Drake Maye's repeated blunder threatens the Patriots' postseason dreams

Going into the Patriots' first playoff game since the 2021 season, there was a lot of chatter surrounding Drake Maye and how he would perform in the biggest game of his career, and whether he would remain the calm, cool, and collected quarterback he has proven to be.

While he certainly lived up to that expectation, there were also some mistakes that could have easily swung the game in the Chargers' favor. Although they didn't, they were still costly and will need to be cleaned up before hosting the Steelers or Texans next week.

The most problematic mistake with the 23-year-old continues to be turnovers, specifically when being sacked. It happened again on Sunday night against the Chargers, with Maye being strip-sacked halfway through the third quarter while the Patriots were only up three points.

He had already thrown an interception earlier in the game, and then was saved by left guard Jared Wilson recovering another fumble on what would have been a second strip sack in the fourth quarter.

These are the kinds of mistakes that could eliminate their chances to make it past the divisional round, and it will need to be a point of emphasis for Maye this week at practice.

Drake Maye's avoidable mistakes could become a bigger problem down the road

Given his overall inexperience, but especially in the playoffs, it's not out of the ordinary for Maye to have some hiccups, as we saw against the Chargers. The problem, however, is that many of the mistakes he made, most importantly, the fumbles, are things he needed to be better about during the regular season and has now allowed them rear their ugly head in the postseason.

He lucked out that the defense was on fire on Sunday night, allowing the Chargers to score just three points; otherwise, those turnovers could have led to a lot of heartbreak for the team and Patriots fans.

And because of that, he needs to get better about just taking the sack rather than forcing the football out or making himself vulnerable to a strip sack, or they will be in a lot more trouble the further they get in the playoffs.

At the same time, the offensive line needs to be better, too, particularly on the left side, to ensure that Maye isn't trying to do too much. That will inevitably lead to more mistakes, and they won't be afforded the same opportunity to shut down future opponents the longer they're in the playoffs, as the competition will only become more difficult.

Whatever Maye has to do at practice this week needs to be done. Ball security should always be a priority, and after this game, it might need to be No. 1.