The New England Patriots offense came out firing downfield against the New Orleans Saints, hitting three explosive-play passing touchdowns in the first half and then doing just enough in the second half to preserve a 25-19 victory.

Drake Maye threw for 261 yards and three touchdowns, while the Patriots defense forced a fumble and a punt in the game's fourth quarter to help seal the win. Saints QB Spencer Rattler was deadly accurate all game long, but New Orleans settled for too many field goals that ultimately cost them in the end.

Maye sealed the game with a perfect back shoulder throw to Kayshon Boutte along the sideline for a final first down conversion. Boutte had five catches for 93 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Patriots attack.

Here's how it all went down!

1. Saints Strike First, Pats Strike Harder

The Saints opened the game with a big play, exploiting a cornerback blitz as Spencer Rattler launched a 53-yard bomb over the head of safety Kyle Dugger. But that was the only first down the Patriots defense would allow, putting the brakes on the Saints offense and holding them to an opening 34-yard field goal. New England sent another blitz on third down as playcaller Zak Kuhr went into the game with an aggressive, attacking approach, and that helped rush Rattler into an incompletion.

Drake Maye and the Patriots offense would quickly respond, first converting a 3rd-and-9 with an 11-yard catch-and-run conversion by Kayshon Boutte. On the next play, Maye launched a downfield bomb of his own, this one also 53 yards, but good for a Demario Douglas touchdown, who beat the safety over the top and made one move to pick up the score.

Just like that, it was 7-3 New England as the teams traded big passing plays.

2. Trading Three for Seven, Again

The Saints found a more consistent stride on their second drive of the game. New Orleans picked up four first downs before the 10-play drive stalled out inside Patriots territory, focusing on the quick passing game with a healthy dose of run-pass options and forcing the Patriots to come up and make tackles. A third-down holding penalty drawn by K'Lavon Chaisson helped stop the Saints progress, as they settled for a 48-yard field goal that made it 7-6 Patriots with just over five minutes left in the first quarter.

The Patriots ensuing possession got off to a crazy start on its first third down when Maye hurled another downfield bomb toward Demario Douglas that initially looked like a 61-yard touchdown. But a late flag on Stefon Diggs for offensive pass interference cancelled the big play and stopped New England's big play celebration. On the ensuing 3rd-and-12 it was the Saints turn for a flag, as a pass interference call helped give New England a new set of downs and renewed life on the drive after a disappointing turn.

Undeterred, Maye would need just three more plays before launching another downfield strike, this one a contested catch in the end zone by Kayshon Boutte that stood. There were some twists and turns on New England's second drive, including an underhand flip by Maye to TreVeyon Henderson that picked up nine yards, but the result was the same as their first drive, a touchdown score and a renewed lead of 14-6.

3. Saints Keep Rolling

New Orleans followed up their 10-play second drive with an 11-play third drive and this time instead of settling for three they put up their first touchdown of the game, with Taysom Hill taking it in from New England's one-yard line. That one-yard touchdown run was the only third down that the Saints faced on the drive.

With back-to-back sustained drives the Patriots struggled to make positive plays, as New Orleans chipped away with short passing plays and needed just one 17-yard gain along the way to keep the drive alive. With the extra point, New Orleans closed the Patriots lead to 14-13.

New England's next drive would be the first by either team not to score any points, though they quickly picked up two first downs and appeared to be rolling once again. Josh McDaniels and the offense stayed on the field for a 4th-and-7, but a bad snap handed the ball back to the Saints at the Patriots 47-yard line.

The Saints offense continued to carve up the Patriots defense underneath off of the turnover on downs, with Rattler completing a 10th-straight pass as New Orleans marched back into Patriots territory near halftime. But for a third time in four drives, the Patriots defense stiffened with their backs against the wall, forcing a third field goal, but this one gave New Orleans their second lead of the game, 16-14. Marcus Jones had good coverage on the Saints final third-down play of the drive, sticking with Chris Olave downfield as the pass just evaded Olave's fingertips in the end zone.

4. Patriots Answer Before Half

New England got the ball back for just their fourth possession of the first half with just under two minutes left before the break. Pop Douglas got things started, taking a wide receiver screen pass for a drive-starting 12-yards, then adding six more yards on another catch. Hunter Henry came through with a third-down conversion on a well-designed play that got the Pats to the edge of field goal range. Stefon Diggs got his first catch of the game two plays later, picking up 11 more yards with a cornerback in tight coverage on him.

