Drake Maye Is 5-3 and Carrying a Skeleton Crew — Here Comes Green Bay

The Patriots' 24-19 win in Miami will go down as one of those box scores that undersells how much duct tape was involved. New England trailed 13-3 at halftime at Hard Rock Stadium, then Drake Maye accounted for three touchdowns after the break — two through the air, one on the ground — to flip it. He finished 16-of-20 for 199 yards, no interceptions, and a 141.5 passer rating, and the Patriots moved to 5-3 and 3-0 in the AFC East.

That stat line came with multiple offensive linemen unavailable, three of the top four pass catchers missing, and No. 2 running back TreVeyon Henderson inactive. Then tight end Hunter Henry went down with a foot injury in the second quarter and never returned. The margin for error was essentially zero, which is why the week that followed matters more than the win itself.

The injury ledger is now the story

Henry's foot is the headliner. A.J. Brown — nine catches for 101 yards across four games — was unavailable in Week 8 and is on the Week 8 report as questionable; Mike Vrabel told reporters Monday the team will "see how he progresses during the week." Henderson is likewise listed questionable (illness, did not practice). The good news: Christian Elliss (chest) and Carlton Davis III (neck) were cleared and played in Miami, with Davis back after a three-game absence.

The contrast in production is stark. Maye has 1,983 passing yards, 15 touchdowns and eight interceptions on 67.1 percent completions with an 8.5 yards-per-attempt average, plus 216 rushing yards and three more scores on the ground. He also has six fumbles and has taken 16 sacks. New England's last five games: 29.6 points per game, 411.0 yards per game, a plus-7.4 point differential and a 64.8-yardage edge.

The split that matters most this week is venue. At home, Maye has 817 yards, seven touchdowns and one interception across three games. On the road: 1,166 yards, eight touchdowns and seven picks over five. Week 9 is at Gillette.

Now the test gets real

Green Bay arrives 5-2-1, allowing 20.1 points and 331.8 yards per game while scoring 21.4. The Packers' run game is nearly nonexistent at 60.6 yards per contest against New England's 123.1, but their pass offense sits at 280.8 yards per game and Jordan Love gets a defense allowing 328.1 yards per game. Green Bay's turnover differential is plus-0.5; New England's is minus-0.8.

And reinforcements are coming for the visitors: four-time All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons is set to return to practice this week, per Matt LaFleur. That is precisely the wrong news for a Patriots line that has been mixing and matching bodies.

The market opened New England as a 2.5-point home favorite with a 47.5 total and home implied probability around 60 percent — a modest nod to the home team, not an endorsement of a roster this banged up. The site's power ranking has the Patriots 8th with a 4.02 neutral rating, already docked 1.4 points for injuries, with a note that a downgrade on Brown, Henderson or Elliss would eat into that cushion quickly.

Why this week defines the month

The Bills are 6-1 and pulling away in the division, so the Patriots' cushion for error in the wild-card chase is thin — they briefly slid out of the AFC picture after the Week 7 loss to Chicago. Sunday is a home game against an NFC opponent with a banged-up offense of its own. It's winnable. It's also the first real stress test of whether Maye can keep covering for a depth chart that is losing bodies faster than it's getting them back, with the November 10 trade deadline looming and the front office signaling a modest approach after restructuring Henry's contract.

Maye has answered nearly every question so far. Sunday asks a harder one.