Playing for the first time under the Monday night lights, Drake Maye sparkled as he has for the majority of his second season.
Highlighted by an absolutely beautiful deep ball for a 33-yard touchdown to Kyle Williams, Maye quarterbacked the New England Patriots to their 10th straight win, a 33-15 blowout of the New York Giants.
"I think it was important for us to play on Monday night and show up for our fans," Maye told reporters after the game. "It was a game that we didn't want to take lightly. I think the guys did that. Proud of them for that."
After just 30 minutes of football, Maye was 16 of 20 for 207 yards and two touchdowns with a 143.1 rating, having captained the Patriots to a 30-7 halftime advantage that essentially wrapped up the game early. Upon the game's conclusion, with the Patriots becoming the first NFL team to reach 11 wins this season, Maye had 282 yards and a 126.0 rating on 24-of-31 passing.
"He's able to keep his composure, keep his eyes downfield," Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel said of what impresses him about his young QB. "I thought some of the best plays were just the extensions, the scramble for a first down. To scramble and stay in bounds there late in the game, knowing the situation forces them to call a timeout. And then not throwing an incompletion there at the end of the game. Unselfishly, probably could have said, 'Hey, I'm gonna try to throw a touchdown.' And just go and slide and use the clock. Those are the things that probably don't show up on the stat sheet. Being accurate downfield and being able to give Kayshon (Boutte) a real catchable ball in the end zone was nice, too."
Drake Maye's 2025 season so far
| NFL rank | ||
|---|---|---|
| QB W-L | 11-2 | 1st |
| Completion Pct. | 71.5 | 1st |
| Passing yards | 3,412 | 1st |
| Passing TDs | 23 | 4th |
| Passer rating | 111.9 | 1st* |
* Among passer rating qualified QBs
Maye netted New England's first offensive TD on a nice fade for a 3-yard score to Boutte in the first quarter. Two drives later, he delivered an absolute dime deep to Williams, dropping a ball right into the bucket for Williams to cradle for six, the pass traveling an air distance of 48.9 yards, per Next Gen Stats.
Maye's prime-time performance was the continuation of a simply sensational second season. As has become the standard, the 24-year-old displayed poise beyond his years.
Monday marked Maye's 10th straight game with an 80-plus passer rating in a win, tying him with Hall of Famer Dan Marino in 1984 for the longest such streak for a player prior to turning 24 since at least 1950.
He remains the only player in the NFL with 200-plus passing yards in every game this season.
Maye was also diplomatic in his distribution, completing passes to eight receivers, and finding success at every level: He was 18 of 22 for 165 yards on short passes, 5 of 5 on intermediate (10-19) for 84 yards and 1 of 3 on deep balls (20-plus), with the 33-yarder to Williams.
"Just trying to be the face, trying to be the conductor," Maye said of what he's realizing he can be for the offense. "[Vrabel] calls it the conductor of the offense. Trying to be the face of the offense. You want the pressure. I want the ball in my hands, and I try to show that all year and throughout my career. That's what I feel like. I know they feed off of me and feed off my energy and feed off what I say to those guys, and what I say means something to them. So, just know when adversity hits, know I've got to respond. And from there, I've just got to be the same guy every day. Don't try to change and just be myself. That's what the guys like the most."
The Williams TD was really the exclamation point to a masterful Monday, even though it came with 3:29 remaining before halftime. New England had a 24-7 lead with nothing but game clock standing between Maye and the Patriots' bye week after the franchise's best start since 2016, when New England went 14-2 en route to a win in Super Bowl LI.
The 2024 NFL Draft's No. 3 overall pick, Maye was impressive as a rookie despite New England struggling to a 4-13 campaign under Jerod Mayo.
It was the Washington Commanders' Jayden Daniels (No. 2 overall) who emerged as the darling of a ballyhooed '24 QB draft class, but Maye has seemingly taken the lead now as Daniels' second year has been marked by injuries and Washington travails. The Chicago Bears' Caleb Williams (No. 1) and the Denver Broncos' Bo Nix (No. 12) have their teams in first place in the NFC North and AFC West, respectively, just as Maye has led the Patriots to the top of the AFC East and the AFC's top seed.
However, Maye's the only one of the bunch drawing MVP buzz.
"Like I've always said, I'm a Drake guy," Boutte told NFL Network's Bridge Condon. "I love the hype. MVP."
Consider the aforementioned numbers and that Monday saw the North Carolina product produce his sixth game this season with 200 passing yards, multiple touchdowns and a completion percentage of 75-plus. Only Tom Brady (eight in 2007) and Matt Ryan (six in 2016) have had as many or more. Ryan and Brady each won MVPs in those seasons.
The addition of Vrabel cannot be overstated in the Patriots' turnaround as New England has rebounded from a disastrous 2024 to become an AFC heavyweight. It's Maye and his consistence excellence and lightning-quick maturation that has conducted success on the field, however.
"I think he's realizing what he can be and the impact that he makes on this offense being the conductor," Vrabel said. "He's hard on himself. I think that he challenges himself, as well as his coaches. He means a great deal to this football team and just being able to not get rattled and escape pressure and find Rhamondre (Stevenson) or scramble. Then when we do have time and he sees a guy win and puts a ball in a great spot there for Kyle to make a huge play or Kayshon down there in the red zone. A lot of third-down conversions. So, again, very appreciative that he's our quarterback."
