University of Kwazulu-Natal

He S My Mvp Drake Maye S Candidacy Picks Up After Another Patriots Win

Bonisiwe Shabane
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he s my mvp drake maye s candidacy picks up after another patriots win

Six years after Tom Brady left, Drake Maye has made it abundantly clear that the New England Patriots again have one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. Maddie Meyer / Getty Images FOXBORO, Mass. — Early in the third quarter, after the latest of Drake Maye’s wild plays that leave one wondering how in the world he pulls them off, the New England Patriots huddled, the ball 11... Maye tried to yell out the play call from Josh McDaniels, but his teammates in the huddle couldn’t hear him. Offensive linemen had to wave their arms, begging the home crowd to quiet down because the “M-V-P” chants were too loud.

Maye, fittingly, then promptly threw a beauty of a touchdown to the back of the end zone on a night when, even if his numbers weren’t off the charts, he showed a national audience... Maye has had better games and played in bigger games, but few have done more to boost and validate his MVP stock, given how he shined during the prime-time showcase of a 27-14 “Thursday... FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — With 11 seconds remaining in the first quarter Sunday, Drake Maye ditched the initial play call and alerted to a second read. The New England Patriots quarterback faked a handoff to running back TreVeyon Henderson then dropped back, unspooling a deep pass down the right sideline as Tampa Bay Buccaneers outside linebacker Yaya Diaby slammed Maye... Maye couldn’t see the ball’s destination in real time as he lay on the turf.

But he figured that if the ball reached receiver Kyle Williams, Williams would be well-positioned to take it home. And home did the rookie take Maye’s pass, canvassing 72 yards for a touchdown. The Patriots were 1,300 miles from their home stadium, and Maye was struggling through rain and Todd Bowles' blitzes. But Maye had shown enough electricity this season to elicit MVP chants even in the stadium of another quarterback who’d received his own MVP hype earlier this year. The chants weren’t limited to that one moment. Almost two-thirds of the way through the 2025 NFL season, the awards race is heating up.

There is much to debate this year and reasons aplenty to be excited by those debates, primarily due to the parity. After cycling through the same old frontrunners for MVP these past few years — Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes — it feels like someone new might emerge this season. And that's great for the sport. From second-year breakout Drake Maye, to a historic campaign from veteran running back Jonathan Taylor, there are a ton of compelling storylines and résumés to sift through. These awards are as much about narrative as they are production. Much can change over the next eight weeks, of course, but as things sit, here his how the NFL award races shape up in every major category.

Truly, what a season it has been for New England Patriots sophomore Drake Maye. An impressive rookie season under less than ideal circumstances still wasn't close to enough to prepare us for the breakthrough that was coming. Maye is completing 71.9 percent of his passes, with 2,836 passing yards, 20 touchdowns and five interceptions through 11 games. The few command issues we saw last season are resolved. Maye looks to be in complete control at all times, optimizing his incredible athleticism in and out of the pocket, with enough arm talent to ratchet up the distance and velo when called upon. New England was the most depressing team in the AFC last season, or close to it.

Now, the Patriots might mess around and win the AFC title. Same as it ever was. Matthew Stafford is 37 years old, fresh off a contract restructuring, and the man hasn't lost a step. This Los Angeles Rams offense might be the best in the NFL, capable of spreading the defense thin in a 1,000 differeny ways. Sean McVay deserves his standard credit for offensive genius, but Stafford remains a step ahead of the competition at all times. After roughly half a decade's absence from real Super Bowl contention, there's no need to deny reality anymore.

The 8-2 New England Patriots are back. Doubt Mike Vrabel's bunch at your own risk because they are a wagon. The biggest reason the Patriots are once again a superpower is the play of second-year quarterback Drake Maye. The former No. 3 overall draft pick has blossomed into a veritable superstar this season. At the time of this writing, Maye is on pace for over 4,300 yards passing, 32 touchdown passes, and just nine interceptions.

Oh, and he's also completing nearly 72 percent of his passes with a robust 8.9 yards per pass attempt while sitting No. 2 overall amongst all quarterbacks in composite Expected Points Added (EPA) and Completion Percentage Over Expected (CPOE). If I didn't know any better, that sounds like an NFL MVP-caliber season for Maye. Well, that's because it is. The question now is whether Maye really does have a legit shot of winning MVP in just his second season. Outside of Maye's stellar play, the best way to assess this is to see his current competition.

Let's take a quick look at the tale of the tape, at the time of publishing: Drake Maye continued his blistering start to the season on Sunday, completing 21 of 23 passes for 222 yards and two touchdowns against the Titans. Johnnie Izquierdo / Getty Images Drake Maye did a good job in his postgame news conference Sunday evening after another win, praising his head coach and deflecting the celebration over a 5-2 start onto the man who has orchestrated... He talked eloquently about how the players show up for Mike Vrabel and about how much a win in Tennessee surely meant to the head coach. But when it was time for a question about Maye’s own performance, about how he’d taken down Tom Brady’s franchise record for completion percentage in a game, Maye didn’t quite know what to say.

In his usual “aw, shucks” way, he tried to pivot to those around him. “Those guys are making plays for me, those guys up front are blocking their butts off and in the passing game, they’re going to go make plays for me, and I think we’re just... Patriots quarterback Drake Maye looks for a receiver as Jets linebacker Quincy Williams moves in during the second half of Thursday night’s game at Gillette Stadium. New England prevailed, 27-14. BEFORE Thursday’s game even kicked off, the chants began echoing around Gillette Stadium. They continued for the next three-plus hours, through the Patriots’ three touchdown drives, their game-clinching kneel-downs and their second-year quarterback’s victorious jog toward the locker room.

They drowned out the audio on Amazon Prime’s postgame show, even as their target did his best to downplay them. They were chanting, of course, for Drake Maye, who boosted his legitimate MVP candidacy with another standout performance in a 27-14 victory over the Jets. In the first prime time home game of his young career, Maye completed 25 of 34 passes for 281 yards and one touchdown with no turnovers to lead 9-2 New England to its eighth... Brian Hoyer knows a thing or two about playing with MVP-caliber quarterbacks. After all, he was front and center in New England when Tom Brady was ruling the NFL's quarterback kingdom with the Patriots. When it comes to national pundits downplaying current Patriots' signal-caller Drake Maye's play, Hoyer is tired of hearing it.

Maye's current numbers - 1,744 passing yards, 12 touchdowns to just two interceptions, and a 75.2 completion percentage - scream MVP candidate. Yes, the season is only seven games old and the Patriots have a long way to go, starting with Sunday's home game against Cleveland, but it's impossible to deny that Maye is performing at... MVP candidate and no one can tell me I’m crazy for saying that. https://t.co/RZeRctCYCU When you add in Maye's rushing touchdowns, he's accounted for 14 TDs this year, and he hasn't turned the football over since Week 3. Hoyer is not crazy, and it's time for the rest of the league to buy into what Maye and the Patriots are doing.

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