Patriots' 45-27 loss to Packers came down to Maye's turnovers and Green Bay's deep shots
Drake Maye threw three first-half interceptions and Green Bay hit big play after big play as the Patriots fell to 5-4 ahead of Detroit.
The Patriots' 45-27 home loss to the Green Bay Packers on Sunday came down to two things: Drake Maye giving the ball away early and a secondary that couldn't stop the deep ball. The result drops New England to 5-4. Green Bay improved to 6-3 and has won five of its last six, according to Packers.com.
The trouble started on the second snap. In SB Nation's breakdown of the game's key moments, Bernd Buchmasser picks out Maye's off-balance floater intended for Mack Hollins. Safety Xavier McKinney intercepted it and returned it to the New England 9, and Green Bay scored two plays later. By expected points added it was the biggest play of the afternoon, a 5.9-point swing to the Packers. On Green Bay's next possession, Matthew Golden got loose against zone coverage for 49 yards, the first of seven explosive plays the Packers piled up. Boston.com's live coverage had Golden at six catches for 126 yards before the first quarter was over.
New England fell behind 17-0 early in the second quarter. An Elijah Ponder sack held Green Bay to a field goal on one drive, but Maye's second interception, a throw into double coverage that was tipped and caught along the sideline, kept the Patriots from settling in. Maye then found DeMario Douglas for 36 yards and hit Rhamondre Stevenson on a wheel route for a 30-yard touchdown on third-and-10, which finally gave the offense some momentum. It didn't last. On the next drive, with New England already in Green Bay territory, McKinney jumped a throw meant for Eli Raridon for his second pick, and the Packers scored three plays later. Yahoo Sports had the score at 24-14 at halftime. Green Bay then drove for a touchdown on the opening series of the third quarter, converting a third-and-7 for the score, and the lead never got smaller than two scores again.
NESN had Maye finishing with 176 passing yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions. That is a sharp drop from his Week 4 through Week 8 stretch, when he threw 14 touchdowns against two interceptions. New England was again without receiver A.J. Brown and running back TreVeyon Henderson. The panel at NBC Sports Boston pointed to a pattern across the Patriots' four losses: they haven't been competitive enough against good teams.
What it means for Detroit
The Patriots play the Detroit Lions next, on Sunday, November 15, on Fox. Their season splits into two groups. They are 5-0 against the Steelers, Bills, Raiders, Jets and Dolphins. Against the Seahawks, Jaguars, Bears and Packers they are 0-4, losing by an average of more than 16 points a game. Two of those losses, 6-35 at Jacksonville and Sunday's 27-45, came in games where Maye threw multiple interceptions. Through nine games New England has scored 211 points and allowed 207, a margin of plus-4 that matches a team still trying to prove it can beat good opponents.
The board for the game lists 11 venues, and Detroit is favored everywhere. Novig has the Lions at -141 on the moneyline, and the best Detroit price anywhere is -137 at BetRivers. That narrow gap shows the market largely agrees on this game. New England is +135 on Novig. The spread is Lions -2.5 at -117 on Novig, while Hard Rock Bet has Detroit -2 at -120. Novig's total is 51.5, with the over at -104 and the under at -117. FanDuel is a point lower at 50.5. Sportsbook hold on the moneyline runs from 2.9% to 4.6%.