Five days before Drake Maye took the field Thursday night, Tampa Bay head coach Todd Bowles dialed up something new to try and slow down the young gunslinger.
Throughout the Week 10 matchup, Bowles’ usual
aggressive defense instead dropped eight players into coverage on seven dropbacks — the most by a Tampa Bay defense since Week 4 of 2022. On those drop backs, Maye went just 3-of-7 for 26 yards.
Aaron Glenn and the New York Jets took night.
In a Thursday night battle in Foxboro, the Jets forced Maye to work underneath playing man coverage a season-low 21.6 percent of the time while blitzing Maye on just 29.7 percent of his drop-backs (below their 34.2 percent season average). This time, however, the quarterback responded with his work moving inside the pocket and then making plays on the run standing out in a 27-14 win.
It was another performance that led to more “MVP!” Chants echoing throughout Gillette Stadium as Maye’s +0.30 expected points added per drop-back was his fifth-highest mark of the season. Here’s how he got there.
Drive 2
1-10-NE 17 (12:43) D. Maye pass deep left to H. Henry to NE 40 for 23 yards. After leading a 13-play touchdown drive to start the game, Maye’s second drive started with a staple from Josh McDaniels. A play-action fakes pull up three second-level Jet defenders while tight end Hunter Henry releases on a crosser behind them. Maye lofts one right over linebacker Quincy Williams, who is recovering in a “robot” technique with his back to the quarterback, which Henry hauls in for a 23-yard drive starter.
2-11-NYJ 46 (9:14) D. Maye pass short middle to M. Hollins to NYJ 27 for 19 yards. Over midfield, Maye’s work in the pocket starts to show. Coming off a covered Pop Douglas to his left, Maye works to a dagger concept (dig plus vertical) and check down option to his right. With pressure coming down on him, Maye strongly keeps two hands on the football and rips through the pocket before escaping to his right where he then remains a passer to find a wide open Mack Hollins for 19 yards. Two plays later, TreVeyon Henderson found the end zone again to take a 14-7 lead.
Drive 6
Behind penalties and a missed field goal to end the half, New England’s offense was relatively quiet over their next few possessions. That was until Drake Maye put together an MVP-level drive to extend the Patriots lead to two possessions in the third quarter.
1-10-NE 31 (11:16) D. Maye pass deep middle to M. Hollins to NE 48 for 17 yards. The drive starts with another chunk gain to Hollins on another dagger concept. With Diggs’ vertical clearing out the Jets linebacker over the middle of the field, the passing lane is open to Hollins filling in from left-to-right. Maye’s pass is slightly high as it must be out of the reach of cornerback Jarvis Brownlee Jr. in a short zone, but the 6-foot-4 Hollins is able to make the grab.
2-8-50 (10:01) D. Maye pass deep right to S. Diggs to NYJ 29 for 21 yards. Maye’s pocket movement shines again. With pressure coming off both tackles, Maye again rips through with two hands to step up in the pocket and find Diggs wide open on a crosser — as Hollins’ underneath routes occupies the corner in Diggs’ zone — for an explosive gain.
1-10-NYJ 29 (9:16) D. Maye pass short right to S. Diggs to NYJ 11 for 18 yards. The very next play, Maye works out of the pocket to his right again (potentially passing up an open Kyle Williams over the middle due to some pressure from a Jets pass rusher working against Hunter Henry) and takes a page straight out of Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes’ book. Working along the sideline, Maye flips a pass to Diggs with two defenders closing on the QB which the receiver takes for 18 more yards.
“That trust [between Diggs and I] was built up probably when I was in middle school when he was playing in the league. It was long ago,” Maye said after the game. “Guys like him, Hunter [Henry] and Mack [Hollins], you trust those guys for what they’ve done in this league. I just try to give them chances.”
2-5-NYJ 6 (7:51) D. Maye pass short left to T. Henderson for 6 yards, TOUCHDOWN. Two plays later, McDaniels dials up another staple that led to many touchdowns for James White. With two crossers working from left-to-right, Henderson (corner) and Diggs (underneath) work out of the backfield to Maye’s left. A pump fake to Diggs pulls three Jets defenders in that area which lets Maye to step up and loft one to the rookie back uncovered in the end zone.
Drive 7
After the Jets marched back down the field to cut the deficit to just one score, Maye responded by leading a 10-play field goal drive to extend the lead back to two possessions in the fourth quarter.
2-20-NE 18 (2:45) D. Maye pass short middle to H. Henry to NE for 10 yards. Following a first-down penalty, New England finds themselves behind the sticks and backed up inside their own 20. However, they need just one play to get the penalty yardage back as Maye finds Henry sitting down at the 10-yard mark to set-up a manageable third-down for the QB.
3-10-NE 28 (2:04) D. Maye pass short left to D. Douglas to NYJ 46 for 26 yards. New England gets man-to-man on third-down which leaves DeMario Douglas one-on-one on a crosser over the middle of the field. Maye hits him right and stride to overcome the penalty and move the chains, while the shifty receiver adds even more yards after the catch to kickstart the field goal drive.
