A Closer Look at Drake Maye’s Career Day In Patriots’ Dominant Win Over Raiders

Drake Maye is back. And maybe — just maybe — even better than ever.

On Sunday, Maye was the conductor of a New England Patriots’ offense that looked nearly unstoppable against the Las Vegas Raiders — and put together one of the greatest 60-minute showings of his career in the process.

Statistically, analytically, or otherwise, Maye was dominant against a Las Vegas defense that led the NFL with nine takeaways, tied for fifth in the league in sacks (12), and ranked sixth overall in EPA/play against the pass (-0.11). If the Raiders’ game was a test of Maye’s growth, he passed with flying colors — harkening back to his 2025 excellence and taking additional strides forward, all with a thinning corps of supporting pieces around him.

Here’s a closer look at how Maye shined in New England’s 45-17 victory over Las Vegas: 

Maye’s pocket presence, patience, and decision-making were all strengths on Sunday, and they never relented.  

No matter how the splits are broken up, Maye’s poise and accuracy translated from the playing field to the box score. In the first quarter, Maye completed 6-of-7 passing attempts (85.7% completion percentage) with 85 yards, one touchdown, a passer rating of 156.8, and an EPA/play of +1.51 (per SūmerSports). 

By halftime, Maye was 11-of-15 (73.3%) through the air with 160 yards, two touchdowns, a passer rating of 147.2, and an EPA/play of +0.86. By the game’s conclusion, he completed 26-of-34 passes (76.4%) with 374 passing yards (11.0 yards per attempt), four touchdowns, a passer rating of 150.9, and an EPA/play of +0.80 — the highest of any NFL quarterback in a single game this season.

Unlike many of his previous performances this fall, Maye wasn’t exceptional in spurts — he was in rhythm all day. That resulted in a near-flawless performance from the pocket, but didn’t detract from his ability to generate additional offense on the ground.

A constant threat with his legs, Maye used his mobility to navigate the pocket effectively and buy additional time to throw. When opportunities didn’t present themselves through the air, he created them by land.

Maye’s dual-threat capabilities have been a staple in New England’s offense, but have mainly come when he’s improvised. On Sunday, their one designed run for him put more points on the board. Maye added seven carries, 25 yards, and one touchdown rushing — on a designed quarterback sweep in the low red zone.

Under first-year head coach Klint Kubiak (formerly the offensive coordinator of the Seattle Seahawks) and defensive coordinator Rob Leonard, the Raiders have employed a very similar coverage philosophy to Seattle — and had great success in doing so prior to their encounter with Maye.

Through the first four weeks of the regular season, Las Vegas used Cover 3 as their base shell with Cover 6 as their most frequently called change-up. On 50 dropbacks of Cover 3, they allowed 24 completions on 40 attempts (60.0% completion percentage), 282 yards, and one touchdown with three interceptions and an EPA/play of -0.232. On 24 dropbacks in Cover 6, they allowed 12 completions on 21 attempts (57.1%) with no touchdowns, no interceptions, and an EPA/play of +0.178. 

The Cover 3/Cover 6 rotation has previously been viewed as a blueprint for stopping Maye, but his past and current triumphs against Cover 3 and his newfound answers for Cover 6 changed how the Raiders chose to attack him on Sunday — and it may have been to their detriment. 

Since the season-opener, Maye had faced Cover 6 on 14 dropbacks and completed 8-of-10 passing attempts with 122 passing yards and an EPA/play of +0.303. A newer weak point, however, was Cover 1. In Weeks 1-4, Maye completed just 7-of-19 passing attempts (36.8%) with 107 yards, one touchdown, one interception, and an EPA/play of -0.397 against Cover 1. 

That’s what Las Vegas presented him with, and  — much like last year, when Maye went 72-of-101 (71.3%) with 1,072 yards, 11 touchdowns, three interceptions, and an NFL-leading EPA/play of +0.625 — he made them pay.

Here’s a closer look at how Maye dissected the Raiders’ coverages in Week 5:

No matter the coverage shell, Maye was deadly efficient against Las Vegas.

His performance against Cover 3 is beginning to show shades of the elite levels that were on display in 2025 —when he registered 125 completions on 166 attempts (75.3%), 1,637 yards (9.9 yards per attempt), seven touchdowns, two interceptions, and a league-best EPA/play of +0.454 — but had disappeared to start 2026. 

In Weeks 1-3, Maye completed just 13-of-25 passing attempts (59.1%) with 140 yards (5.6 yards per attempt), no touchdowns, two interceptions, and an EPA/play of -0.223, which ranked 30th in the NFL. Week 4 told a different story, with a 10-of-15 (66.7%), 140-yard, one touchdown, no interception game versus Cover 3 against the Buffalo Bills, and that trend continued through Week 5.

Maye’s steadiness against Cover 4 and Cover 2 had maintained through his early season slump, and the few deficiencies he showed against other shells in the first three game have been rectified through consecutive bounce-back performances against Cover 3 and Cover 1. 

Without coverage dictating his effectiveness as a passer, seemingly the only way to rattle him would have been with pressure. But even that didn’t work for the Raiders on Sunday.

