The 2024 season wasn't expected to be a great one for the Patriots under the circumstances, but the selection of quarterback Drake Maye with the third overall pick earlier this year provided a sliver of hope that the offense might look a bit better with the rookie under center, whenever that might be.
After a rough start to the year for Jacoby Brissett, the decision was made to replace him with Maye in Week 6, and despite back-to-back losses to the Texans and the Jaguars, he was impressive and proved he could make the offense a capable unit, even with everything working against him to accomplish that.
Heading into their final matchup with the Jets on Sunday, who have been underperforming this year so far, it felt like a good opportunity for Maye to get his first official win of the season. The team needed a bounce back from a rough two weeks with the constant rumors and alleged tension behind the scenes, and it looked like they were on their way to sneaking out a win early on, courtesy of Maye's performance.
After scoring the first touchdown and leading the team in rushing yards, Maye was looking to take the offense to the end zone again, only to be taken out by a helmet-to-helmet hit that the officials pretended not to see.
The quarterback suffered a concussion and was ruled out early in the second half, leading to the Patriots' coaching staff not being too thrilled with the way the referees handled the situation.
Jerod Mayo and others voiced their frustration with the officiating in Week 8
Among the various topics that have been consistently discussed this season within New England and the rest of the NFL has been the inconsistent officiating. While every team will have a gripe about a bad or missed call, egregious missed penalties like a helmet-to-helmet hit are just not acceptable, hence the Patriots coaching staff sharing their frustration.
Jerod Mayo briefly shared his feelings when addressing the media after the win, referring to the officiating as "questionable." But according to NBC Sports Boston's Phil Perry, the head coach isn't the only one unhappy about the missed call on the quarterback.
Patriots NOT happy about that hit on Drake Maye@PhilAPerry bringing the latest from Gillette stadium 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/kiz6c44D1m
— Patriots Coverage on NBCS Boston (@NBCSPatriots) October 27, 2024
There will always be penalties that are blatantly missed for every team to complain about, so some might argue that taking issue with the hit on Maye is a bit of sour grapes.
However, when the missed penalty directly involves the health and safety of a player, not to mention a referee seeing the hit firsthand to the point of checking in with the player (Maye) to see if he was okay, it means there shouldn't be any room for error.
It completely goes against what commissioner Roger Goodell continues to try to sell players and fans about the state of the NFL. Not too long ago, he proclaimed officiating was at its best and had no interest in even entertaining that might not be true. This is the latest example of it being an outright lie, which the league will surely have to account for in the days following the Patriots' win.