Baltimore, Md. – The Patriots are headed back to the postseason after a 28-24 victory over the Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium, a statement win in prime time on Sunday Night Football.

Although there will be columns written about the sloppiness in the first three quarters, the NFL is a week-to-week league where anything can happen. While waiting all day for Sunday night, the Bills escaped with a win in Cleveland, the Texans survived at home against the Raiders, and the Broncos lost at home to the Jags. You can say whatever you want about the sloppiness from the Patriots in the first three quarters: in this league, you never know what you're going to get.

On Sunday night, second-year QB Drake Maye delivered the type of fourth quarter we were all waiting for in his first-career 300-yard passing performance. Along with eclipsing the 300-yard mark, Maye also led the Patriots on his first-ever fourth-quarter comeback, a stat that some of his detractors have been harping on. With his team trailing 24-13, Maye was electric with the game on the line, leading the Patriots to a win with two fourth-quarter touchdown drives – an MVP moment for the 23-year-old star quarterback.

As the Patriots were falling behind by two scores on Sunday night, a fleeting thought crossed my mind about the 2021 season. A team that stumbled down the stretch with a 1-3 record coming out of the bye week, peaking in a wind-aided win in Buffalo before being eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Bills. From there, we all knew how it went for that iteration of the Patriots, but what makes this team different? Drake Maye. Drake Maye makes it different. He's a bona fide franchise quarterback, and that's a key difference.

"Just thought gritty. He got hit," head coach Mike Vrabel said of Maye. "It was great for him to have success. I'm happy for him, especially executing there at the end of the game."

Over the next few days, we'll talk about the not-so-pretty parts, but let's take a second to appreciate the turnaround under first-year head coach Mike Vrabel. For the first time since 2021, the Patriots are going back to the playoffs. They're tied for the best record in the AFC with two games remaining, they're 7-0 on the road, and it's truly remarkable that Vrabel is taking a four-win team in back-to-back seasons to the postseason in his first year as head coach.

The attention now turns to finishing off the regular season by clinching the division and vying for seeding in the AFC playoffs in the final two weeks, which is when the corrections from the first three quarters will matter most. For now, the Patriots are playoff-bound, so let's enjoy it.

Here are eight takeaways as the Patriots improve to 12-3 with a win over the Ravens in Week 16.

1. Player of the Game: QB Drake Maye Delivers First Fourth-Quarter Comeback in his First-Career 300-Yard Passing Performance

With his first fourth-quarter comeback and 300-yard passing performance, Maye continued to add to his MVP resume on Sunday night.

After two first-half turnovers put the Patriots behind, Maye was excellent in the fourth quarter, going 12-of-14 for 139 passing yards and a touchdown while leading another game-winning drive. Despite turning it over twice, the Pats QB added +0.30 expected points on 51 drop-backs (75th percentile), going 31-of-44 for 380 passing yards, two touchdowns, and an interception, while adding another 25 rushing yards. By my count, Maye logged at least five big-time throws in the game, throwing well even in the first three quarters.

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The Patriots quarterback's first explosive play of the game was on a double-post cross concept, with WR Stefon Diggs working a backside crosser as the front side runs the double posts. Baltimore falls into a cover-two zone, and the double posts occupy the split-field safety long enough for Maye to beat Ravens S Aloni Gillman with the ball for a big completion. Maye's arm strength to drive the ball into a shrinking zone window over the middle of the field was impressive.

The Patriots then got themselves back in the game with a 37-yard touchdown pass to rookie WR Kyle Williams, putting Maye over the 300-yard threshold for the first time in his career. The Pats ran three vertical routes, with Williams running a go route to the quarters side of a zone coverage with CB Marlon Humphrey matching him. Williams runs by Humphrey and makes a terrific catch, but Maye puts this ball perfectly on Williams into a tight match coverage window.

The big play on the Patriots game-winning drive was a 21-yard completion to Diggs to convert a 4th-and-2. Diggs runs an out with Washington driving the catch point, but the ball just beats the Ravens cornerback, with Diggs turning upfield to put the Patriots into scoring territory.

As head coach Mike Vrabel said, Maye's performance was "gritty" in the face of pressure. With the Pats O-Line banged up, Maye was under pressure on 43.1% of his drop-backs, but he danced around the pocket all night while keeping his eyes downfield to deliver throws. Besides winning in the playoffs, which will hopefully come in time, Maye continues to check every box of a franchise quarterback in the NFL.​

2. Patriots WR Stefon Diggs Delivers Fourth 100-Yard Performance of the Season​

Over the last three weeks, Patriots WR Stefon Diggs has been quiet statistically by the four-time Pro Bowlers' lofty standards. After being held under 30 yards in three consecutive games, the Pats wideout was terrific, catching 9 passes for 138 receiving yards, his fourth 100-yard game this season. Along with moving the chains on fourth down, Diggs was working open on crossing routes and in zone voids. The veteran wideout caught two catches for 58 yards on crossers, two outs for 24 yards, and one vertical route for 23 yards.

On his second big explosive to Diggs, Maye is either lucky or good with the Patriots running intersecting crossers (Yankee concept) downfield. Ravens CB Ar'Darius Washington thinks he's passing off his crosser (Douglas) to CB Marlon Humphrey on the other side of the field, but Humphrey doesn't get the message. Washington then gets a little lost in space, rather than jumping Diggs' crosser from the other side of the formation, and Diggs runs across Washington's face into a leading throw by Maye for a 33-yard catch-and-run.

During the week, Patriots OC Josh McDaniels noted that Diggs has been getting extra attention lately. Whether he's getting game-planned or not, Diggs has the talent to beat double teams, delivering another strong performance vs. the Ravens on Sunday night.

