It’s not often in life you get second chances, but when you do, you need to take advantage of them.

Drake Maye and the New England Patriots did just that Sunday night in their 28-24 win in Baltimore over the Ravens.

And his teammates noticed.

“Its pretty cool, to have the same exact situaion we had last week,” tight end Hunter Henry said, “and to come through was pretty cool.

It’s what we wanted, honestly To not come through last week was disappointing. To be able to put ourselves right back in that situaton again was pretty cool.”

That situation? Down a score, some 89 yards to go, five minutes left in regulation. Maye didn’t get it done last week vs.Buffalo at Gillette Stadium, but he got the job done last night. Maye admitted it bothered him all week, and he welcomed the chance to redeem himself.

“It was kind of a wakeup call last week…. it was let’s not have that same feeling two weeks in a row,” he said. “It was kind of the elephant in the room. …

“What a beautiful sport. That’s this league, you’re going to face adversity.”

Oh the Patriots have plenty of it. They are now officially a playoff team, and end the regular season with two cupcakes, Jets (road) and the Dolphins (home) and then real fun begins. But, while the Ravens lost Lamar Jackson, who is breaking down like that shiny car you had six years ago that suddenly needs all the parts replaced, the Patriots had players dropping like flies. Pop Douglas, TreVeyon Henderson, linemen galore, etc. So they need to get healthy.

“We lost guys too,” Vrabel said. “We didn’t lose an MVP, but we lost guys. …It was obviously a challenge the entire game.

“This game, it’s brutal,” Maye said. “There’s times when injuries and losses weigh on you, but this winning feeling, there’s nothing like it. And Coach (Vrabel) reminded us of that pregame.

“He said, ‘You can’t buy that back, winning in that locker room.'”

You can bet Stefon Diggs realizes that. He had another big 100-yard receiving night, there must be something about Sunday Night Football that gets him going because he did the same thing vs. Buffalo in early October.

“It’s really not me at all,” Diggs told NBC after the win. “I’m just a beacon, a vessel on this team. Get a win on the road. Road warriors.”

The Patriots woke up from their five-quarter slumber dating back to last week’s Buffalo loss just in time. Meanwhile, the team napping was the Ravens and their catatonic coach, John Harbaugh. Unless he was hurt, not having Derrick Henry out there late in the game nursing a 24-21 lead is coaching malpractice.

The Patriots were getting hurt up front. The Ravens, especially without Jackson, should have had Henry pounding away, and Harbaugh just had this dumbfounded look on his face late in the game. Better come up with something to make yourself not look like a moron, John.

Maye came up with something last night. Unlike last week, he came up with a win. And a playoff berth.

What’s next?

Tom King may be reached at X @Telegraph_TomK, or via email at tking@nashuatelegraph.com