An MVP-caliber season put Drake Maye on every team's radar last season so that they couldn't overlook him in their matchups this year. That has created issues for the quarterback, since his opponents finally had real tape to study, and it has contributed to his less-than-ideal start over the past month.
We saw a much-needed bounce-back game from him against the Bills last week, and his confidence noticeably shifted after that game. He looked like the player who fell just one vote shy of winning MVP in 2025, completing 22/37 passes for 269 yards and 3 touchdowns (with one interception).
It was the kind of performance the Bills hoped would be pushed back for one more game, as they wanted to keep their win streak going in the season and at their new stadium, a point defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard made clear going into the matchup.
"But you know, great players are eventually going to come out the other side. You just hope it’s after you play them.”
Luckily for the Patriots, that didn't happen, and whether he is learning from Leonhard's mistake or if he just knows better in general, Raiders' head coach Klint Kubiak isn't taking the risk of being so honest with his hopes about Maye struggling, and that might be his best decision ahead of the game.
Klint Kubiak takes a smarter approach with his Drake Maye assessment ahead of Patriots matchup
Although it's far from set in stone that Maye will carry forward the momentum he established last Sunday when the Raiders come to Foxboro this weekend, it certainly sent a message that the quarterback seen last season is still there, and opponents will have to adapt accordingly.
It would be easy to prepare for the player he looked like in the first three weeks of the season, and that's what the Bills were hoping to see on the field. But Kubiak is smarter than that: he acknowledged Maye's struggles but also highlighted how much respect they have for him going into this matchup, given what they know he can do.
“He’s a player that we have a ton of respect for. Very dangerous with his legs, with his ability to throw the ball down the field, and a player that has all of our respect and all of our attention.”
Some of the Patriots' big rivals might want to downplay what Maye can do on the field, hoping he'll keep playing the way he started the season, but his struggles may be a thing of the past now that they're hoping to continue their upward trajectory after beating the Bills.
They went into their Week 5 matchup against Buffalo last season with a 2-2 record and went on a 10-game winning streak after beating them.
Maybe that's hoping for too much this year, given their struggles have been much different and much worse than at the start of the 2025 season. However, they're about to take on a stretch of schedule that is much easier than what they have already faced.
That doesn't mean the Raiders won't be a problem; they were undefeated until last week and put up a strong fight against the Chiefs, so you can't overlook them. But this is a big opportunity for the Patriots to get their season back on track, and Maye will need to lead that effort with another impressive showing on Sunday.
Drake Maye can lead the Patriots to another win-streak if they can take down the Raiders
The 2025 season was not expected to be anything but a building-block year for the Patriots, given the new head coach and staff, a second-year quarterback, and a revamped roster.
It would've made sense, given the circumstances the team was dealing with, for another season that wasn't all that memorable, but that changed quickly after they beat the Bills on the road and went on a tear against every opponent after that.
It put New England back on the map for the first time since Tom Brady left in 2020, after four years without a winning record.
Their efforts ended the regular season 14-3, with an AFC East title and, eventually, the conference Championship. They made a Super Bowl appearance, maybe too early for some, and went into the 2026 season with the highest expectations in years.
They have a chance to replicate that kind of success after beating the Bills and welcoming the Raiders to Gillette Stadium on Sunday. It would give the entire team, especially Maye, and could become the catalyst for another impressive run.
Most analysts predict that won't happen, as their pre-season takes suggest the Patriots will be a wild-card playoff team, if they make it at all. But Maye can defy those odds, as he did last year, if he can keep last week's performance going and prove the ongoing narrative about him as a quarterback even more wrong.
It won't be easy, but last week's win proved they can do it.
Add us as a preferred source on Google