7 takeaways as the Patriots manage to hang on and beat the Falcons

It's not always pretty in the NFL. For the New England Patriots on Sunday, that was certainly the case.

Taking on a roller coaster Atlanta Falcons team, the Patriots had what to this point was an uncharacteristically strong start. They built up a multi-score lead just before halftime.

However, the wheels then started to wobble for a team that's been dominant in the second half for the majority of its now-six-game winning streak. Instead of coasting to the end the past few weeks the Patriots found themselves locked in a battle until the final minute, getting some help from Falcons miscues late to grab a 24-23 win.

"It's a funny league, and we're going to learn from winning so that we don't have to learn from losing," head coach Mike Vrabel said after the game.

What happened that the Patriots will learn from? What allowed them to win the game even with those teachable moments? Let's get into it in this week's takeaways...

Slow starts have been a problem for the Patriots, even during their winning streak - especially for the defense. Facing a Falcons team that represented a step up in talent level from their previous opponents, there needed to be more urgency from the start.

That's exactly what happened. After winning the toss and deferring the Patriots' defense came on the field and forced a three-and-out, highlighted by a second-down sack from K'Lavon Chaisson (setting a new career-high at 5.5 sacks on the season). That was the first time the Patriots have forced a three-and-out on the first drive of the game since Week 2 against Miami, and just the third time they've kept the opponent from scoring on the opening drive.

In turn, the offense responded with a strong start of its own. They went 75 yards in 10 plays, and capped the drive with the game's first touchdown.

The touchdown itself was a good example of offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels getting more creative as the season has gone on. In the huddle the Patriots had 21 personnel with fullback Jack Westover, setting up the Falcons to put a bigger defense on the field. When they came to the line though, Westover was split out wide with running back TreVeyon Henderson in the slot and wide receiver Pop Douglas in the backfield. That created a mismatch where linebacker Jalon Walker was in man coverage on Douglas, who ran by him on a wheel route. Drake Maye lofted the ball in for a touchdown.

That was the first reception of a four-catch, 100-yard day for Douglas - his first 100-yard game of his career. He's becoming a more regular part of the Patriots' offense in recent weeks, as the team uses him in a more vertical, downfield role.

A big part of Douglas' day, and Maye's day, was yards after the catch. The Patriots' receivers ran hard and averaged 5.9 yards after the catch per reception (their season average entering the day was 4.6). In addition to Douglas, Stefon Diggs had a plus YAC play, making multiple defenders miss in the open field on his first-half touchdown.

Through the first 29 minutes of the game, the Patriots looked to be picking up right where they left off in recent weeks. They found themselves up 21-7 and after forcing a turnover on downs got the ball back with 1:17 to go in the half and a chance to set up a double-score that would have put the game away.

Instead, they left the door wide open for the Falcons. Maye was strip-sacked five plays into the drive, with the Falcons returning the fumble close to the goal line. They'd punch the ball in to make it a one-score game at the break.

"End of the half, we take a nap," Vrabel said after the game. "We took a little nap and they scored and made it a one-possession game."

Coming out of the half Maye and the offense still looked shaken at times from the turnover. On his first snap of the second half Maye fumbled again trying to scramble out of the pocket, but this time recovered. Despite that miscue their first drive back was a long one - taking 8:34 off the clock with 15 plays - but ended in a field goal and kept some momentum with Atlanta.

On the next drive they'd turn the ball over again. Maye and tight end Hunter Henry had a miscommunication, and Maye ended up throwing the ball nowhere near any New England receiver. Falcons safety Jessie Bates made a diving interception.

Maye has done a much better job this year of bouncing back after making a mistake - as rare as those mistakes have been. In this game he couldn't though, and the second half was arguably the Patriots' worst half of offensive football since the opener. It was also Maye's first multi-turnover game since Week 3, and he's now at six turnovers in nine games this season.

Part of the reason Maye may not have been able to settle in was the pressure. The Falcons came into this game with one of the most successful pass rush units in the league in generating pressure, and they looked like it in this one. Initial PFF charting had Maye pressured on 16 of his dropbacks (40%), and he was sacked six times. There were also a couple of times he took hits while scrambling.

It was a rough game all-around of the offensive line, but particularly the guards. Both Mike Onwneu and Jared Wilson were credited with three pressures each by PFF's initial charting.

Despite those issues, Maye's solid first half combined with some key plays late resulted in a statistical day as a passer of 19-for-29 for 259 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. That's 54 more yards than this Falcons defense had allowed to any quarterback in a game this year, with Tua Tagovailoa being the first QB to cross the 200-yard mark against them last week with 205. Still, as has been the case in Maye's career, the turnovers were a major part of the story.

