FOXBOROUGH – Throw to the open guy.
For months, both Mike Vrabel and Josh McDaniels have been driving that message home to Drake Maye. And with good reason.
For a quarterback, that mantra is the secret sauce to unlocking McDaniels’ offense.
Go through the progression of the play, and hit the open guy.
On Sunday, that guy was Stefon Diggs.
The Patriots receivers really hadn’t been heard from all that much the first three games.
The open guys were mostly tight ends and running backs. Those were Maye’s most utilized targets.
Diggs changed that narrative in the Patriots 42-13 rout of the Carolina Panthers. And as developments go for the Patriots offense, having the receiver catch six passes for 101 yards was significant.
“If we can continue to believe in the quarterback that he’s going to throw to the guy who’s open in the progression,” Vrabel said following the win, “then good things will happen.”
Against the Panthers, they most certainly did.
While there was plenty to like about the win – Marcus Jones’ punt returns, Christian Gonzalez return, zero turnovers – the Maye-Diggs connection was pretty high up on the list.
During the first three games, it was hard to know where the duo was headed.
Diggs had catches in every game, but they were mostly quick-hitting short yardage gains.
Coming back from ACL surgery, it was tough to tell how much more Diggs was capable of.
His performance against the Panthers suggested he’s not only suited to being a possession receiver, but perhaps, he could be a little more.
Of the half-dozen catches, two of those went for 30 yards or more. In all, he had three for 20 or more yards.
He found space on a deep crosser for 33 yards, setting up a score. He also nearly scored on a perfectly thrown back shoulder toss from Maye down the right side line. That went for 30 yards. A third went for 22 down the left side.
No matter where Diggs lined up, be it in the slot, where he resided a little more frequently, or outside, Maye found him.
“(It’s the) same stuff we try in practice as far as finding the open space. I try not to make it sound like rocket science,” Diggs said. “I’ve been doing this a long time, just being where I’m supposed to be, when I’m supposed to be there. Being reliable, trying to build that consistency with Drake. I feel like that consistency brings that confidence from the receiver position.
“Quarterbacks like seeing guys open,” Diggs went on. “And he throws a hell of a ball. A very catchable ball. I’m just trying to do my job.”
Posting three ‘X’ plays for an explosive-play challenged offense works just fine. As Vrabel pointed out during the week, it’s too hard to sustain 15-16-17 play drives without something going wrong.
Chunk plays help the cause.
Maye only threw for 203 yards, but the explosive plays from Diggs and others (Hunter Henry, Rhamondre Stevenson, Antonio Gibson) were significant.
Of Diggs, Maye joked that the receiver was “a little faster than I thought” but ultimately, he’s glad their connection showed some life.
“I think he’s just going to keep getting more comfortable. Shoot, he’s a great player with the ball in his hands,” Maye said of Diggs. “He’s a great leader on this team. He’s great with the energy, being positive, and glad he’s a Patriot.”
This was Diggs first 100-yard receiving game with the Patriots, and 37th of his career. While he claimed his comfort level with the offense was only at a five out of 10, five sure looked good on Sunday.
It was also nice to see Maye play mistake-free football. Outside of one off-target throw in the first series, the second-year quarterback ran the offense well.
Along with completing 14 of 17 passes, Maye threw a pair of touchdowns, and also ran another in.
“(Drake) had a hell of a day. He’s a good quarterback. He’s starting to come along as you can see,” Diggs said. “He looks sharp out there. I’m just excited for the future and just want to keep building … I’m super-excited for what’s to come.”
If the future holds more days like this for the Maye-Diggs duo, the Patriots will win their fair share of games.
Even through all of the hard work Diggs has put in to comeback from ACL surgery, as good as he’s felt, it was still hard for the receiver to judge if he was fully back.
That could only be accomplished in games. From free agency post-Houston, signing with a new team, getting through rehab, Diggs has been on a mission to prove he was still a presence at age 31.
‘You can’t cheat the process. You’ve got to put the effort in,” he said when asked what having that type of game meant to him. “I feel like it’s been a slow build up throughout the past couple of weeks. And, I had to keep my eyes on what’s in front of me. Not what’s behind me. Obviously, I fought back. I was injured.
“It’s something that weighed on me for a long time. And I was just fighting to get back and be on another team and prove it again. Not only prove it to everyone else, but prove it to myself. I knew I could do it. I was confident.”
At the very least, it was a positive step for Diggs, and the offense as a whole.
While Maye spread the ball around, the emergence of Diggs is exactly what the doctor ordered. He doesn’t necessarily have game-breaking speed, but he has smarts and savvy to get open, and find the soft spots in zone.
He can be a go-to-guy on third or fourth down.
But as the receiver rightly pointed out, what happened against the Panthers won’t matter if he and Maye don’t hit that level every week.
“When things like this happen, it’s consistency. Obviously, it feels good in the moment … but I’m just going to get back to work,” he said. “I’m probably going to work a little extra now because (expletive) is going right … You can’t relax and you can’t get complacent. Having success is week to week.”