MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — After one half of football Sunday in Miami, the Patriots’ offense looked as soggy as the wet turf beneath their cleats, stuck in neutral, spinning their tires but getting nowhere.
Not shocking, really, given the injury-ravaged receiver corps: No A.J. Brown, no Romeo Doubs, no Mack Hollins, none of whom even suited up for the game. Or the depleted running back group, minus TreVeyon Henderson, also before kickoff. Or even the normally reliable tight ends, who saw veteran Hunter Henry head for the locker room with a foot injury early in the second quarter, not to return.
There’s only so much an offense can do when its three active receivers average less than 6 feet tall and below 200 pounds, which is what quarterback Drake Maye had at his disposal in Efton Chism, DeMario Douglas, and Kyle Williams. There’s only so much production to be gained by adding Ryan Miller and his 6-2, 217-pound frame off the practice squad, or so many times you can turn to a rookie tight end in Eli Raridon and hope to keep up with any NFL opponent, even one as seemingly overmatched as the Dolphins.
No wonder that across a half of football Sunday in Miami, it was the Patriots who looked overmatched, heading into intermission having surrendered a touchdown just before time expired, trailing by 10 points to a team that earned its first win just a week before.
But then came the third quarter, and then came Maye, who took the Patriots on his back and willed them to a lead, one touchdown via the long ball, another touchdown via the scramble, the full Drake Maye experience proving more than enough to pave the way to a 24-19 win.
“He wouldn’t be a great quarterback in the National Football League without that, not a lot of excuses, you go out there and you find ways to win for your football team,” coach Mike Vrabel said. “I know that’s who he is and that’s what he wants to continue to be.”
It was a beautiful touchdown throw that started it all. It didn’t come easy, but for that, blame the officials. With 9:30 to go in the third, Maye unloaded a beautiful strike to a streaking Williams, and the speedster crossed into the end zone with the ball in his hands. Even though it seemed obvious Williams had possession while breaking the plane, officials on the field ruled it an incomplete pass. As that call lasted through an expedited review, Vrabel finally had enough, hurling his red challenge flag far enough onto the field to reach his players’ huddle.
The call was overturned, and the Pats had closed the gap to three, 13-10. A good defensive effort quickly got the ball back, and this time, with the aid of another official review, Maye added a nifty touchdown run to his game-changing halftime adjustment act. One big strike, 26 yards to Douglas, had moved the Patriots to the Miami 31, and when they faced an ensuing fourth down from the 23, a completion in the flat to Douglas was ruled on the field as short of the sticks.
The Miami sideline erupted, but again, as a play that turned the ball over, it immediately went to review. Douglas had gotten the first.
Second chance in hand, the Pats made it count. Eventually. Six plays later, Maye took a snap, beautifully faked a pitch to running back Rhamondre Stevenson, and then danced his way into the end zone, spiking the ball when he was done.
“That play comes in and you always get a little amped for it,” Maye said. “It was kind of me and ’Mondre, two-on-one, like a basketball fast break, trying to just hopefully make the guy guess wrong and we did. I’d rather give the ball to Rhamondre, but like we said in college, 90 percent pitch, 10 percent run. Happened to be the 10 percent.”
Less than a minute to go in the quarter, and the Patriots, thanks to Maye, were back in control. They would add an early fourth-quarter TD on a two-play drive following Kevin Byard’s interception, when Maye connected with Douglas for a 48-yard catch-and-run.
Such is the way it has to be for Maye as he waits out the roster depletions, and the hopeful returns of players such as Brown, the team’s big-ticket off-season acquisition, Doubs, and Hollins, two more sets of reliable hands, and now even Henry, his earliest and longest-running favorite target. On Sunday, he did just fine.
Tara Sullivan is a Globe columnist. She can be reached at [tara.sullivan@globe.com](mailto:tara.sullivan@globe.com). Follow her [@Globe\_Tara](https://www.twitter.com/Globe_Tara).