Drake Maye just saved Mike Vrabel from a decision Patriots fans hated

Fresh off a painful loss to the Buffalo Bills with the AFC East division title on the table, much was made about New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye, and his 0-13 record when facing a deficit in the fourth quarter.

It took all of one week for Maye to torch that narrative — and no one should be happier about that than Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel.

Maye was nothing short of brilliant during the fourth quarter of Sunday night’s big road game against the playoff-hopeful Baltimore Ravens. Trailing by 11 with 12:50 remaining in regulation, Maye led back-to-back scoring drives of 73 and 89 yards to lead the Patriots to a monster 28-24 win that, coupled with Denver’s loss to Jacksonville, puts New England right back in the mix for the AFC’s No. 1 playoff seed.

The chatter about Maye’s lack of fourth-quarter comebacks was always overblown. He just started the 27th game of his career, and 12 of them came last year on a 4-13 team that was among the worst in football.

Still, no one should be celebrating Maye’s signature prime-time moment more than Vrabel, who was completely bailed out by his 23-year-old QB.

Drake Maye bailed out Mike Vrabel after a brutal call in the second half

The Patriots have no one to blame but themselves for falling behind 24-13 in the second half. They had yet another sluggish start to the third quarter, and it led to Vrabel giving the green light to a fake punt that went horribly wrong.

On fourth-and-10 from their own 44, trailing 17-13, the Patriots inexplicably snapped the ball to Marte Mapu, who initially looked to pass before carrying the football like a loaf of bread and getting “sacked” behind the line of scrimmage. 

The Ravens — who played the entire second half without starting quarterback Lamar Jackson, who was ruled out with a back injury — promptly marched 44 yards in seven plays for a touchdown with backup Tyler Huntley under center that pushed Baltimore’s lead to 11 points.

As soon as Maye got the ball back, he began executing at the MVP level Patriots fans have come to know and love. He fit a 37-yard dime to rookie Kyle Williams to match the Ravens’ score, and then found Rhamondre Stevenson for the two-point conversion to cut the deficit to 24-21.

Maye's best completion might’ve been his fourth-and-2 dart that cleared the outstretched arms of a diving defender and allowed Stefon Diggs to gain 21 yards to the Ravens 21. New England finished off the drive with a Stevenson go-ahead touchdown run, and was able to run out the clock after K'Lavon Chaisson forced a game-sealing fumble.

Vrabel’s come out smelling like roses with just about every in-game decision this season, but he’ll undoubtedly want that fake punt back. The play never had a chance, and it put the team in an impossible spot, down two scores inside a tough stadium to win a game. 

That brutal call will be a mere blip on the radar on Monday morning talk shows, though, and that’s all thanks to the quarterback who left a lot of naysayers speechless on Sunday night.