In a huge prime-time spot, head-to-head with the No. 1 overall pick from his draft class, Drake Maye was feeling it. On second-and-short, the New England Patriots quarterback took a shotgun snap, scanned the field over his left shoulder, and then escaped the pocket in the direction that’s become a nightmare for defensive coordinators across the NFL — to his right.
Maye tucked the ball, abusively juked past Chicago Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson, and lowered his shoulder to absorb a hit from first-round rookie Dillon Thieneman. Laying on his back out of bounds, Maye extended the ball to signal first down before jogging back to the huddle.
The 15-yard run set the Patriots up with a first down at the Bears 15. There was 3:32 left in the second quarter of a game Chicago was leading 13-7. New England was banged up and facing a tough NFC opponent on the road. But it was driving and in position to start taking control of a game that saw its offense start slow with a failed fourth-down conversion and two punts.
That’s when the kind of play that has haunted Maye early in 2026 returned at the worst possible time.
Maye had the matchup he wanted — tight end Eli Raridon on a little seam route against a retreating linebacker in D'Marco Jackson. But the throw was too flat and thrown to the wrong shoulder. Jackson was able to turn his head and see the football coming right at him, and he made the interception to crush a Patriots drive that was humming; they hadn’t even faced a third down on that series and were on the verge of scoring back-to-back touchdowns to take their first lead.
Disgusted, Maye flipped his helmet up on his forehead and walked off in disbelief. He hadn't thrown an interception since New England's Week 3 disaster at Jacksonville, but this one was as brutal as any of the eight he’s thrown this season.
The Bears swung the momentum with a 10-play, 80-yard drive to take a 20-7 lead, and although the Patriots scored a miraculous touchdown right before halftime to hang around, that sequence in the second quarter tilted the game in Chicago’s favor.
But unlike Weeks 1 through 3, which saw Maye throw seven interceptions and the media machine churn out takes wondering if he would ever play good football again, Thursday night’s one big misfire hit differently.
Drake Maye responded to his biggest mistake exactly how the Patriots needed him to
It was the kind of seismic blunder that has often spiraled on New England’s young QB, with this year’s fourth quarter against the Seahawks and just about the entire game against the Jaguars the latest examples.
This time, Maye responded with arguably the most impressive two quarters-plus of football of his Patriots tenure, given the moment.
Drake Maye's film was very impressive vs. Bears despite the loss and EZ INT. Dennis Allen threw the kitchen sink at him, and Maye handled everything extremely well. Wasn't perfect, of course, but bodes well for the future
— Greg A. Bedard (@GregABedard) October 24, 2026
His teammates noticed it on the sideline. Patriots fans should, too.
"Probably the most talented quarterback I've played with in terms of letting things go and going out there and competing no matter what,” Patriots edge defender Dre’Mont Jones said after the game. “He's a hell of a player."
Drake Maye's response could be a turning point for the rest of 2026
It’s hard to believe, but we’re already approaching the midpoint of the regular season. The Patriots will sit at 4-3 and in second place in the AFC East entering a Week 8 road game against Miami.
Any remaining chatter on the validity of Maye’s huge performances against the Bills, Raiders, and Jets just became moot. The All-Pro quarterback Patriots fans watched for the majority of last season is very much back.
Maye’s ability to rise up instead of wilt spoke volumes on Thursday night. The wild 48-yard touchdown pass he threw to Rhamondre Stevenson to close the half was probably more play design, Stevenson, and egregious defensive pursuit, but Maye’s second half was full of the pinpoint decision-making that Mike Vrabel has been looking for.
The Bears opened the second half with a nine-play, 72-yard touchdown drive to extend their lead to 27-14. Playing on a short week on the road against an opponent outside of the conference, that was a “ball-game” type of moment.
The Patriots immediately punched back, with Maye leading a seven-play scoring drive that featured seven pass attempts. It ended with Maye hitting Raridon on the exact same route he threw the interception on, this time timing the pass perfectly to hit Raridon in stride for a 30-yard touchdown.
Credit the Bears from there for making more plays during a penalty-filled fourth quarter.
Caleb Williams made some big-time throws. Linebacker Devin Bush made a huge open-field tackle on Maye to keep him short of the sticks on a third down near midfield. Chicago dialed up a blitz that resulted in a 10-yard sack to blow up another Patriots drive with momentum teetering New England’s way. Cairo Santos drilled a career-long 58-yard field goal to push the deficit to two scores and out of reach with 1:34 remaining.
It was a tough loss for the Patriots, but we learned more about the quarterback than when he obliterated the Las Vegas Raiders a few weeks ago.
With two backup guards, one starting wide receiver out of the lineup (Romeo Doubs), and another wideout clearly operating at less than 100 percent (A.J. Brown), Maye found an elite balance between taking the easy money when it was there while also attacking downfield.
After the second-quarter interception, Maye completed 14 of his 17 passes for 218 yards. He threw touchdown passes of 48 and 30 yards. Eleven of his 14 completions went for a 13-plus-yard gain.
If that’s the Maye the Patriots are going to get entering the meat of their 2026 schedule, they’re going to be right back in the thick of the AFC playoff race.
And they probably will be for years to come.
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