The New England Patriots and Washington Commanders met on "Sunday Night Football" at FedEx Field, and despite the Commanders not playing their starters, they still defeated the Patriots 20-10.
New England hasn't looked great through their first three exhibition games, dropping two of them, and with the regular season starting in just two weeks, they'll have to clean it up quickly before they take the field against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 1.
With the finale now in the rearview, let's look at some of the things we learned from this poor effort.
Drake Maye is ascending and could be the best option
Jacoby Brissett got the start and played the first series for the Patriots, but Drake Maye entered from there and played up until halftime.
The veteran continued to look unimpressive and took a sack that resulted in a shoulder injury. The rookie looked better, completing 13 of his 20 attempts for 126 yards and a touchdown pass to running back Kevin Harris. Maye also showed off his wheels, scrambling three times for 17 yards.
Maye's athleticism could be helpful for New England considering the blocking hasn't been great. Even if his footwork isn't the best, he can still escape and give the offense a chance to make something out of nothing.
Offensive line is a mess and showed "lack of discipline"
Speaking of the big men up front, what a horrendous game from that group. They entered the game without David Andrews (rest) and Vederian Lowe (oblique), and they struggled mightily.
Backup center Nick Leverett had multiple poor exchanges with Maye under center and was pushed back into the quarterback a time or two. The line, as a whole, had 11 penalties called on them, and nine of those penalties were committed by potential starters.
Neither quarterback has much of a chance of success with this group failing to protect them and setting them back during drives.
Defensive back depth struggled
Once New England's defensive starters were removed from the game, their defense started to let up, as the unit allowed 17 unanswered points to end the contest.
Trace McSorley continuously targeted Marcellas Dial and Azizi Hearn, and the offense won most of those attempts. Both Dial and Hearn were called for a pair of pass interference penalties each, allowing Washington to move the ball effortlessly.
If the Patriots have injuries in the secondary again, things could get ugly.
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