Why Patriots Starter Felt ‘Sick’ After Week 9 Win Over Falcons

The New England Patriots seemingly all agree that Sunday wasn’t their best performance.

New England fended off a late rally to escape Gillette Stadium with a 24-23 win over the Atlanta Falcons. Head coach Mike Vrabel noted after the game that the team has plenty to clean up after an imperfect effort, and the offensive line is particularly displeased by how the Week 9 contest unfolded.

Drake Maye got sacked six times for the second straight game. Starting center Garrett Bradbury lamented the performance on Monday, per ESPN’s Mike Reiss, but predicted a turnaround.

“We just talked about it,” Bradbury said. “We were like, ‘It wasn’t our best game.’ It makes everyone sick. Six sacks yesterday. That’s not good enough … It’s everyone involved, but that’s too many. We need to get that number lower. We can, and we have. I believe we will.”

Maye has taken 34 sacks this season, the second-most behind Tennessee Titans rookie Cam Ward (38). Ward has succumbed to the pressure with a 72.1 quarterback rating, but Maye continued to excel despite the negative plays.

Sunday marked the eighth straight game in which Maye exceeded 200 passing yards (259) and a 100 quarterback rating (102.5). The 23-year-old tossed two touchdowns, his seventh double-digit touchdown game of the season.

It’s not all on Bradbury and the offensive line; only three quarterbacks have spent more average time inside the pocket than Maye’s 2.4 seconds. There’s also an onus on the second-year star to get the ball away to mitigate the growing sack problem.

The Patriots will aim to fix the issue during their Week 10 showdown with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.