While the Patriots offense struggled, the Falcons found some rhythm. That was due mainly to the play of wide receiver Drake London, who gave the Patriots fits. He finished with nine catches for 118 yards, which were both season-highs allowed by the Patriots' defense. He also caught three touchdowns.

Those touchdowns were a good job of the Falcons' offense hunting mismatches. They were able to get the Patriots' defense to switch 5-foot-8 Marcus Jones on to the 6-foot-4 London, then throw him high-point balls in the end zone.

Even when the Falcons couldn't get the mismatch though, London found success. He created space against just about any Patriots cornerback he went up against. In particular he got Carlton Davis multiple times, catching all three targets for 44 yards with Davis in coverage.

The one exception was Gonzalez. That was more of a back-and-forth battle with Gonzalez creating two pass breakups early, before London Mossed him on a deep ball late in the game that set up what should have been the game-tying touchdown (more on that in a bit).

So, how were the Patriots able to hang on late despite getting out-played in the second half? A big portion of that credit goes to the defensive front, both against the run and the pass.

In the passing game, they kept Michael Penix under fire just like the Falcons did to Maye. Penix was pressured on 17 percent of his dropbacks, with Milton Williams leading the way with five.

Where the unit was really impressive though was against the run and star running back Bijan Robinson. Coming into this game the Patriots hadn't allowed a running back to go for over 50 yards in a game, and that streak continued on Sunday. Robinson ran for 46 yards on 12 carries, with 15 of those yards coming on one play.

Even in the passing game, the Patriots kept Robinson relatively in check. He made some impressive catches but outside of one coverage bust early he didn't have much room to operate as the Patriots swarmed to the football. He finished the game with eight catches for only 50 yards. In total he averaged 4.8 yards per touch, his third-lowest total of the year.

"I guess it’s been impressive to the outside, but I feel like, internally, we all know the standard that we set for ourselves and something that we know we’re capable of," Chaisson said after the game. "So, continuing every weekend, just to establish that run game and try to set a wall, so when we have the opportunity to rush the passer, we can be successful."

Offensively when the Patriots needed a play, it was tight end Hunter Henry showing up. Henry caught the final pass of the game to pick up the first down to allow the Patriots ice the clock, and made the heads up play to go down in bounds after getting the first down.

In total, Henry caught four passes for 51 yards. Those are actually both season-highs for a tight end against the Falcons, who came in as the team with the least production allowed to opposing tight ends this season. In fact, with his one 20-yard catch, Austin Hooper now has the third-most yards by a tight end against the Falcons through nine weeks (Zach Ertz had 21 yards on two catches in Week 4).

As expected, TreVeyon Henderson got the bulk of the offensive snaps for the Patriots with Rhamondre Stevenson out. He was also a focal point of the offense at times, with 18 touches on 51 snaps. He ran the ball 14 times for 55 yards, and caught four passes for 32 yards. He was also thrust into a bigger pass protection role, showing improvement from earlier in the year but still room to grow.

With the ball in his hands though, the Patriots are starting to capitalize on Henderson's speed. They once again worked him to the outside. As teams start to adjust to those looks - as the Falcons did late in the game sitting on a toss play on a late first down - it will be interesting to see how the Patriots counter-adjust.

It also helped that the Patriots were able to avoid over-working Henderson by trusting Terrell Jennings with the ball over the course of the game. He ran the ball 11 times for 35 yards. Those highlights included his first career NFL touchdown, and a 3rd & 1 conversion set up by Khyiris Tonga coming in the game as a tight end and leading the way after motioning into the formation.

Tonga, a 6-foot-2, 335-pound defensive tackle, has some experience as a blocker from his time in college, but this was the first time he'd been used offensively by the Patriots this year. As they look to build up their power run game it's a wrinkle they certainly could go back to - especially on the goal line.

This game marked the Gillette Stadium return for Parker Romo. After spending part of last year on the Patriots' practice squad Romo battled with rookie Andy Borregales for the starting kicking job this summer. Despite Romo having better numbers on field goals in camp the Patriots elected to cut him for Borregales, a decision that was controversial at the time.

Back facing his old team, Romo made what was probably the most costly mistake in a game full of mistakes from both teams. After the Falcons scored with 4:40 to go, Romo missed the extra point wide right. That one point ended up being the difference between the game going to overtime, and the Patriots being able to run out the clock shortly after.

Of course, no game is ever won or lost on a single play. The Falcons had one drive after the missed PAT. After a costly false start - another major miscue - they stalled and punted the ball back to the Patriots. Forced into a 4th & 20 the Falcons decided to punt the ball back, burning the two-minute stoppage in the process. They wouldn't get the ball back again.

Once more special teams note - Patriots punter Bryce Baringer shook off last week's late-game shank for a solid performance. He punted three times and netted 40.6 yards per punt, including a 61-yard punt late in the game that forced the Falcons into a long drive on what ended up being their final possession.