It was obvious, it would seem, to anyone on hand at Gillette Stadium on Sunday as the Patriots throttled the Browns, 32-13, that the home crowd thought highly of quarterback Drake Maye. Late in the third quarter, when Maye scrambled for a wide-open 28-yard run up the field, Patriots backers were raining down chants of “M-V-P!” in Maye’s direction.
On the very next play, he dropped a perfect touchdown pass for 39 yards to Kayshon Boutte, and the chants grew louder.
Except to the one guy who was the subject of the chants, Maye himself. Asked about the decidedly biased crowd’s MVP designation, Maye claimed no knowledge.
“No, 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.
Drake Maye Led Big Afternoon vs. Browns
That sounds dubious, and Maye might well be sidestepping any linkage to the MVP conversation by claiming to have been drowned out. But it is worth mentioning that he did have a truly horrendous slide to close the 28-yard run, which ended more in a confused crumble-to-the-turf than in a slide.
As Patriots coach Mike Vrabel said, ” 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.”
If that’s the main critique of Maye, then all is well in New England. On Sunday, despite taking six sacks–five, yes five (!) by Myles Garrett–Maye threw for 282 yards and three touchdowns, logging his first interception since Week 3. He also ran for 50 yards, leading a Patriots offense that put up 422 yards against the No. 1 defense in the NFL.
It marked the first time a team has gained 350 yards against Cleveland, let alone 400.
Patriots Backers ‘Have Been Through It’
Maye appreciated the attention from the fans, even if he did not quite hear it. After trudging through the misery of 2024’s 4-13 mess, the atmosphere has been considerably different. The Patriots are now 6-2 on the season.
“The fans have been awesome all season. It’s been really cool really to see the difference from last year to this year,” he said.
“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. We did the intros today for the first time, so we didn’t know how that would go. That was pretty cool. I know the fans have been awesome. Like I said, I think they’re the best fans in the league, and they continue to show out every week.”
Drake Maye Encouraged by Patriots ‘Bouncing Back’
What was especially encouraging for the Patriots is that this game was a slog for the first half, as the Patriots took a 9-7 lead into the locker room before exploding in the second half. The interception and the sacks were problematic, but Maye and the offense showed the ability to fight through it and pour on the points nonetheless.
“Just bouncing back,” he said. “I threw an early interception. We talked about it all week, kind of what they strived on their defense, putting their offense in good positions. … But just bouncing back from adversity. This is that league. One of the best players on the edge, maybe one of the best players in the league on the edge.
“So just battling back and continuing to run it in play action and boot and just trying to keep the defense off its — trying to be unpredictable on offense. I think Coach called a great game. Good to handle adversity and come out of halftime, and to score three touchdowns in the third quarter was big.”
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