AP Photo/Gerald Herbert

The Patriots made it three wins in a row after beating the New Orleans Saints 25-19 in a back and forth game that made Patriots fans sweat.

Drake Maye was once again fantastic, especially in the first half. The second half could have been better. The lack of a running game is a problem and don’t get me started on the officiating. It was brutal.

Here are seven points on the Patriots win over the Saints.

1. Another big day for Maye: Drake Maye had another good game. It was better in the first half than the second half but Maye finished 18-of-26 for 261 yards and 3 touchdown passes. He made several big throws throughout the game and proved once again that he has elite physical talent and long term potential. Maye joins Patrick Mahomes, Dak Prescott, and Dan Marino as the only quarterbacks age 23 or younger with 200+ pass yards and a 100+ passer rating in 5 consecutive games.

2. Running game non-existent: The Patriots running game was inept. Collectively, they rushed for 73 yards with Drake Maye leading the way with 9 carries for 28 yards. The inability to run the ball down the stretch proved to be problematic. The Patriots need to balance up the offense otherwise the lack of a ground game will be a problem moving forward.

3. Boutte rises to the occasion: Kayshon Boutte once again proved that the team’s investment in him the past two years is paying off. Boutte has routinely made big catches this season and today he had another strong game catching 5 passes for 93 yards and 2 touchdowns. He has developed a rapport with Maye and has developed into a go to receiver for the second year quarterback.

4. Defense struggles in the first half: The defense continued its trend of starting slow by giving up 16 points in the first half. It has been a problem all season and it was an issue once again today. The defense clamped down in the second half and held the Saints to only 3 points but the first half was not good and this day needs to play better moving forward.

5. Officiating was awful: Adrian Hill and his crew were awful. From the two bad OPI calls to the illegal shift on Rhamondre Stevenson at the end of the game, Hill and his crew were lost and almost cost the Patriots the game. It was as poorly officiated a game as I have seen in a long time.

6. Patriots dodge the injury bug: The Patriots avoided a potential catastrophic injury when EDGE Harold Landry. Landry got rolled up on in the first quarter and had to go into the medical tent. He came out, said he was good and got cleared. Marcus Jones went down in the fourth quarter and got checked for a concussion. He got cleared and returned. Both instances were scary but the Patriots dodged a bullet with both Landry and Jones.

7. Patriots match previous two seasons win total: With the win, the Patriots matched their win total from each of the past two seasons. Before Columbus Day nonetheless. The Patriots are right where they should be in their rebuild and if anything, they might be ahead of schedule.