The honey hole, the turkey hole, or hole shots; Patriots quarterback Drake Maye might have a signature throw he's using to dice up defenses.

According to NextGen Stats, cover-two is one of four pass coverages that NFL defenses play at over a 15% clip, along with cover-one, cover-three, and quarters. Traditionally, cover two is a zone coverage where two deep safeties split the field in half while five defenders play in underneath zones. It was initially brought to the NFL by the Steelers in the 1970s, but Hall of Fame coach Tony Dungy and legendary defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin modernized the coverage in the late 1990s.

Dungy, who played briefly for Pittsburgh in the late 1970s, and Kiffin's version of cover-two is now the most popular in the pro game, with the then-Bucs coaches coining it the "Tampa-2" defense. The two-high safety shell prevents teams from throwing the ball deep, while the underneath zones can limit offenses on short passes. In the Tampa-2 version, there's a "pole runner" from the second level responsible for a vertical route that splits the two-high safeties, a vulnerable area in the old Steelers version of cover two.

After it was somewhat phased out during the cover-three rise (Legion of Boom Seahawks in the 2010s), cover-two is back en vogue in many defensive systems. From an offensive perspective, there are some vulnerabilities in cover-two. Mainly, the "honey hole" along the sideline. As shown above, the coverage structure has a defender in the flat (usually a cornerback) and the split-field safety over the top. If the quarterback can layer the ball between these two defenders, there's space for a big play in the vacated area.

In his first two seasons, Patriots QB Drake Maye has been among the league's best passers against cover-two defenses, ranking 11th among 47 qualified quarterbacks versus cover-two in expected points added (EPA). More specifically, Maye excels at throwing vertical routes into the honey hole, making several big-time throws outside the numbers. This season, Maye is 6-of-8 for 96 passing yards on throws into the honey hole. Earlier this week, Maye explained why throwing the hole shot against cover-two is one of his favorite throws in his passing arsenal.

"When I'm starting to see cover-two, it's one of those, 'Hey, let's take advantage of it.' It's one of the voids in the defense. Growing up, playing a lot of 7-on-7, and they say that 7-on-7 wasn't great for football, but it's great for quarterbacks seeing hole shots and throwing hole shots. You're throwing with some pace on it and still getting some arc," Maye said. "It's becoming more and more of a thing in the league of trying to show different things and go to cover-two. So, it's something that I like throwing. It's one of my favorite throws."

One completion that Maye pointed to when asked about throwing into the honey hole was a pretty 22-yard completion to WR Mack Hollins in last week's win over the Titans. In the play, Tennessee plays inverted cover-two, where the safety and corner switch assignments to disguise the coverage. Before the snap, it appears that the Titans are in a single-high safety coverage with the corner to Hollins' side playing off the line of scrimmage. At the snap, CB Jalyn Armour-Davis drops into the deep part of the field while S Amani Hooker falls into the flat, forming the cover-two structure. Maye sees the post-snap rotation, and perfectly layers the ball into Hollins for an explosive play.

"I'm glad Mack [Hollins] made a great play," Maye said.

Another receiver who has been on the end of Maye's brilliant honey hole passes is Kayshon Boutte. Boutte caught a 19-yard pass from Maye on the Patriots version of the "hook" concept in New England's signature win over the Bills in Week 5. The completion advanced the Patriots into fringe field goal range, with rookie K Andy Borregales hitting a game-winning 52-yard field goal to beat the Bills four plays later.

"It's more about a quarterback than it is the receiver. I feel like you need a lot of trust to put the ball in the spot," Boutte said. "It's just having good football awareness, like knowing the coverage and who's all around you and which way you're gonna get hit from."

Certain signature throws come to mind when you think about every great quarterback. For example, Patriots Hall of Famer, Tom Brady, throwing passes up the seams to future Pats Hall of Famer TE Rob Gronkowski comes to mind, while Brady's rival, Peyton Manning, was dynamite on slants and in-cuts. Nowadays, Patrick Mahomes loves throwing deep crossers.

Although it's too soon to put Maye's hole shots in the same conversation as those legends, the second-year quarterback is becoming one of the NFL's best cover-two hole shot artists.

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