3. Patriots Defense Forces Key Turnovers to Ice the Game in Baltimore

Coming into the week, the Patriots were 20th in takeaways per game on defense, a statistic the defense emphasized correcting in practice. Patriots defenders said they knew the Ravens skill players were a little loose with the football, referring to them as "skaters" because of how they carry the ball. As a result, they were punching at the ball all night, forcing two fumbles that came at key points in the game. The first one was to stem an early tide with Baltimore controlling the first quarter, and then the Pats defense iced the win late.

On the late forced fumble and recovery, Ravens QB Tyler Huntley checked the ball down to speedy WR Zay Flowers. Flowers turned upfield to pick up yards after the catch, but his progress was stalled by S Dell Pettus, and OLB K'Lavon Chaisson showed great hustle to not give up on the play, punching the ball out from behind with NCB Marcus Jones recovering it.​

After allowing five consecutive touchdown drives to the Bills last week, New England's defense wanted to play with a physical chip on its shoulder, while recognizing on tape that the Ravens ball carriers were loose with the football. On Sunday night, they made plays when it counted.

4. Patriots Sustain Several Injuries in a Difficult Night on the Injury Front

Although we aren't going to use injuries as an excuse, some of the Patriots sloppinnes through the first three quarters was related to numerous injuries all over the roster. The Ravens also had major injuries, losing starting QB Lamar Jackson (back) in the second quarter. Still, as we look forward, we must report on the injury bug in Baltimore for New England.​

In a busy night for the training staff, the following Patriots players were injured on Sunday night: RB TreVeyon Henderson (head), DT Joshua Farmer (hamstring), RT Morgan Moses (knee), OT Thayer Munford (knee), NT Khyiris Tonga (foot), CB Charles Woods (ankle), WR DeMario Douglas (hamstring), and WR Kayhson Boutte (head). Some of those players played through the injuries, but Henderson, Tonga, Farmer, and Woods didn't return. We'll monitor the injuries when the Patriots get back to practice on Wednesday.

5. Patriots Wide Receivers Emphasize Beating Man Coverage on Sunday Night

Coming off last week's loss to the Bills, the Patriots wideouts felt like they didn't do a good enough job uncovering for Maye in the second half, especially against man coverage. The Ravens entered the week ranked eighth in man coverage rate, while the book on New England has been to play sticky man coverage while taking away Maye's deep ball. On Sunday night, the Ravens played 14 drop-backs in man coverage, and Maye was 9-of-13 for 131 yards and a touchdown when Baltimore was in man-to-man schemes.

Maye had explosive completions of 33 yards (Diggs crosser), 26 yards (Hooper seam), 20 yards (Hollins crosser), and a 21-yard completion to Diggs on fourth down. If teams continue to play man coverage against the Patriots offense, the receivers need to make them pay by creating separation, and New England's pass-catchers did that in Sunday night's win.

6. Banged-Up Offensive Line Struggles vs. the Ravens on Sunday Night

As mentioned, it's only fair to say that the Patriots were playing with backup tackles at one point, with LT Vederian Lowe already starting, and then Moses going down with a knee injury. Moses gutted it out for his team, which was commendable, but Maye was under pressure all night. According to NextGen Stat, the initial pressure rate on Maye was 43.1%, while Maye also turned the ball over twice while under pressure – it wasn't great for most of the night.

That said, the Patriots settled in some, with Lowe faring better against Ravens pass-rusher Dre'Mont Jones in the second half. New England also had a 44% rushing success rate (74th percentile) against a stingy Ravens run defense, so the run blocking continues to trend in the right direction. The game-winner for the Pats was a 21-yard touchdown run by RB Rhamondre Stevenson, who hit an open hole on the backside of the play with a nice cut. As always, we'll see how it looks on film for the O-Line, but the pressure rate was too high for most of the night.

7. Patriots Run Defense Battles with Ravens star RB Derrick Henry

Another top storyline heading into the game was how the Patriots would fare against Henry, and how they'd match Baltimore's heavy personnel groupings. Although the Ravens star running back mostly won the fight, the Pats won a few rounds, forcing Henry to fumble in the first half and accumulating six run stuffs. Overall, the Ravens posted +0.07 EPA per rush with a 48% success rate (84th percentile), slightly better than the Patriots run D has been in recent weeks.

As for how they matched Baltimore's heavy personnel groupings, the Patriots tied a season-high with 30 snaps in base defense on Sunday night. New England played two plays with only three defensive backs, trying to put bigger bodies on the field to defend Henry. Although the results were mixed, reinforcements are arriving soon, with standout DT Milton Williams (ankle) eligible to return from injured reserve next week vs. the Jets.

8. Special Teams Notes: Patriots Fake Punt Attempt Fails, Kickoff Coverage Bounce Back

Lastly, the Patriots special teams had some ups and downs, attempting their first fake of the season. The failed fake punt is supposed to be a pass by the up-back, S Marte Mapu, to FB Jack Westover, who releases upfield. However, Baltimore didn't bite on the fake and covered Westover. Based on the Ravens alignment, it would be interesting to hear if the Pats should've checked out of the fake as Baltimore seemed to be in punt-safe. After kicking four consecutive touchbacks, New England put the ball in play twice to end the game, netting kickoff returns of 29 and 20 yards, a positive step.

Although the Patriots have things to clean up in all three phases, Sunday night's win was a huge step for the Maye-Vrabel era, with New England headed back to the playoffs again.

DISCLAIMER: The views and thoughts expressed in this article are those of the writer and don't necessarily reflect those of the organization. Read Full Disclaimer