Ryan Fitzpatrick just confirmed the AFC's worst fear about Drake Maye

After an impressive rookie season in the most undesirable circumstances, the hype surrounding Patriots quarterback Drake Maye was high going into 2025. There was an overwhelming belief that he would have a big second-year jump under new leadership, and he's already accomplished that and then some, including instilling fear about New England's return to relevancy just five years after Tom Brady left for the Bucs.

Fans around the league celebrated the downfall of the longtime evil empire and hoped their demise would continue for much longer than just five seasons. But the arrival of OC Josh McDaniels and head coach Mike Vrabel ensured that wouldn't continue, and now the AFC, especially the AFC East, are nervous about what they can help lead the Patriots to this year and beyond.

At this point, Maye is already a frontrunner for this season's MVP award, only behind 17-year veteran QB Matthew Stafford, and the Patriots are in contention to not only win the division but also possibly the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs.

It's sending shivers down rivals' spines, even those who no longer play like Ryan Fitzpatrick, who just said the quiet part out loud that the Patriots' opponents don't want to admit about the 23-year-old quarterback.

Ryan Fitzpatrick joins a long list of NFL analysts and fans not happy about the Patriots' success this season

After Maye helped lead the Patriots to a comeback win over the Ravens on Monday Night Football last week, Fitzpatrick and Andrew Whitworth spoke about the impact he has already made on the team and the league, prompting the former quarterback to admit that Maye is on a path to take over the AFC East sooner rather than later.

The way he sounds so miserable having to admit this about a team that he has hated for so long, mostly because he played for all three other AFC East teams, and his long-standing one-sided rivalry with Tom Brady is something Patriots fans can't help but eat up.

The impressive rise of Maye is something analysts and fans around the league are finally taking notice of, and given how dominant the Patriots were for so long, it's an absolute nightmare scenario that nobody outside of New England wants to see.

That will become even worse for them if the Patriots manage to win the No. 1 seed, or, even if they don't, go on a long playoff run or even make the Super Bowl.

Considering this season wasn't expected to be anything better than an eight-win year, the Patriots have shocked everyone with what they have accomplished already, and those who don't want to see it are in for a ride to end the year they'll wish they could get off.

Fortunately for us Patriots fans, we're enjoying every minute of this season and can't wait to see what they can do, especially now that the rest of the NFL is dreading it.