For much of the regular season, Drake Maye carried the New England Patriots to victory. In the wild card playoff round against the Los Angeles Chargers, however, others had to do the heavy lifting.
Celebrating a 16-3 victory at Gillette Stadium on Sunday night, the defense was the star of the show. Maye’s performance, meanwhile, was a mixed bag that included displays of his elite playmaking ability as well as some inaccurate passes and ball security concerns.
Unsurprisingly, the Pro Bowler stressed
the need for improvement afterwards.
“Wasn’t pretty, that’s for sure, but this defense was so fun to watch,” Maye said during is postgame presser. “They won the game for us. I didn’t throw very well tonight. Need to be better. We did what we had to do. That’s what it takes in the playoffs.”
Maye finished the game hitting 17 of 29 passes for a completion rate of 58.6%, his second lowest of the season. He gained 268 yards through the air and threw one touchdown and interception each, while also rushing for 69 yards on seven carries.
In addition, Maye also was sacked on five occasions and fumbled the ball twice. One of those fumbles ended up with the Chargers, while the other was recovered by teammate Jared Wilson.
“We’ve got to take care of the football,” said head coach Mike Vrabel after the game. “Thought he came through when we needed him. The tipped pass is something that was unfortunate, that turned into an interception. But the throw to Hunter [Henry] I thought when we needed him was elite.”
Maye shared a similar assessment, but also made sure to give his teammates on offense their due.
“Just got to be better, whether it’s accuracy or ball placement or little things, making decisions faster,” Maye said. “Held onto the ball a little bit tonight. Finally got one in the end. I missed [Austin Hooper] on a touchdown. Feel like I missed [DeMario Douglas] on a third down low.
“It wasn’t my best tonight. But that’s why you have teammates, those guys picked me up. Never lost confidence. Was still slinging it around. Kayshon [Boutte] made some big plays, came after the ball twice on some big plays. That’s the thing about us, we spread it around, can do a lot of things.”
