Drake Maye led all NFL quarterbacks in several categories last season, including a quarterback rating of 113.5. Two games into 2026, his rating has plummeted to a near-league-worst 63.1.
Everyone’s searching for answers, especially Patriots fans. The easiest scapegoat is the play caller, and Josh McDaniels has caught plenty of heat with New England averaging a putrid 11.5 offensive points per game, 30th in football.
But while it was fair to call it the McDaniels offense in 2025, that’s no longer the case. This is supposed to be the Maye offense now, and the slow start is a definite cause for concern.
As Boomer Esiason said during a recent appearance on WEEI Sports Radio, McDaniels might need to adjust some things to help Maye break out of his current funk.
But the core issue isn’t the play calling. Maye hasn’t yet rediscovered the confidence of last year’s magical run that saw him seriously enter the MVP conversation, and the Patriots need him to find it now with tough road games against Jacksonville and Buffalo on deck.
“For those people who want to get rid of Josh McDaniels — they’re out of their minds,” Esiason said. “He coached an MVP-style quarterback last year. He coached one of the greatest quarterbacks — if not the greatest quarterback — of all time, and I would suggest that Drake Maye will play better as the season goes on.
“He’s just gotten off to a really bad start. I would say it’s a slow start. I mean, the three interceptions against Seattle were just mind-numbing. But, again, he’s lost A.J. Brown, and this is where Josh has got to step up. There’s no question about that. But I wouldn’t really pay too much attention to what’s going on on social media. … We’ve got a long way to go, and Drake Maye is just too good of a player to look like this through 17 games.”
Josh McDaniels can provide the answers, but Drake Maye has to execute them
Nothing on offense has been good enough so far this season, and that includes the play calling. But there have been plays to be had, and Maye has looked tentative and unsure of himself and what he’s seeing at times.
The competition could be the main issue. It’s no secret that Maye and the Patriots struggled when facing Cover 6 during last year’s playoff run, especially against Mike Macdonald’s rotational split-field variations in Super Bowl LX.
New England’s first two opponents this year were Seattle and Pittsburgh, and those teams rank first and second, respectively, in zone coverage rate, per Sharp Football Analysis. The Seahawks have sat in a zone 91.2% of the time. The Steelers are close behind at 89.1%.
Few are better in the NFL at scheming up a game plan than McDaniels, especially when he knows the style of game he’s getting. Maye may have the answers to the test pre-snap, as Tom Brady used to say, but he hasn’t yet mastered processing that information fast enough in real time.
That’s understandable. It’s still early. Maye just turned 24 at the end of August, and he was so good throughout the 2025 season that defenses now have the blueprint to slow him down. He’ll have the luxury of McDaniels’ experience in his back pocket, but as he’s consistently stated during his postgame press conferences, it’s on the quarterback to play better football and get this thing back on the rails.
There are no excuses, even without your No. 1 wide receiver.
Week 2 offered signs that Drake Maye is already finding answers
It didn’t feel like it, as the Patriots only scored one offensive touchdown against the Steelers, but Week 2 was an improvement. New England’s biggest plays in the game — TreVeyon Henderson’s 39-yard touchdown run and Romeo Doubs’ 63-yard reception from Maye — came against Cover 6 looks.
Replacing McDaniels with an unproven play-caller like Thomas Brown or Todd Downing midseason would be a disaster. The coordinator isn’t the problem.
The Patriots need their MVP-level quarterback to perform at that elite level again, and, as Esiason points out, there’s no reason to believe Maye won’t catch fire and start carrying the team again at some point this season.
All fans can do is hope that he finds that secret sauce sooner rather than later.
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