye, who finished just 5-of-12 for 47 yards.
As the page flipped to last Sunday night against a Ravens secondary that ranked eighth in the league in man-coverage rate, the Patriots knew they would have a chance to right the ship.
“We knew last week we didn’t do how we wanted to vs. man, and the previous week before,” rookie Kyle Williams said. “We knew man was a big thing that we were going to see this week and we wanted to make sure we dominated, because we know we can dominate zone. And for me, I love man-on-man, so I was making the most of it.”
Williams wasn’t the only pass catcher to take advantage. In 14 drop backs against man coverage, Maye finished 9-of-13 for 131 yards and a touchdown.
That performance included four explosives of 20-plus yards, capped off by a fourth-down completion to Stefon Diggs on the game-winning drive.
“It’s a great ball,” Diggs said. “I ran a route, tried to put speed on him. Drake put it where I could get it and nobody else. The guy tried to undercut. I thought he was going to play through the man, so I tried to put my hands out. That’s exactly what happened.”
As Williams noted, New England’s struggles against. man coverage dated back beyond just the second-half against Buffalo. The Patriots’ passing efficiency had dipped over the past month as opponents’ game plans focused on challenging their pass catchers.
A performance like Sunday night, however, could forces defenses to adjust down the stretch.
“We know what we can do when we say we’re gonna do it,” Williams said. “Man to man is something that, if we keep getting it, we’re just going to keep abusing it.Hopefully teams decide to back up, but if not, we’re just going to make work it to our advantage.”
Category: General Sports
