The pressure is on Drake Maye and the Patriots as they head into their primetime matchup with the Bears on Thursday night, hoping to extend their three-game win streak after a rough start to the season. They've beaten the Bills, Raiders, and Jets in mostly impressive fashion, and now face an NFC contender on the road in a short week.
It will be a pivotal moment for their season, perhaps even more than their Week 5 game against the Bills, which seemed to turn their luck around. And a big part of that will be how Maye performs and whether he can maintain the level of play he's been on for the past month.
He appears to be back in MVP-caliber form lately, and he will be tested again against a strong defense this week. Expectations are that he will keep the momentum going and limit the turnovers that plagued the offense in the first three games, and Mike Vrabel clearly counts on that, too.
The head coach said as much while speaking to reporters this week, and it's apparent it was a message sent to the quarterback ahead of a potentially season-altering game.
Mike Vrabel is counting on Drake Maye to keep his current performance going in Week 7
This isn't the first time that Vrabel has appeared to use the media as a way to make a point to his team, or more specifically, Maye, and based on his comments about his decision-making this week, it would be fair to say that he will be feeling the pressure even more on Thursday night.
While discussing the biggest points of emphasis for this week's game, Vrabel said he hopes Maye "makes great decisions" and that this is the "most important thing" if they want a chance to beat the Bears this week.
The quarterback has come a long way in that aspect compared to his consistent turnovers and bad decision-making in the first three weeks of the season. He racked up 6 interceptions in Weeks 1 through 3 and 2 fumbles, one of which he lost, sealing the win for his opponents.
It was clearly a lack of confidence and a mindset of forcing plays when there was none to be made, leading to turnovers, sacks, and mistakes that got the offense off the field. That's a recipe for disaster, as we all saw, and he's made the effort to end it since the game against the Bills three weeks ago.
The hope is that he can keep building on what he's done over the past few games, even with a depleted offensive line, Alijah Vera-Tucker and Ben Brown already ruled out, and two receivers, Romeo Doubs and Mack Hollins, on injured reserve.
It won't be easy on a short week in a hostile environment like Chicago, but Maye has shown he'll do what it takes to lead the Patriots to another win. And avoiding turnovers will be a huge part of that, as Vrabel said.
If Maye can eliminate turnovers, there's no reason to doubt the Patriots can steal another road win. It's a lot of pressure, but he clearly understands it and can handle it. We'll just have to see it again on Thursday night.
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