Two games is not a season. It's not even enough to be a trend. But, as the New England Patriots struck out on a two-game winning streak, something became clear. Drake Maye stopped his downward spiral by perfecting his downfield one.
The first three weeks of the season put the 2025 NFL MVP runner-up's place as a franchise quarterback at risk. The deep touch that helped make the Patriots AFC Champions -- he completed 31 of 59 throws to travel at least 20 yards downfield -- fell apart. A.J. Brown's ankle sprain in the season opener didn't help, but Maye completed only six of 15 deep shots in New England's 1-2 start. He didn't have a touchdown pass on any of those throws, but did have four interceptions.
That was part of a larger theme. Maye was a disaster
with the ball. He committed seven total turnovers in Weeks 1-3 with just a single touchdown to show for it. With the Buffalo Bills surging, it looked like the Patriots' run atop the AFC East would be a short one.
Instead, the Bills helped jolt Maye back to life. He remembered he was one of the league's most efficient scramblers, using his legs in Week 4 to escape pressure and extend plays rather than force throws into traffic in a 29-26 victory in Buffalo. The Las Vegas Raiders offered a different challenge in Week 5. Vegas' only loss was in a one-possession game against the Kansas City Chiefs. Through four weeks, the Raiders' -0.119 expected points added (EPA) per play were second-best among NFL defenses. Las Vegas had won three straight against New England, including last year's season opener in Foxborough.
How would Maye respond? Pretty dang well, it turns out.
oh. my. 😮 @DrakeMaye2
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) October 11, 2026
📺 CBS pic.twitter.com/iu327WmMkx
Maye led a dissection of the Raiders defense, even after losing starting left tackle Will Campbell and important tailback TreVeyon Henderson to injury in the first half. He racked up 399 total yards and five touchdowns to push New England over .500 for the first time this season and back into the thick of the way-too-early AFC playoff race. Importantly, he did so while stretching the limits of his receiving corps and maintaining the downfield playmaking that defined his 2025 rise.
enjoy 🍿@DrakeMaye2 | @k_mmoneyyyy
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) October 11, 2026
📺 CBS https://t.co/tAh8vj8b5v pic.twitter.com/dCqqWhsq5K
All four of Maye's touchdown passes traveled at least 10 yards downfield. He threw completions of 20-plus air yards to Demario Douglas, Kyle Williams and Eli Raridon.
THIS IS A DIME.@DrakeMaye2 | @EliRaridon
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) October 11, 2026
📺 CBS pic.twitter.com/SJByiCW5zY
In all, Maye threw 13 of his 34 passes more than 10 yards downfield. He completed nine of them. It was his best aerial performance of the season, and it came in a blowout over a solid opponent (though one not nearly as good as a small sample size of defensive stops suggests). He was only sacked once despite iffy tackles forced to fend off Maxx Crosby. He made a third-and-one red zone run count with a legitimate juke to find the end zone and effectively ice the game in the third quarter.
Here you go!!!
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) October 11, 2026
📺 CBS https://t.co/ETjJyjw0Bq pic.twitter.com/ZYy7RjHrWx
After a 1:7 touchdown:turnover ratio in his first three games, Maye is at 8:2 after a pair of wins against teams that began the season 3-0. He's been asked to run the ball more often, totaling 15 carries the last two games, and used the space created that mobility and an uptick in play-action passes to find open targets downfield. Freezing safeties and keeping linebackers occupied with spy duties has been vital. While Maye held the ball for more than three seconds per snap Sunday, he was able to use that time to let his unheralded targets get open.
This is enormous, especially with A.J. Brown eligible to return from injured reserve as quickly as next week. Like in 2025, Maye has start the season in a 1-2 lull. But, like in 2025, he's also found a way to break through that by elevating unheralded players for big downfield gains. Last year, that was Kayshon Boutte and Mack Hollins. This year, it's been Douglas, Williams, Raridon and, yep, gotta post it again because nobody beat the Chiz: Efton Chism III .
We can't stop thinking about the @EftonChism catch 😌 pic.twitter.com/Mj1gLu1DVU
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) October 7, 2026
Bring the sideline, man-beating power of Brown into the mix and you add a wideout who demands brackets against a quarterback who can consistently find his one-on-one matchups and exploit them. Maye's 2025 rise was predicated on making passes he wasn't expected to complete. His 9.0 completion percentage over expected (CPOE) -- a measurement that compares a quarterback's completions against what they'd be expected to complete based on distance, pressure, coverage and other factors -- was best in the league and almost double second-place Brock Purdy's 4.9 CPOE.
Through the first three weeks of the season, Maye's 2.2 CPOE ranked 18th among starters. On Sunday? He dusted off a sterling 22.6 CPOE -- absolute masterclass stuff.
While much has been made of Maye's emergence against one of the league's softest schedules last season -- a concern amplified when he fell apart late against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 1 -- he's outgunned solid AFC opponents each of the last two Sundays. It's not enough to definitively say Maye is back, and the way he finished his 2025 suggests that, even if he is, there's still plenty of work to be done.
But it was enough to pull the Patriots out of an early season spiral with the kind of downfield accuracy that keeps defensive coordinators up at night. If he keeps this up, the rest of the AFC has a headache on its hands.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Drake Maye looks like his 2025 prime self. That's awful news for the AFC East.
