The New England Patriots needed to maintain momentum after a big win over the Buffalo Bills. The Las Vegas Raiders' top-10 pass defense posed a major challenge, but Josh McDaniels' offense didn't miss a beat.
Drake Maye had one of his best games as a pro. He made quick reads, made good decisions, and spread the ball around a myriad of pass catchers. Five players had at least 40 receiving yards, and the Raiders' defense just kept guessing.
In the win, Maye also became the first Patriots quarterback since 2018 Tom Brady to throw for 3+ touchdowns in consecutive games. If that wasn't good enough, it was also just his second career game with at least 300 receiving yards.
Drake Maye is gaining his confidence back after a rough start to the season
The internet got pretty quiet all of a sudden. No one talked about the schedule, and no one made memes after Maye dissected the Raiders' defense for 374 yards, four touchdowns, and no picks on 26 completions.
They didn't say much when he also added 25 yards on the ground, completed passes to nine different receivers, and moved the chains en route to 29 first downs. The Patriots only punted twice on Sunday, the same number of fourth-down conversions they had.
Maye hadn't looked like his usual self in the first three games of the season. He was the first to admit that he was pressing, and he was clearly still in his head over the Super Bowl loss. That seems to be all in the rearview mirror.
The Patriots have won consecutive big games against playoff-caliber competition, teams with winning records, and opponents trending in the right direction. And Maye has led both triumphs.
Even with two starting cornerbacks down, the Patriots' defense continues to hold its own. Now that Maye is getting his legs back and finding his groove, the sky seems the limit for Mike Vrabel's team, especially once A.J. Brown returns.
All of a sudden, no one's talking about Maye's turnovers and whatnot. He's trending back up and returning to the status quo, with a 65.6 percent completion percentage, 1,228 passing yards (245.6 passing yards per game), eight touchdowns, and seven interceptions.
As it turns out, it was too early to give up on an MVP runner-up three weeks into the season- who would've thought? Patriots haters had a nice run, but they now have to deal with an inspired Drake Maye after poking the Bear for months.
Add us as a preferred source on Google