New England Patriots’ Quarterback Drake Maye put together another special performance in Sunday’s 42-10 win over the New York Jets. We’ll take a closer look at what worked for Maye here.
Sunday’s 42-10 win over the New York Jets was another entry in a growing list of jaw-dropping performances from New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye.
At just 23 years old, Sunday’s upcoming matchup against Miami will mark the close of Maye’s first full season as the Patriots’ starter. The results through 17 weeks have been unparalleled.
Maye hit several milestones in his 19-of-21 (90.5%), 256-yard, five touchdown outing against the Jets:
Game Milestones
- Maye became the first Patriot since Tom Brady (2017) to throw for five touchdowns in a game.
- With five touchdown passes to five different receivers, Maye helped set the franchise record for most receivers with a touchdown in a single game.
- Maye became the first Patriot since Tom Brady (2014) to throw for four touchdowns in the first half.
- Maye is the first player in NFL history to throw for over 250 yards and five touchdowns while completing 90% of his passes.
Season Milestones
- Maye is the first player in NFL history to have multiple games of 200+ passing yards, two touchdowns, and complete at least 90% of his passes in a single season.
- Maye joined Drew Bledsoe and Tom Brady as the third quarterback in franchise history to throw for over 4,000 yards in a season.
- With his 30th passing touchdown, Maye became the third player in franchise history to pass for 30+ touchdowns in a season, and the first to do so under the age of 30. He became the first player since Tom Brady (2017) to hit the mark.
- Maye has 12 games with a 100-plus quarterback rating this season. That's tied for second-most in NFL history by a player aged 23 or younger.
- Maye joined Peyton Manning (1998-1999) as the only quarterbacks in NFL history to lead their team from a 13-loss season to a 13-win season.
What Worked
What worked well for Maye on Sunday? Seemingly everything.
With only four receivers on the active roster—and down two of his top three targets in Kayshon Boutte and Mack Hollins—Maye continued to spread the ball around to a variety of options.
As expected, the Patriots ran the majority of their plays out of heavier personnel groupings. Whether it was two running backs and two tight ends, a tackle-eligible look, or three wide receiver groupings, the Patriots’ offense was extremely efficient.
On the Patriots first touchdown, they went heavy: no receivers, two tight ends, an eligible tackle (Thayer Munford), and two backs. The play-action fake sucked the interior defenders toward the line of scrimmage just enough to give Maye a window to find Austin Hooper on the back-line of the end zone.
There were wrinkles throughout the game, including a call back to Super Bowl LI. The touchdown Stefon Diggs scored in the second quarter looks nearly identical to Danny Amendola's two-point conversion in the historic comeback.
Earlier that quarter, Rhamondre Stevenson found himself guarded by an edge rusher, and made him pay in open space. Maye laid the ball out perfectly for the score.
On Maye's last offensive play, Efton Chism III lined up as the F on the end of the offensive line (much like Hollins when they used him as an additional blocker), and ran past the Jets defender on a flag route to secure a touchdown.
Even when plays broke down, good things happened for New England — like Diggs going over the top of the defense near the sideline to pull in a miraculous catch:
His only incompletions came on the two-minute drill to end the second quarter—Kyle Williams dropped a Cover 2 “hole shot” near the sideline, and Maye was hit on the release of the second incompletion later that drive.
No other passes hit the turf in the win, and it isn’t the first time Maye has completed over 90% of his passes in a game this year. He went 21-of-23 (91.3%) for 222 yards and two touchdowns in the Patriots’ 31-13 win over the Titans in Week 6.
For the Nerds
Maye found success no matter the defensive coverage, but looked especially poised when New York blitzed. According to NextGenStats, Maye was 6-of-6 with 90 yards passing and three touchdowns against the blitz on Sunday.
Through 17 weeks, Maye has now thrown 15 touchdowns and no interceptions against the blitz. Across the league, only he and Matthew Stafford have more than seven touchdowns and no interceptions versus such defensive looks.
Maye had a +24.9% completion-percentage-over-expected on Sunday, the second-highest mark by any quarterback this season (per NextGenStats).
NextGenStats also credited Maye with the second-best game by dropback success rate (83.3%) and Expected Points Added (EPA) per dropback (1.28) in the last 10 years.
On throws past the first-down marker, Maye went 9-of-10 for 141 yards and four touchdowns with a perfect passer rating of 158.3 (per PFF).
By the Quarterback Rating (QBR) metric, which began tracking data in 2006, Maye's outing on Sunday earned the highest-ever recorded mark at 99.8 out of a possible 100.
By traditional passer rating, Maye fell just shy of a perfect 158.3 with a 157.0 rating in the game.
After the stellar performance, Maye once again leads the NFL with a 112.9 rating on the year.
Bottom Line
It would be easy to say that Maye has continued to look more and more comfortable in Josh McDaniels’ offense with each passing week. At this point in the season, however, we can look back and see just how smooth the transition has been from the beginning of the year onward.
With one week remaining in the regular season, Maye has thrown for 4,203 yards on an NFL-best 71.7% completion percentage (that would be the franchise record), with 30 touchdown passes and just eight interceptions — all while leading the league with 8.9 yards-per-attempt. He's added 409 yards and four touchdowns rushing.
What Maye has done through 16 games is remarkable for any quarterback, anywhere, and at any age. At just 23 and wrapping up his first full year as a starter, it’s hard not to get giddy about what's ahead for number 10.
The future is bright in New England with Maye under center, and Sunday was yet another reminder of that.