Patriots offensive line continues to stall Drake Maye in the red zone

The Patriots offense wasn't expected to be all that thrilling during the 2024 season, especially based on how unexciting they went about free agency. The only shining light has been rookie quarterback Drake Maye, who continues to put the team on his back and try to extend plays as often as possible, sometimes to his detriment.

That has been the situation again this week against the Colts, with Maye leading the offense down the field, even rushing for 41 yards on one play. Unfortunately, he's had to do that because of the continuous holding penalties on the offensive line, similar to the issue they had last week against the Dolphins.

While the offensive line has been questionable at best this season regarding pass protection and opening up the run game, the more worrisome issue lately has been the accumulation of mistakes, particularly pre-snap penalties.

It's halted a lot of good drives down the field, which is the case again this week, as the Patriots headed into halftime with five holding penalties by four of the offensive linemen.

It's a reminder of just how much the new coaching staff seemed to neglect improving the group for the season, even more so knowing they would be drafting a rookie quarterback. Although Maye has handled the adversity far better than most expected, he can't overcome the linemen stacking penalties and negating any progression to move down the field.

It's something head coach Jerod Mayo didn't hesitate to call out in his halftime interview as he headed to the locker room.

His brutal honesty might not be favorable to some, but he's not saying anything untrue. In fact, it's how he should address the team in the locker room before it's too late.

We'll see if they can combat these errors in the second half and scrape out an unexpected win this week. The game is hard enough as it is; they don't need their own players, making it even more difficult.

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