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Drake Maye continues to put himself alongside Tom Brady in Patriots record books
"I’m trying to be careful with the football and trying to challenge it down the field and not just be a ‘Checkdown Charlie.’"
For most Patriots fans entering the 2025 season, a successful sophomore campaign for Drake Maye likely would have involved the 23-year-old taking the sought-after “second-year leap” as one of most promising quarterbacks in the league.
But few expected him to already be building a viable case as an MVP candidate through the first seven weeks of the 2025 season — nor put himself in rarefied air within New England’s record books.
Maye was once again the key conduit that sparked New England’s fourth-straight win on Sunday against the Titans — completing 21-of-23 passes for 222 yards and two touchdowns while committing zero turnovers. He also rushed for 62 yards off of eight scrambles, equating to 7.8 yards per attempt.
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This marks the second time this season that Maye has finished a game with as many total touchdowns as he had incompletions in a game (Week 4 vs. Carolina).
“I think there’s an athleticism to [Maye] that’s really, really cool,” Mike Vrabel said after New England’s 31-13 win over Tennessee. “I think he’s really accurate from all different spots, whether that’s in the pocket or off-platform. He’s really done a nice job so far spreading the football around, but there’s an accuracy to him that’s been really good for us.”
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Maye’s emergence as a dynamic QB capable of torching defenses both with his legs and via the deep ball has put him in elite company — especially when factoring in his accuracy.
According to the Patriots communications department, Maye’s 21-for-23 showing on Sunday set a new regular-season franchise record for completion percentage at 91.3.
Maye — who currently sits in second place behind Detroit’s Jared Goff in completion percentage (75.2 percent) this year — attempted to downplay his record-setting showing.
“I left some out there,” Maye said. “I ended up running [when] I could have thrown. I tucked it a couple times when I shouldn’t have. I need to get to the back side of the progression more. I’m trying to be careful with the football and trying to challenge it down the field and not just be a ‘Checkdown Charlie.’ So just trying to throw it to the guys that are open and they’re making great plays.”
Maye’s numbers — viewed within the vacuum of this season — are already impressive.
- 1,744 passing yards
- 200 rushing yards
- 116.4 passer rating
- 14 total touchdowns
- 8.6 yards per attempt
- 2 interceptions
But Maye is putting together a historical run when it comes to young QBs elevating their game into elite territory.
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In NFL annals, Maye stands as just the third QB, under the age 24, to have over 200 passing yards and a passer rating of 100 or more in six straight games. He joins Hall-of-Famer Dan Marino in that category, and is just one game away from equaling the NFL record set by Patrick Mahomes — who posted those numbers over seven consecutive games.
Maye is already etching his name into some impressive Patriots’ stat sheets next to Brady as well.
Per the Patriots’ communications department, Maye has already tied Brady for the most games in team history with at least 200 passing yards, a 135 passer rating and 2 passing touchdowns in a single season with four such performances.
Brady accomplished that feat during a 2007 NFL season where he won league MVP, threw for 50 touchdowns, and led New England to a perfect 16-0 regular-season record.
Maye has already matched that feat in just seven games — and has 10 more bouts left on this regular-season docket to surpass said record.
“He keeps his poise,” DeMario Douglas said of Maye. “Never too high, never too low. And he comes into the game very prepared, watches a lot of film. Definitely locked in, gets everybody right in their positions and [he’s becoming a great leader.
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“And his confidence is getting up there. I want it out of the roof. I want his confidence out the roof.”
The Patriots still have plenty of work to do when it comes to sustaining this high level of play, especially down the stretch when New England’s schedule becomes littered with other contending teams.
But Vrabel believes that Maye has checked off every box so far this season when it comes to realizing his potential as a franchise QB in Foxborough.
“There’s a lot of demand there from Josh [McDaniels] and myself, and I think he’s responded to that as far as the leadership that he’s had to show this offense,” Vrabel said of Maye. “Kept talking about, he wants to earn it. I’ve told him that he’s earned it.
“And I think he doesn’t like something in practice, then he gets it fixed. And if he wants a better Friday practice, then he talks about it before we go out there on Friday. And I think those guys respond to him and the things that he says and the way that he operates.”
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