Not Pretty, But the Patriots Advance to 7-2 in a 24-23 Win over Atlanta

There hadn't been an "ugly win" to this point in the season for the New England Patriots, but that's probably the best way to describe their one-point victory over the Atlanta Falcons. A few bad turnovers by Drake Maye here, red zone mismatches leading to a trifecta of Drake London touchdowns there, and this one had all the makings of another in a line of rough Patriots home losses over the last couple of years. The saving grace, however, was that their opponent was, at the end of the day, the Atlanta Falcons, and, well...

The Patriots will absolutely take the win, which keeps them in the lead of the AFC East and now potentially another away from the one-seed in the conference, but make no mistake, this was not a good performance by the Patriots on the whole, and this kind of outing would get them beat in Tampa next Sunday. Let's talk about some of the good and the bad, and quite frankly, the funny stuff, from yesterday now.

Emotional Career Day for Pop Douglas

More than any one player yesterday, it'd be tough to credit any one player more with the win than Pop Douglas for his work in the first half, and as we would come to find out postgame, he was playing with a heavy heart, as his uncle was tragically murdered the night prior.

I can't imagine anyone (reasonable) would've blamed him if he didn't play, but he was absolutely money on the Patriots' opening score of the afternoon on a mismatch play out of the backfield on Jalon Walker, and then, of course, on that 3rd&7 play where he went 58 yards on a catch and run.

Suppose Douglas doesn't trip over himself after that second cut, I have a hard time imagining he doesn't successfully make a third on Mike Hughes, and if so, that was the last thing between him and the endzone again. Outside of a chain mover on a 2nd&14 early on in the third quarter, it was mostly a quiet end to the day for Pop and the rest of the wideouts, and that can be attributed to Kayshon Boutte going down with a hamstring injury, which according to him on his discord (yes I'm dead serious), shouldn't be a long term issue, but the pasing attack was clearly nowhere near as potent in half two. Still, Douglas deserves all the credit in the world and then some for the best game of his career under some terrible personal circumstances.

The Patriots Have to Address The Lack of Pass Rush Production Off the Edge

After getting home several times against a bad Titans offensive line, the Patriots have since totaled just two sacks in the last two weeks, and while their pressure numbers are still really good in that span, they absolutely had opportunities as more sacks on Michael Penix on Sunday, and allowed him to create some plays after the fact. The worst offense of that was a 2nd&14 play, where, despite the team not having either of Christian Barmore or Milton Williams on the field, they got some push from all directions off of sim pressure, and Harold Landry couldn't shed off of right tackle Elijah Wilkinson for what would've been a layup of a sack. Instead, he's stonewalled late, Penix senses he's in trouble and runs for 15.

The Patriots can't pin all their pass rush hopes on their two top interior guys, even as good as they are, and Harold Landry, for as legit a run defending edge as anyone in the league, has been streaky enough as the Patriots' right side pass rusher that a trade for someone by tomorrow's 4:00 pm trade deadline feels like a must. I don't think this happens, but I would absolutely try to call the Giants up and see if a second and a fifth-round pick—the price they gave up for Brian Burns—would be enough to get them to come off of Kayvon Thibedeuax. That's the exact kind of big swing I think Eliot Wolf would be willing to make, but I don't think the Giants would be interested.

ClapGate

I couldn't believe my eyes/ears postgame and even this morning when I was learning more about the Falcons' grievances over the intentional grounding play in the fourth quarter. Falcons Head Coach Raheem Morris would bring this up first at his post-game availability.

Your eyes don't lie if you look at the quote-tweeted video, and you don't see anyone in the Patriots' box doing anything. The only clapping is a clean 15 yards downfield, with Jaylinn Hawkins trying to communicate something late to Carlton Davis presnap. Even so, doing the college clap for a cadence in the NFL is as clear as day, strike one. Strike two would be the center snapping the ball off of a noise in front of him and not behind. Strike three is the fact that this play would've been a delay of game if this snap wasn't "early", because the backup right guard, in for Chris Lindstrom, is turned around waiting for some signal with two seconds left on the play clock, and instantly gives up pressure as a result. That's simply bad operation on all accounts, and a microcosm as to why the Falcons aren't above .500 rn.

The Patriots and QB Drake Maye were nowhere near perfect, but it's stuff like that you can't really accuse them of to this point in the season. Take the win, make the corrections, and gear up for a heavyweight showdown in Tampa on Sunday.

Final Score: New England Patriots 24, Atlanta Falcons 23

Gaffney's Three Stars from Patriots-Falcons:

1st Star: Pop Douglas (4 Catches on 6 Targets for 100 Yards and a TD)

2nd Star: Hunter Henry (4 Catches on 5 Targets for 54 Yards)

3rd Star: The Patriots' Run Defense (Held Bijan Robinson to 46 Rushing Yards on 12 Carries)

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