The Detroit Lions know that New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye has a league-high 11 interceptions this season. However, head coach Dan Campbell noted that it cannot be the focus of the defense this week. Rather, the team needs to make sure they limit Maye’s explosive passes.
“I would tell you what I look at more than that,” said Campbell on Maye’s interceptions. “With Drake Maye, it’s his explosive passes.”
Detroit Lions Must Limit Drake Maye Explosive Plays
The Lions head coach made it clear that while Maye can turn the ball over, he can keep his team in games just as easily by extending the play and creating down the field.
“I understand there’s some interceptions here, but more importantly, this guy is— he’s got the ability to hit these chunk plays, 40-yard, 50-yard touchdowns down the field,” admitted Campbell. “You give him more than 4 seconds. He is dangerous. He is absolutely deadly outside the pocket. That’s what I’m concerned about.”
The reality is that Maye is going to extend plays and buy himself more time. Maye has 28.3% of his dropbacks result in a pass under 2.5 seconds after the snap. It is the lowest rate in the NFL. For comparison, Jordan Love leads the NFL with throws under 2.5 seconds at 57.7%.
As Campbell notes, Maye can throw interceptions in these scenarios, but at the same time he can win his team games by extending plays.
Drake Maye Provides Test For Lions Defense
Maye is completing 79% of his passes when throwing the ball quickly. He has a 3.3% big-time throw rate and a 1.1% turnover-worthy throw. He keeps things safe here, but there is not much explosiveness, either.
Mayes’ completion rate drops to 59% when Maye holds the ball for 2.5 seconds or more. His big time throw rate jumps to 8.8%, and his turnover-worthy throw rate jumps to 5.3%. His yards per attempt also jumped from 6.2 to 9.5.
The reality is that Maye is explosive when he holds the ball. His yards per attempt jumps, and the big-time throw rate more than doubles. On the other end, he throws a lot more incompletions, and he turns the ball over a lot more. He has nine interceptions when holding the ball and two when he gets it out quickly.
Campbell added that the team is going to try to turn him over when they can.
“The interceptions, yeah, we got to find a way to get those,” stated Campbell. “If we get an opportunity, but more importantly, how do we limit his time with the football in his hand? He is dangerous, and he’s a very good runner out of the pocket as a scramble quarterback. That’s our challenge with him.”
Campbell tends to think that if Maye is unable to complete the big plays, he is going to be prone to turning the ball over. Maye’s history shows that is correct.
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