Sporting their longest winning streak in four years, the upstart New England Patriots look to continue their dominance over the reeling Atlanta Falcons on Sunday in Foxborough, Mass.
Winners of five straight games, New England (6-2) enters Week 9 as confidently as any team in the NFL. The Patriots have the potential MVP and Coach of the Year in Drake Maye and Mike Vrabel, while boasting the league’s fourth-best scoring defense (18.3 points per game allowed).
Facing an Atlanta team that New England hasn’t lost to since 1998, Vrabel’s first year as the Pats’ head coach has gone according to plan as it approaches the midway point of the season.
“We’re eight games into what we feel is a program that we want to build,” Vrabel said. “We have to continue to find ways to improve. Whether that’s having success early on in the season, midseason or after the trade deadline, we have to continue to take that approach.”
Across the winning streak, Maye has thrown 10 touchdown passes with just one interception, asserting himself as one of the league’s best young quarterbacks. Kayshon Boutte has served as Maye’s favorite target of late, hauling in four scores over the last three games.
“I keep throwing to the guy and (Boutte) keeps making plays,” Maye said. “It’s as simple as that.”
Atlanta (3-4) hopes last week was rock bottom. After a Week 6 victory over the Buffalo Bills, the Falcons fell 20-10 to the San Francisco 49ers before an uninspiring 24-point home loss to the Miami Dolphins, who entered the game with a single win this season.
With the team’s next two games against the surging Patriots and the NFL-best Indianapolis Colts (7-1), the upcoming stretch will likely make or break its chances of ending a seven-year postseason drought.
“It’s a long season,” head coach Raheem Morris said. “You’ve got to be able to be resilient. It’s about going out there, practicing and finding a way to get a win this week. That’s the only thing that really matters.”
Not much has gone right since the Falcons’ last win, highlighted by a pair of inept offensive performances. Atlanta has posted just 107 rushing yards across its last two games and 213 total yards against Miami was its fewest at home since totaling 165 in its last meeting with the Patriots in November 2021.
“I told the guys, we’re still two weeks removed from what we did against Buffalo,” running back Bijan Robinson said. “We haven’t forgotten how to play. We still have good players. We have good coaches. It’s just getting back to that and just maintaining a level of consistency across the board.”
Part of the Falcons’ offensive struggles has been due to injuries. Quarterback Michael Penix Jr. missed the Miami game with a bone bruise, leading to Kirk Cousins’ unimpressive first start of the year. The 37-year-old threw for just 173 yards in the loss.
The injury woes included leading receiver Drake London, who missed just the second game of his four-year career with a hip injury.
As of Wednesday, Penix and London are still considered day-to-day, but “are both feeling a lot better than last week,” per Morris.
Regardless of who starts under center for the Falcons, the offense needs to find success in the running game. After rushing for 170 yards against the Bills, Robinson has been held to just 65 in the back-to-back losses.
The road won’t get easier, as New England’s defense is the first since 1950 to not allow an opposing running back to rush for 50 yards in a game through the first eight weeks of the season.
“They’ve played outstanding all year when it comes to stopping the run,” Morris said of the Patriots’ defense. “Vrabel-coached teams are always going to be fundamentally sound and we’ve got to prepare for that.”
Atlanta defensive linemen Zach Harrison (knee) and Leonard Floyd (hamstring) were non-participants in Wednesday’s practice, while right tackle Storm Norton (foot) returned to practice after missing the first eight weeks. New England running back Rhamondre Stevenson (toe) didn’t practice, while wide receiver Stefon Diggs (ankle) was limited.
