Once it was clear the New England Patriots' win streak was going to continue, and it has now extended to seven games after their Week 10 win over the Bucs, the Drake Maye-MVP conversation began across the league. Although many expected he would have a second-year jump, it was almost unfathomable to consider he would be among the league's best quarterbacks in 2025.
But that has been the case so far, as he continues to reach new heights and break more franchise and league records with his performances. He has proven he is the real deal with just 22 starts in his career, and that was on full display again on Sunday in Tampa.
After helping to lead the Patriots to their 8th win of the season, and sporadically throughout the game, too, MVP chants were heard as Maye came off the field to head into the locker room. There was a sizeable crowd of Patriots fans in attendance for the game, and they made sure to let the quarterback know what they think of him this year.
Because of that, Maye was asked about the chants after the game, and he might have had the classiest response, completely indicative of the kind of player and man he is.
Drake Maye is quick to brush off MVP chants from Patriots fans and turns the attention to Baker Mayfield instead
Because this week's matchup was considered a battle between two MVP candidates between Maye and Bucs' QB Baker Mayfield, there was a lot of talk about what it would say about the player that came out the victor.
Despite the Patriots winning the game, Maye made sure to give credit to Mayfield, brushing off the MVP chants as likely for the veteran QB rather than for him.
#Patriots QB Drake Maye on receiving MVP chants in Tampa Bay:
— Carlos A. Lopez (@LosTalksPats) November 9, 2025
“They may be for Baker. Baker played his butt off. Big fan of Baker’s game, and they’re a good football team.”
(🎥 @NFLonCBS)pic.twitter.com/0jW8ozcbJK
It's another example of just how much Maye believes in the team-first mentality and not making situations about himself, expressing the kind of humility that made Patriots fans fall in love with Tom Brady, too.
It also shows just how respectful the young quarterback is to his opponents, even if some would chalk his answer up to being a PR response. He couldn't have answered the question any better, regardless of knowing that the chants were certainly for him.
Maybe he didn't want to take ownership of the acknowledgement from the fans, since his performance against the Bucs wasn't his best of the season. But he wasn't expected to have an easy game against one of the best defenses in the league again, especially their defensive line, so it's particularly impressive just how well he played despite that.
It will be exciting to see if he can get his MVP campaign back on track during this short week against the Jets, who look like an absolute mess coming into this game. Maye and the offense can hopefully take advantage of that and extend their win streak even more, with beatable opponents still left on the schedule.