#drake-maye

#drake-maye

No, ESPN does not hate the Patriots. Wait, check that for a second. Rex Ryan definitely hates the Patriots. Give him some grace on that. The man coached the Jets for six years. You have no idea what that does to the soul. Some might also add Cam Newton to the Patriot Haters Club, since he seems to have a terrible take on something going on in Foxborough every time he appears on "First Take" or its ilk.

What New England need to do to win: Clean up their act. Last week against the Houston Texans, Drake Maye was blindsided too often by edge rushers Will Anderson and Danielle Hunter. The pair wreaked havoc, sacking Maye five times and forcing him into three of his four fumbles. The Los Angeles Chargers also forced two from him in the wildcard round. Denver led the league in sacks (68) in the regular season, and will be intent on causing similar damage on Sunday.

A bonus was that they snatched him from Buffalo, where virtually every 2024 catch he made was either a first down or a touchdown. That hurt the Bills in a classic case of addition and subtraction. The big receiver continued his big-play ways for the Patriots in 2025. He notched 46 receptions for 550 yards, two touchdowns, and 28 first downs. He's also the Patriots' biggest wide receiver at 6'4" and 221 pounds. That creates matchup nightmares for any defensive back, especially shorter ones.

Patriots fans might not like who Joe Buck compared Drake Maye to, but the "Monday Night Football" play-by-play announcer tossed some pretty high praise the New England quarterback's way. Buck compared Maye to Pro Football Hall of Famer Peyton Manning in the most recent episode of NBC Sports Boston's "Next Pats Podcast." While Maye and Manning don't have similar playing styles, Buck believes he's like the former Patriots rival due to the way he carries himself.

However, if the Patriots are unsuccessful, a look back at their season will show that may not be that big of a problem. Maye has been sacked a lot this season, but that hasn't stopped him from leading New England to a lot of wins. Drake Maye and Patriots still find success when sacked a lot Typically, when a quarterback is on the ground a lot, it's a disastrous game for their team.

I feel like he makes plays with his legs. I feel like he's comfortable using his legs.

"I think from an attacking standpoint, if there's any coverage, there's always a void."

Starting center Garrett Bradbury even mentioned that Maye gets really into ping-pong, which the most knowledgeable Patriots fan will remember was also true of Brady during his days in New England. "His competitiveness comes out every day. Whether we're playing Ping-Pong, cards, it does not matter. Any sort of game, any sort of activity you can compete in, he's going to sign up for it."

It is a nice change of pace in New England at this point in the season to be focused on the playoffs rather than already looking ahead to free agency and the NFL Draft. But that doesn't mean it's too early to eye some of the top candidates that will inevitably be on their radar, including a wide receiver like Alec Pierce.

The thought was how they ended their 2025 campaigns would be the determining factor in who was the clear frontrunner, and based on that logic, it should be an award inarguably going to Maye. But his final two games of the season were apparently not enough to convince everyone, including Tom Brady, that he should be the favorite, as odds have Stafford winning in his 17th season.

FOXBOROUGH - The Patriots have undergone one of the biggest turnarounds in NFL history. At 14-3, they've won 10 more games than last season. Only the 1999 Colts and 2008 Dolphins made turnarounds that big from one season to the next. Second-year quarterback Drake Maye has been one of the driving forces of that success. With the regular season wrapped up, he finds himself on a short list of contenders for the NFL MVP award.

Throughout the past several offseasons, Patriots fans made it clear that the offense needed a top-tier wide receiver, which only became more important once they added Drake Maye to their roster. That was also the main goal of the new regime led by Mike Vrabel, ultimately leading them to sign Stefon Diggs in free agency after several other teams chose to pass.