Following back-to-back touchdown drives against the Cleveland Browns on Sunday, Drake Maye dropped back to pass but instead took off running, darting through am open lane as the offensive line parted in front of him.
The 28-yard scramble put the New England Patriots in position to threaten the scoreboard yet again, and as he popped up off the turf chants of “MVP!” rained down inside Gillette Stadium.
“I didn’t hear it. The guys were making fun of me about my slide back in the huddle on the long run,
so I didn’t hear it,” Maye said following the game. “But the fans have been awesome all season. It’s been really cool really to see the difference from last year to this year. Man, it’s been a journey. They’ve been through it, and the fans have been through it the last couple years. So it’s just credit to them.
“Like I said, I think they’re the best fans in the league, and they continue to show out every week.”
Maye’s execution on a rather awkward slide to end the run also received some criticism from his head coach.
“We’ve got to send him to Spring Training and figure out when to slide and continue to talk about that. I’ll do my best there,” Mike Vrabel said.
With the chants still ongoing as Maye dropped back to pass the very next play, the quarterback took a shot down the left sideline and lofted a perfect pass in the bucket to wide receiver Kayshon Boutte for a touchdown — Maye’s third of the quarter that put the exclamation point on an eventual 32-13 win.
“We worked into the boundary, and Kayshon liked it on that side. We worked on that side during the week. So we just kept it to that side,” Maye explained. “He made a great, great move on them and just trying to give him a chance. Thought I overthrew it again, but he made a nice adjustment to it and a great catch.”
The connection marked the duo’s fifth score of the year — which has Boutte believing in his quarterback’s MVP case.
“You all see what I see,” Boutte said. “I think if you look around the league at the other guys too, they’re doing great stuff too. I think Drake’s doing everything they’re doing, there’s not anything that he’s not doing. At the end of the day, we’re just playing football, we’re having fun with it too, just supporting my guys.”
After a slower start against a top-ranked Browns defense, Maye once again found his rhythm — finishing 18-of-24 with 282 yards and three touchdowns to one interception (his first since Week 3).
His poise and precision helped New England maintain its winning streak and once again pushed the young quarterback’s name into the franchise record books alongside Tom Brady’s.
“A lot of people have that second year slump, ain’t no slump for him,” wide receiver DeMario Douglas said. “He keep taking that step forward and he’ll be one of the greats from here. We got 12 already, you know Tom… I ain’t going to do any comparisons but I’m proud of him.”
