NEW ENGLAND vs TAMPA BAY 

PATRIOTS WIN 28 – 23

• Story of the Game – The top two MVP candidates go head to head as New England sweeps the AFC South 

While Tampa Bay got off to a hot start and marched their way down the field on their first drive New England had quite the opposite. Throwing through rain that appeared out of nowhere Drake Maye struggled with accuracy and New England’s offense overall fell flat as they failed to win on early downs for their few drives. As the 1st Quarter was coming to the end something flipped as Maye and rookie WR Kyle Williams connected on a beautifully thrown ball for a huge explosive as Williams out ran the entire Buccaneers’ secondary. From that point on New England really started to roll and find a rhythm despite still losing on early downs far too often throughout the game. On the flip side Tampa Bay did a phenomenal job of winning on early downs and staying on schedule which allowed them to utilize the under center play action passing game and in turn attack dig routes Emeka Egbuka who had a great day despite Christian Gonzalez giving him trouble and battling with him all game. Tampa also attacked the edges of the New England defense with jet sweeps and quick dump offs to the flat which stretched the New England defense out and forced them to blitz on early downs to help fit the run as they were getting moved off the ball regularly which really hurt them on 3rd & short situations all game. Overall it was a back and forth battle between two great teams with two outstanding QBs that are playing at an elite level right now with the Patriots ability to break off explosives throughout the game being the difference in a win and loss. 

• Key Notes for the Patriots 

While the Patriots’ offense struggled on early downs and quite honestly just flat out moving the ball for the majority of the 1st Quarter they continually found ways to break open explosives throughout the game that always kept them one step ahead of the Buccaneers. Whether it was Drake Maye standing in through pressure and delivering beautiful pass after beautiful pass down the field, Treyveon Henderson having a breakout game in his young career, or Mack Hollins and Kyle Williams breaking open downfield against the Bucs’ CBs they found a way to open things up and attack downfield despite them losing at the LOS for a majority of this game. 

This offense also has this way of coming up with a big play whenever they need it. Kyle Williams broke off a huge TD catch and run after they weren’t able to move the ball at all in the 1st Quarter, Diggs came up with a huge catch in the end zone right before the end of half on 4th & Goal, and Drake Maye found ways time after time to keep plays alive just long enough to make the big play they needed multiple times throughout this game. They’re not a perfect offense but they find ways to win every week and that showed up in this game as well. 

Despite the Patriots coming into this game with the best run defense in the NFL (Haven’t allowed 50yds to a single RB all season) the Buccaneers were able to get push and open their DL multiple times throughout the game along with owning the LOS in 3rd & short situations. As the game went on the Patriots started to blitz their LBs, Jack Gibbens and Robert Spillane, on early downs to help fit Rush lanes and penetrate through the TB OL which helped create/force some negative plays for them. While it may not have a been a dominate day from Tampa as far as their rushing attack went it was notable to see just how much they were moved and displaced at times which hasn’t been the case all year.

While the run defense was still solid but not outstanding their coverage on the backend, aside from Emeka Egbuka dig routes early on, was outstanding. In 3rd & long situations the Patriots used a heavy dose on man and it not only worked but it left Tampa stumped for a large majority of this game as they couldn’t seem to separate on the backend in those downs and distances. While Emeka Egbuka had a good game they did a solid job at containing him from taking over as they had Christian Gonzalez following him everywhere for the majority of this game but later on they mixed in some bracket coverage with other secondary players as Tampa started to move his alignment around within formations. 

• Key Notes for the Buccaneers 

The Buccaneers offense got off to an incredible start as they marched their way down the field with two big gains to Egbuka including one that went for a touchdown to cap the drive off. From that point forward the Buccaneers offense struggled to open up explosives in both the run and pass game which limited their offense as they were forced to go on long sustaining drives and having to convert multiple 3rd downs just to get into scoring position. While that may say sound like a negative on the Bucs they did a phenomenal job of doing so and sustaining these long drives to inch their way down the field despite missing talent in the WR room. Baker played a huge role in them having the success that they did and once again showed when he’s healthy that he’s a top end passer in the league.

The playcalling from first time OC Josh Grizzard was very impressive as well as he used Jet Sweeps and PA boots to attack the edges of the New England defense all game which opened up the middle of the field for both the run and pass. He attacked every inch of the field and stressed the New England front with motion and misdirection to slow them down. It was a great battle between him and the Patriots defensive coaches.

• RG play (Dan Feeney) after Ben Bredeson went out with an injury was really rough and ruined multiple plays for TB 

Tampa Bay on a play to play basis held up against this New England offense for the majority of this game but they gave up far too many explosives in both the run and pass game. Along with their struggles with explosive plays they were able to pressure Maye nearly every time he dropped back but were unable to get home before he was able to deliver a ball down field or extend plays to get New England out of bad play calls. It was a tough physical game and overall they held up well but the inability to get off the field in big spots and giving up explosives was ultimately too much for them to overcome.

• Standout Performers 

NE

Drake Maye – 16/31  270yds  2/1 – 7/13 rush 

TreVeyon Henderson – 14/147  2 TDs 

Mack Hollins – 6/106 

Stefon Diggs – 5/46  1 TD

• Kept NE on schedule on big downs to extend drives + made an incredible catch for a TD right before the 2nd half 

Milton Williams – 4 Tackles (1 Solo)  1 TFL 

• Wrecked TB offense multiple times with quick pressures and penetration 

Christian Gonzalez – 9 Tackles (5 Solo)  1 PBU 

• Wasn’t perfect held Egbuka/his matchup in check enough to slow Buccaneers down 

TB

Baker Mayfield – 28/43  273yds  3/0 

Sean Tucker – 9/53 

Emeka Egbuka – 6/115  1 TD 

Cade Otton – 9/82 

Tez Johnson – 4/42  2 TDs 

Tykee Smith – 8 Tackles (4 Solo)  1 TFL  1 INT  1 PBU

Vita Vea – 2 Tackles (1 Solo) 

• Owned middle of LOS for TB