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Drake Maye’s ‘full-circle’ moment against Jets showed how much Patriots’ fortunes have changed
Maye made his NFL debut in a blowout loss to New York last year. On Sunday, the Patriots flipped the script.
At some point during the fourth quarter of Sunday’s thrashing of the Jets, Patriots quarterback Drake Maye’s mind flashed back to Sept. 19, 2024, the night he made his NFL debut at MetLife Stadium.
Back then, there was a debate over whether the Patriots should even play Maye behind its porous offensive line. Jacoby Brissett, New England’s starter at the time, took five sacks in that game, which the Patriots lost 24-3.
Maye jogged onto the field for some garbage time reps late in the fourth quarter. He went 4-for-8 passing for 22 yards and was sacked twice.
“Yeah, man, I remember being nervous,” Maye recalled last month. “It was a night game. I was sitting on the sideline most of the game, and got thrown in there at the end, I think we ran [a play] and [a defender] almost baited me into my first interception. But no, it was cool. We got to drive down there and made some throws, got smacked a few times. So that was cool being in there. I think that was a cool environment.”
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The Patriots looked like they had no answers for the Jets back then. But, this week, they showed what a difference a year can make. They walloped New York, 42-10, in Maye’s return to MetLife.
Maye had five touchdown passes before the coaches sat him down in the third quarter. He surpassed the 4,000 yard mark during the game. The once-nervous rookie has played his way into becoming a top-3 MVP-candidate in his second-season.
“It’s just pretty funny looking back,” Maye said. “The stadium was pumped for that Thursday night game. It was kind of a full-circle moment of how far we’ve come, and the flip side of things this year compared to last and how much fun we’re having this year compared to last.”
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“We even had some fun last year when I got my first sacks, it was still pretty fun. Just trying to be myself every day and not let anything change and trust in the Lord. So far it’s gotten us here and [we’ll] try not to change that.”
These Patriots are now tied with the Broncos for the AFC’s best record at 13-3. A win next week against the Dolphins and a Denver loss would secure the top seed. They are one win away from clinching the AFC East division crown and a home playoff game. They are just one year removed from back-to-back 4-13 seasons.
The offense, specifically, held the Patriots back last season. They were second-to-last in scoring. They struggled to get explosive plays.
Not anymore. They’ve constructed one of the most productive downfield passing attacks in the league. New England is third in the league in passing yards per game (250.6) this season, third in plays resulting in gains of 20+ yards (59), and seventh in points per game (27.3).
Maye entered the game with the second-best odds to win the league’s MVP award trailing only Los Angeles’s Matthew Stafford, a sign of the leap that New England’s second-year quarterback has taken.
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“They don’t give me a vote,” coach Mike Vrabel said. “But there’s nobody else that we would want as our quarterback or that I would want as our quarterback,” said Vrabel.
New England secured a perfect 8-0 road record with the win over the New York. The Jets have spiraled since trading away Quinnen Williams and Sauce Gardner before the trade deadline, but the Patriots crushed them in a way that left no doubt about the outcome from the beginning.
The difference in this team and this quarterback was on full display, and with a chance to snag home-field advantage in the playoffs, they still have plenty to pay for.
“Just going all the way back to Miami,” Vrabel said. “I think that was just a really important game for us and being able to battle and give up a punt return, answer with a kickoff return, and we’ve talked about all those things that have helped us along the way.”
“We talked about just unfinished business on the road and when we needed to, handle the environment and make critical plays and get off to a good start like we did today. So really proud of this football team and what they’ve been able to do.”
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