But the Patriots weren't interested in a field goal. Maye launched another deep pass and completed another big play, this one a 28-yarder to Kayshon Boutte for his second touchdown of the game, to give the Patriots back the lead just before halftime, 22-16, with a successful two-point conversion that Maye snuck in himself.

It was a great response by the Patriots after seeing the Saints put up back-to-back scores as Maye's aerial assault continued to target the New Orleans secondary.

5. Maye, Pats Keep Moving the Ball and Scoring Points

The Patriots picked up where they left off at the start of the third quarter, receiving the kickoff and quickly travelling down the field for a fifth-straight drive. Maye picked up one third-down conversion with his legs and another with a pass to Hunter Henry, and found Diggs for a critical fourth-down conversion at New Orleans' 36-yard line as the offense stayed aggressive.

The drive stumbled near the goal line, with a delay of game penalty costing them some already-earned yardage. The Pats settled for a 24-yard field goal to extend their lead to 25-19 after a 12-play drive that ate up more than half of the third quarter.

6. Two Punts!

There were no punts by either team until finally, late in the third quarter, Marcus Jones and Charles Woods combined to force an incompletion on 3rd-and-17 that forced the Saints punt team to take the field. It was nearly a forced fumble on the third-down play, as it initially looked complete to Chris Olave before the ball was punched out by Woods. It was a bang-bang play and the incomplete call stood.

It was a quality stop by the Patriots defense to finally give the ball back to the offense without allowing any points, but the Saints would counter by quickly forcing a three-and-out and a punt of their own to get the ball back just before the fourth quarter.

Once again, the Patriots defense would tighten up inside their own territory, holding the Saints to their fourth field goal of the game. That cut the score to 25-19 early in the fourth quarter.

7. Penalties Kills Pats Drive

After going three-and-out on their second possession of the second half, Maye and the offense were staring down another punt as they quickly faced a 3rd-and-11. But Maye came through again, navigating a muddy pocket, stepping up and delivering a strike to Mack Hollins for a new set of downs.

But the tough sledding would continue with an immediate 3rd-and-7 on the heels of the conversion that ballooned to a 3rd-and-12 after an illegal motion penalty, and then a false start penalty that made it 3rd-and-17. A third-straight play with a penalty would make it 3rd-and-27, erasing a 52-yard would-be completion to Stefon Diggs. Diggs was called for offensive pass interference, as the Patriots saw two would-be first-down conversions wiped out by penalties. Instead of driving to put the game away, New England was forced to punt it back to the Saints for their second drive in a row.

The momentum swing for the Saints was short-lived, as two plays into their next drive linebacker Christian Elliss punched the ball out of tight end Juwan Johnson's arms. Craig Woodson recovered as the defense forced the game's first turnover at a critical point, but Maye and the offense couldn't do anything off the turnover, punting the ball back to New Orleans for a third-straight drive. The offense stagnated at a tough time, putting the pressure on the defense to continue to keep the Saints out of the end zone and preserve the six-point lead.

8. D Delivers. Maye and Boutte Seal It

But the Patriots defense was up to the task, allowing just one first down before forcing New Orleans to punt for the second time in the game. With 3:43 remaining, Maye and the offense needed just two first downs to run the clock out on the win.

Facing a critical 3rd-and-11, Maye hit Boutte with a back shoulder throw along the sideline to close out the win. It was a perfect cap for Boutte in the best game of his career.

9. Patriots are 4-2

With the win, the Patriots move to 4-2 on the season with their third-straight victory. Most notable is the continued high level of execution by Maye and the passing offense, which unleashed a downfield attack on the Saints that led to three explosive play scores. Instead of the Stefon Diggs show, Kayshon Boutte (two TDs) and DeMario Douglas chipped in the biggest contributions while Maye continued his streak of clean play. The running game remains a work in progress, and while the defense struggled to get off the field, they made enough stops to secure their fourth win, matching their win total from both 2023 and 2024 after just six weeks.

Next up, the Patriots stay on the road for their third-straight week, visiting Tennessee next Sunday to face the Titans at 1 pm.

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