After leading the 4-13 Patriots to steal the division from the Bills, beat the 14-3 Broncos at home, and represent the AFC in the Super Bowl, Drake Maye was considered one of the best quarterbacks in the league at the ripe old age of 23.
It was a quick ascent to the top of the NFL in Year 2, falling only behind Matthew Stafford for the MVP Award, who is a seasoned veteran. It set expectations even higher for the 2026 season, especially since the team faced a brutal first stretch of games.
Maye was allowed to seek revenge against the Seahawks in Week 1, despite all the cards being stacked against him and the Patriots. Not only were they set to face a team with few turnovers on their roster, but it was a game in Seattle, on the night they unveiled their newest banner, surrounded by the loudest fans in the league.
It was far from an ideal start to the season, and New England couldn't prove the naysayers wrong, with Maye looking the worst. He was considered just fine through most of the game, only to completely fall apart in the fourth quarter when the team needed him most.
He literally and figuratively threw the game away, handing the win to the Seahawks with three interceptions on consecutive drives, with the last one being the ultimate stab in the heart, prompting many around the league to take victory laps and label the quarterback an overrated player.
It's gotten to the point where big accounts on Twitter/X are spreading misinformation about his record against winning teams and questioning whether he's really the quarterback of the future for the Patriots.
Fortunately, statistics prove there's nothing to worry about at this point.
Drake Maye's performance over the last 5 games might not be as alarming as you might think
As the narrative about Maye's past, present, and future grows, some notable Patriots fans have taken it upon themselves to put things in perspective, either to confirm that concerns about their quarterback are valid or to prove that what's being said is blown out of proportion.
Perhaps the most interesting was comparing Maye's last five games against the top defenses in the league to how other quarterbacks would have fared and seeing that the 24-year-old performed better, other than throwing more interceptions.
Drake Maye has faced one of the toughest 5-game defensive slates we've seen for a QB in recent memory: LAC, HOU, DEN, SEA, SEA.
— Daniel Rotman (@daniel_rotman15) September 13, 2026
So I asked: using 2025 defensive stats, what does an average QB put up over 5 games against those four defenses? Here's Maye vs. that baseline. pic.twitter.com/Utk11eVq1u
Seeing the stats side by side shows that Maye's performance isn't as bad as those on social media or analysts make it seem, which came under even more fire after Stafford's poor play against the Rams on Thursday night.
Regardless, Maye averaged a higher completion percentage, more total yards, and touchdowns than other quarterbacks are projected to have recorded, and considering they're likely more established in the league, that makes his performance look a bit better.
While this is good news, it doesn't mean that Maye doesn't have plenty to improve moving forward, hopefully as soon as their next game against the Steelers. Obviously, he needs to stop making careless mistakes and turning the ball over, most importantly, and not collapse under pressure.
If he can't figure that out, their season will be derailed early, and it won't be easy to get back on track.
The silver lining is that he's coming off one of the hardest five-game stretches he could face, and although he will still match up against tough defenses this month, it shouldn't be as difficult, helping him get back to the player Patriots fans immediately loved.
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