For the first time since Tom Brady’s final season with the franchise in 2019, the New England Patriots are AFC East champions again.
New England cruised to a dominating 42-10 win over the division rival New York Jets last weekend, and because the Buffalo Bills fell 13-12 to the Philadelphia Eagles, the Pats locked up the division title.
The Patriots also kept hope alive of claiming the No. 1 seed in the AFC — and all they have to do is defeat the Miami Dolphins on Sunday and hope the Denver Broncos lose to the Los Angeles Chargers.
A Broncos’ Week 18 win—regardless of what the Patriots do against the Dolphins—would drop New England to the No. 2 seed.
And while the Pats are getting ready for one AFC East foe, another one that has nothing to play for got some bad news on Saturday courtesy of New England.
Drake Maye Hit Leads to Punishment for Jets DE
New York Jets DE Jermaine Johnson received NFL punishment after his hit on New England Patriots QB Drake Maye in Week 17.
Maye had a career performance against the Jets at MetLife Stadium. He threw for 256 yards, 5 touchdowns, and zero interceptions with a near-perfect 157.0 passer rating.
But one of the biggest moments of that game also involved Maye, and it could’ve ended up worse than it actually was.
Late in the second quarter on a third-and-6, Maye dropped back and fired a pass to Stefon Diggs. The result was an incompletion, but New England was bailed out after a 15-yard roughing-the-passer penalty.
Jets defensive tackle Jowon Briggs and defensive end Jermaine Johnson both met at the quarterback, but it was Johnson who was flagged after Maye took a hit to the face and crumpled to the turf.
Johnson was fined $17,389 by the NFL on Saturday for a hit on a quarterback (blow to the head/neck), as announced by the league. Two other Jets players — Jordan Clark and Isaiah Davis — were fined $4,703 and $5,686, respectively, for taunting and use of the helmet.
Maye Gets Ringing Endorsement for MVP
Given Maye’s head-turning performance against the Jets, and Los Angeles Rams QB Matthew Stafford’s poor showing against the Atlanta Falcons (269 yards, 2 touchdowns, 3 interceptions), he’s now the betting favorite to win NFL MVP.
Maye heads into Week 18 with the best odds of winning the award (-295), per DraftKings Sportsbook, followed by Stafford (+225), San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey (+10000), and Jacksonville Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence (+10000).
And while most around the league are debating whether or not he should win over Stafford given New England’s easier schedule, The Ringer’s Bill Simmons explained exactly why that argument has no legs.
“You go through the advanced metrics, it’s so convincing for Maye, it’s like you almost have to look twice,” Simmons said. “Not to sound like a Boston homer, but I think this is crazy. The Pats have the No. 1 offense by EPA, Maye is at the top of every category or in the top three in EPA. … Maye is running for his life in a lot of these games.
“He’s threading the needle on these long bombs; he’s had 12 of the greatest throws I’ve seen in the history of the Patriots this season, and Matthew Stafford has Puka Nacua, the best receiver in the league who catches 5 yard passes and runs for 60, he’s had Davante Adams for most of the season, he has s a much better offensive line, he plays in doors, he has Sean McVay.
“But the big thing to me that I can’t believe isn’t part of this, the Rams, they’re the [expletive] 6 seed. The MVP almost always comes from the 1 seed or the 2 seed.”
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