The New England Patriots were among the most successful teams at the 15th NFL Honors on Thursday night, taking home the trophies for Coach of the Year and Assistant Coach of the Year. But while Mike Vrabel and Josh McDaniels were recognized for their work this season in those respective categories, another candidate came up short.
Quarterback Drake Maye, who was a finalist for the Most Valuable Player Award, lost to the Los Angeles Rams’ Matthew Stafford. While not entirely unexpected given that Stafford had
already edged out Maye for a spot on the first All-Pro team last month, the eventual result was a close one.
In fact, with only five points separating the two, a single vote could have swung the outcome in Maye’s favor.
Whereas Stafford finished with 366 points and 24 first-place votes, according to the Associated Press, Maye garnered 361 total points as well as 23 first-place votes. The three remaining first-place votes went to Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen and his Los Angeles Chargers counterpart Justin Herbert, who earned two and one of them, respectively.
With those first-place votes worth 10 points apiece, and with the second- through fifth-place selections adding 5, 3, 2 and 1 points to a candidate’s tally, Maye would have overtaken Stafford had one of the other three voters made a different decision. Alas, he missed out on the trophy in the closest MVP race since 2003, when Peyton Manning and Steve McNair both finished with 16 votes and were jointly awarded the trophy.
The Patriots’ second-year quarterback, however, is likely not too worried about missing out on the MVP title. After all, he has his sights set on an even more prestigious honor: on Sunday, Maye and his team will take on the Seattle Seahawks with a Super Bowl on the line.
