New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye looks on before Super Bowl game amid criticism of his postseason performance.
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New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye looks on before the Super Bowl as criticism mounted over his postseason performance.
The New England Patriots surprised the NFL by winning 14 regular season games and getting all the way to the record 12th Super Bowl appearance in franchise history. But they lost the championship game in one-sided fashion to the Seattle Seahawks, and now the Patriots and 23-year-old quarterback Drake Maye face an offseason with plenty of work to do.
Maye, especially, came under a storm of criticism for his performance in the Super Bowl — which only makes the news he received this week more encouraging. Though Maye ended up with respectable-seeming Super Bowl numbers, completing 63 percent of his passes for 295 yards and 2 touchdowns, he also committed 3 turnovers — 2 interceptions and a fumble that resulted in a scoop-and-score TD for Seahawks linebacker Uchenna Nwosu.
With Maye under center, the Patriots failed to put any points on the board for the first 3 quarters, throwing both of his TD passes for 13 points in the fourth.
Former Super Bowl-winning Dallas Cowboys Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman called Maye overmatched with “absolutely no chance” to beat Seattle. National sports talk host Colin Cowherd ripped Maye as “overwhelmed” and “over his skis” in the big game. Even an on-air personality on local Boston radio station WEEI bashed Maye, saying he “acted like a baby” during the game.
And those attacks from the media paled in comparison to the vitriol leveled at Maye by fans online.
Patriots QB Gets Welcome Respect in This Week’s News
With the heartbreaking way his season ended, followed by NFL media and fans rubbing salt in his wounds, Maye could only have been encouraged, even thrilled, to see the news this week that a highly respected NFL analyst, Nick Shook of NFL.com, came out with his final ranking of all 63 quarterbacks who started at least one NFL game in the just-concluded season.
Maye came out ranked No. 4, despite having now made only 33 NFL starts after two seasons. In fact, of the top 10 quarterbacks in Shook’s ranking, all had at least five years of experience, most more than that, except for Maye and Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams, who each had only two.
The No. 1-rated quarterback, in Shook’s estimation, was the Los Angeles Rams‘ Matthew Stafford, who has now played 17 seasons in the NFL. Second was Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen with eight years, and third, Dak Prescott of the Dallas Cowboys, who is 10 years into his career.
Maye Put Up ‘Incredible Season’: Expert
Though Maye’s performance dropped off in the postseason, in the regular season he was so spectacular that he finished a close second to Stafford in MVP voting.
“Drake Maye nearly won NFL MVP but certainly didn’t look the part in the postseason. After producing an incredible season in only his second year, Maye looked like a sophomore starter in the playoffs, struggling to find the consistency that defined his campaign,” Shook wrote. “He made big plays in key spots, sure, but struggled with turnovers all the way through Super Bowl LX, a game in which his youth was painfully evident. Luckily, he’s only 23 and has plenty of learning experiences already under his belt.”
Maye himself said after the Super Bowl that losing the game was “tough,” but that he would use it as “fuel” to improve for next season.