Quarterback Drake Maye has the Patriots lined up for success this season.
Quarterback Drake Maye has the Patriots lined up for success this season.Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff
Fitting for this time of year, the Patriots’ surge in the form of a five-game winning streak represents a perfect storm with their quarterback play and schedule creating ideal conditions to blow away the competition and preseason expectations.
In his sophomore season, Drake Maye has developed into a football force of nature, the answer to the franchise quarterback rain dance. Contrast that with the fact that four of the five New England victories came against teams with unsettled long-term quarterback forecasts and unproven first- or second-year passers. I’m including the Panthers’ Bryce Young in the QB cold front even though he’s in Year 3 because he was benched last season and boasted 31 career starts, less than two full seasons, when the Patriots kicked off this win-a-palooza against him on Sept. 28.
The high performance of Maye and the relatively low pressure faced by the Patriots defense against inchoate/incapable QBs such as Young, Spencer Rattler (benched by the Saints), rookie Cam Ward (Titans), and Sunday’s latest victim, Cleveland Browns rookie Dillon Gabriel — never to be confused with Roman Gabriel — generated a tailwind propelling the 6-2 Patriots. They’re owners of first place in the AFC East and the No. 2 seed in the AFC.
Those nor’easter-themed alternate jerseys they unveiled are perfectly on-brand.
Yes, yes, Maye and the Patriots defeated reigning NFL MVP Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills, the rainmakers of the division, during this stretch. But that lofty level of competition is the equivalent of a 90-degree day in November during this run.
Precipitated by their QB upper hand, Mike Vrabel’s Patriots are doing exactly what he said he wanted them to prove they’re equipped to — take advantage of bad football. Bad football usually starts with poor quarterbacking.
Football America must find this unfair, the Patriots storming back to relevance behind a franchise quarterback generating high win warnings after back-to-back 4-13 seasons.
“It’s amazing. Winning is amazing. … It’s amazing to go out there and get the wins,” said cornerback Christian Gonzalez.
You could practically see the QB envy on the faces of the Browns players and staff following the Patriots’ 32-13 wipeout win. They competed in an air show with a paper plane passer.
The Browns’ top-ranked defense battered Maye with six sacks, five by freak of nature Myles Garrett, and 16 pressures. It didn’t matter.
Maye threw three touchdown passes, completed 75 percent of his passes, and joined Patrick Mahomes as the only quarterbacks under the age of 24 to register seven straight games with 200 yards passing and a passer rating of 100 or higher. Meanwhile, Browns fans are still pining for a Bernie Kosar-level QB.
“I mean, it was pretty much what we seen [on film], like he’s a great player,” said Browns cornerback Denzel Ward.
Maye enjoyed an embrace and jovial chat with Garrett postgame. Maye said the two know each other from a shoot they did together. Never blessed with a quarterback of this caliber while wasting away in Cleveland, Garrett gushed about Maye.
The Browns' Myles Garrett sacked Drake Maye five times Sunday, but had nothing but praise for the Patriots' second-year quarterback after the game.
The Browns' Myles Garrett sacked Drake Maye five times Sunday, but had nothing but praise for the Patriots' second-year quarterback after the game.Matthew J. Lee/Globe staff
“I think he is a great human being. I think he is a good quarterback who is soon to be a great quarterback,” said Garrett. “I like how he’s grown. I know it’s nice to be a part of his journey. Hate to be on this end of it. But it’s nice to see how he’s leading his team. He’s helped rebuild [them] into what they are now, so, in a way, I’m proud of him. I’m happy to see your success.”
It’s doubtful that other quarterback-starved franchises share Garrett’s sentiment. They’re all saying it’s too soon, post-Brady, for the Patriots to get showered with such good fortune.
Like the actual Perfect Storm, the powerful 1991 nor’easter that pounded Massachusetts, washed out Halloween, and spawned the Sebastian Junger novel by that name also adapted into a movie, no one saw this version of Maye coming.
No one saw him taking the NFL by storm, garnering torrents of “M-V-P” chants and pelting defenses with deep balls.
Maye leads the NFL in completion percentage (75.2) and quarterback rating (118.7), among qualified QBs. He’s fourth among NFL quarterbacks in rushing yards with 250. The only quarterbacks with more rushing yards this season are Justin Fields (288), Patrick Mahomes (280), and Allen (261).
Mahomes and Allen are dynamic, dual-threat MVP talents that confound defenses. That’s the direction Maye is trending in heavily.
Big Play Maye was on display on back-to-back plays in the third quarter against the Browns. He scrambled for 28 yards and, thankfully, if awkwardly, got down. On the next play, he tossed a deep dime to Kayshon Boutte for a 39-yard score.
With the proverbial wind at their back, the Patriots are poised to extend their win streak to six.
The forecast in Foxborough on Sunday calls for another clear advantage under center once again against the Atlanta Falcons, who will start either washed-up Kirk Cousins or second-year signal-caller Michael Penix Jr., a member of Maye’s draft class who runs hot and cold.
Of course, atmospheric conditions in New England always come with a caveat. In this case, it’s the 2021 Patriots, who ripped off seven straight wins behind a young quarterback wearing No. 10. They’re a cautionary tale about catching ideal conditions and then being unable to weather tougher competition when it matters most.
Maye is miles more talented than Mac Jones, and he’s not being propped up by Josh McDaniels the way Jones was.
However, that stretch in 2021 also featured the Patriots playing underwhelming and impeded offenses, including Vrabel’s Titans, sans running back Derrick Henry. It turned out that 2021 win streak was as much about who the Patriots played as how they played.
Hopefully, history doesn’t repeat itself.
The schedule does bring some headwinds after Atlanta. (How could it possibly get any easier?) The Patriots will see some more capable QBs: Tampa Bay’s Baker Mayfield, Allen, and, presumably, a healthy Lamar Jackson. Even ancient Joe Flacco, playing seat-filler in Cincinnati, represents an upgrade.
But, right now, the Patriots are enjoying a perfect storm of improvement, belief, and opposition.
Christopher L. Gasper is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at christopher.gasper@globe.com. Follow him @cgasper and on Instagram @cgaspersports.