Why Patriots must be better at managing the clock before halftime

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- New England Patriots coach Mike Vrabel and quarterback Drake Maye are working to regain their edge in an area they mastered last season but have fallen short in the first two games of the 2026 season.

Can they reclaim their standing among the NFL's best in the possession directly before halftime?

Back-to-back road games against 2025 AFC playoff teams in the Jacksonville Jaguars (1-1) and Buffalo Bills (2-0) provide a tough test to get back on track when points will be at a premium. The Jaguars have scored 43 points through two games and the Bills have scored 77. 

"I felt like it was one of the best things that we did last year -- whether getting points or ending with the football," Maye said Wednesday after the team's first practice in preparation for Sunday's contest against the Jaguars (1 p.m. ET, CBS). "When the defense gives you the ball back, you try to end with the football in the first half, especially when we're coming out and having the ball in the second half. That's definitely a big emphasis for us."

A combination of game-management hiccups by Vrabel and VP of game strategy and operations John Streicher and Maye's decision-making has contributed to a disappointing start in 2026.

Maye and the offense had the ball on their own 20 with 1:48 on the clock in last Sunday's 20-3 win over the Steelers. They led 10-0 and still had all three of their timeouts. But the drive never got started, with Maye running into a sack on a three-man rush on first down.

"That's definitely something you have to know the time and place, speaking for myself, of getting the ball forward, [even] an incomplete pass and it's second-and-10," Maye said. "When you're under two minutes and you let them get three [points] from it, that's one of our jobs on offense [to not let that happen]."

The Patriots (1-1) punted back to the Steelers (1-1), who took over at their own 35-yard line with 40 seconds left. Vrabel gifted the Steelers an additional 5 yards with 12 seconds remaining when he called timeout and was penalized for delay of game. On the prior play, cornerback Marcus Jones was injured and the Patriots were assessed a timeout as a result, per league rules when there is less than two minutes on the clock, which meant they couldn't call timeout again before the next snap.

"I blew it," Vrabel acknowledged, explaining that he had been talking with officials on why Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth was ruled to be out of bounds when his shin appeared to come down in the field of play. "I was all caught up on the fact that they should've been winding [the clock on] that play, which again, I don't understand."

The Steelers capitalized with a 56-yard field goal on the final play of the half.

In the season opener against the Seahawks, Vrabel also made a debatable choice. The defense had stopped the Seahawks on third-and-6 from their own 22-yard line with 12 seconds remaining, and despite having a timeout left, Vrabel elected to let the clock run out instead of forcing a punt to either go all-out for a block or give elusive Jones a chance at a return.

"It's probably something we could have done," Vrabel told sports radio WEEI. "The guy [punter Michael Dickson] is really good and I didn't think he would give Marcus a chance to return -- like they had the entire night. We feel like our strength is our ability to get a catchable ball for Marcus and take care of the gunners. We probably could have rushed 11 guys."

The Patriots' elite work late in the second quarter last season began in the game that turned around their season -- a Week 5 road win over the Bills. They took over at their own 30 with 2:22 left and drove to the Bills' 1-yard line before kicking a field goal on the final play of the half.

That sparked a dominant run of pre-half execution, with one highlight coming against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers when Maye and the offense started at their own 22-yard line with 7:10 on the clock -- and ultimately converted on a 1-yard touchdown pass to Stefon Diggs with two seconds left until halftime.

"I'm not stressing it too much. I thought last year sometimes we scored almost too quick a couple times. [Other] times I thought we did a nice job of getting points and ending with the football," Maye said.

"Play good football and try to double up, as they call it. That's something we try to be mindful of as the best way to finish a half."