Maye’s aerial onslaught was made possible by his elite pocket navigation and a much-improved showing from the Patriots’ offensive line against an uber-talented Las Vegas front-four.

In Weeks 1-3, applying pressure on Maye was a sure-fire way to neutralize him, complicating his processing and forcing him into fatal mistakes. Moreover, Maye created several of those issues himself — drifting into oncoming rushers and creating pressures that wouldn’t have been there if he had used his mobility to escape the pass-rush, rather than inviting it.

To begin the regular season, Maye completed just 12-of-28 attempts (42.9% completion percentage) with 183 yards, no touchdowns, three interceptions, eight sacks, and held a passer rating of 25.4 when under pressure (per PFF). On such plays, he registered a 10.6% turnover-worthy play rate, which ranked third-highest in the NFL among qualifying quarterbacks.

In Orchard Park, Maye began to flip the script — and that success was evident in spades against Las Vegas.

Last week, Maye was pressured on 18 dropbacks and completed 6-of-13 (46.2%) passes, with 66 yards passing, two touchdowns, no interceptions, registered a passer rating of 101.3 and a pressure-to-sack rate of just 5.6%. When blitzed (20 snaps, 47.8%), Maye completed 11-of-18 attempts (61.1%) with 156 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions, and registered a passer rating of 128.7. 

Here’s how that carried over into Week 5: 

Against the Raiders, New England’s pressure rate dropped from 48.6% (31st in the NFL) to just 34.2%, and Maye’s pressure-to-sack rate landed under 10% for the second straight week (6.7%). When under pressure, Maye completed 7-of-12 passing attempts (58.3%) with 87 yards, one touchdown, and a passer rating of 108.7 (per PFF). 

Using his legs to create extra time in the pocket and enjoying the strides forward taken by his fortified front, Maye was allotted an average time-to-throw of 3.2 seconds on Sunday afternoon (as opposed to the NFL average of 2.7 seconds), and made great use of it.

He pushed the ball downfield with conviction and precision, registering an Average Depth of Target (ADoT) of 10.7 yards, an average yards per attempt of 11.0, a big-time-throw rate of 12.2%, and recorded zero turnover-worthy plays. Maye was dealing on those frequent throws of at least 10 air yards, completing 8-of-11 attempts (72.7%) with 206 yards (17.2 yards per attempt), three touchdowns, an ADoT of 24.1 yards, an EPA/play of +1.479, and a passer rating of 149.3 on such plays.

When kept clean, Maye was surgical. On 25 dropbacks, he completed 19-of-22 passes (86.4%) with 287 yards (13.1 yards per attempt), three touchdowns, an EPA/play of +1.22, and a perfect passer rating of 158.3.

Las Vegas began to shift from their typical four-man rush approach to bring additional heat at Maye, and it came back to bite them. When blitzed, Maye was 7-of-9 passing (77.7%) with 128 yards (14.2 yards per attempt), an EPA/play of +0.24, and a passer rating of 118.8.

The Raiders ran one lone snap of Cover 0 in the game — and it resulted in the Patriots' largest offensive gain of the day on a 49-yard bomb to Kyle Williams at the end of the third quarter.

Maye’s exemplary Sunday showing was not only his greatest performance of the season, it’s arguably the best game he’s played in his career.

His five total touchdowns tied a career-high (threw for five touchdowns in New England’s 42-10 win over the New York Jets on December 28, 2025), and his 374 passing yards marked the second time in his career that he’s thrown for 300-plus. He fell just six yards short of setting a new career-high in passing yards (380 yards in the Patriots’ 28-24 comeback win over the Baltimore Ravens on December 21, 2025), but did so without the game script dictating the team's passing tendencies. 

Beginning to string together more consistent success, Sunday also marked the first time in Maye’s career that he had consecutive games with three passing touchdowns — and it was the first time since Tom Brady in 2018 that a quarterback did so for the franchise. 

Maye's 150.9 passer rating was the third-highest mark of his career, only trailing his 157.0 rating against New York in Week 17 of 2025 and a 155.6 rating against the Carolina Panthers in Week 4 of that same season.  

Maye’s personal triumphs also led to remarkable team achievements. New England’s 536 total yards of offense were the most in the Mike Vrabel era, and rank eighth all-time in the franchise's regular season history. Their 45 points scored were the highest total for the team since a 50-10 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars on January 2, 2022.

In the last two games, Maye and the red-hot Patriots’ offense have scored ten touchdowns (including 8-of-9 on their red zone trips) and generated 941 total yards of offense — each sitting atop the league.

Regardless of coverage, pressure, or game situation, Maye was equally outstanding. Without two of his top targets on the perimeter, he spread the ball around to a variety of different pass-catching options and continued to press his advantage for all 60-minutes. His showing in New England's blowout victory wasn’t just a statement against Las Vegas, it was a message to the rest of the league: 

The Patriots are back, and so is Drake Maye.

Where do you think Maye’s performance against the Raiders ranks amongst his best career games? Drop your thoughts in the comments below and join the conversation on Patriots Roundtable.

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Recent Articles:

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- 10 Key Takeaways from the New England Patriots’ Blowout Win Over the Las Vegas Raiders

- New England Patriots Dominate Las Vegas Raiders, 45-17, In Blowout Win

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