FOXBOROUGH - The last time we saw Drake Maye play a game that mattered, he - like his teammates - wasn’t good enough. Oh sure, the final stats look like Maye did everything in his power to keep the Patriots within striking range of the superior Seahawks: 27-of-43 (62%), 295 yards, and 2 TDs.
But the reality was something entirely different. There were a pair of interceptions, 6 sacks (some of his own doing), and of those 295 yards, 235 came in the fourth quarter. Yes, that’s right, the player who narrowly missed out on the MVP award threw for 60 yards over the first three quarters. As Maye told us after the loss, he wished he could have a “redo” and play the game all over again, a sentiment many of his teammates shared as well.
On Wednesday night in Seattle, Maye and the Patriots get that chance, albeit with different stakes.
“You like to think it's a new year. You like to think that, but at the same time, you could go against an opponent that you just lost a Super Bowl against,” he said. “In the last game that I played and was out there, we lost to them in the biggest game. That's why you play the game for.
“So there's definitely - I would not say extra - just a little bit of, man, this is our chance to start the season off strong on a good foot and knowing that the opponent that we have. You get to say, you get a little bit of - you get your revenge game, but I would not say revenge game. They won the big one, and we got to start the season off. You cannot get that game back that we lost, so we are onto something new.”
Maye had a very strong spring and summer. His comfort level in year two of the Josh McDaniels system is evident, and the trust between player, play-caller, and head coach has only grown. The Patriots are now giving Maye more freedom at the line of scrimmage, which could pay immediate dividends in the opener against a defense that, as I illustrated, exposed them at every turn.
“We’re always trying to figure out what’s going on and what they are trying to do, and how we can set the defense and make it look like we’re going to snap the ball,” Mike Vrabel said back in early August when asked about picking up the pace. “I mean, if you just stand out there and the quarterback’s just standing straight up and down, you’re not going to give [the opponent] any reason to get into position or to show maybe what they’re doing.
“Whether we huddle, we don’t huddle and allow Drake to get us in a good call, I think all those things are good, and we’ll continue to build and work with that. And it could always be better. But being able to play with a tempo, whether we huddle or not, is something that’s critical.”
“I think it's earned,” Maye said of his newfound freedom, adding. “And I think starting off on those simple checks that we have that I feel comfortable getting in and out of, getting us in a good place. But I think the advanced, “kill them when you feel like you know what they are in.” That's something that I got to show coach that I see it the same as he does and be able to communicate to my guys.”
As part of the confidence the staff has shown in Maye, they have emphasized playing at a faster tempo, especially after chunk plays. That drilling started way back in the spring, and evolved as everything else does - or should - with more time on task. As such, the offense feels like they’re starting this season at a higher level of entry, which, when you consider how successful they were a year ago, should be downright frightening for the opposition.
“Drake just knows a lot more than he did last year in general at this time, and he's learned a lot of valuable lessons, I think, over time,” McDaniels told us on Sunday. “But he's also had a great mindset and approach this spring and summer about the things that he can do better. And he's worked really hard. Nobody's worked harder. Sets a great example for our guys, and I know he's eager to get out there and actually play a game and see how far we've come.”
By giving Maye full access to the playbook and to the controls at the line of scrimmage, McDaniels believes the offense can be in the right plays - the most advantageous plays - more often. But this staff wouldn’t do that if Maye hadn’t shown he was more than capable of handling the increased mental load.
“I think it's just confidence in myself of playing the system again,” Maye said. “Confidence in knowing how Coach McDaniels thinks, how he likes to call it, how we are approaching defenses. We got a chance to come in there (Seattle) and make a big statement win.”
The Pats felt they were in a similar spot a year ago when they visited Buffalo back in week five. Maye stood up to a hostile environment, outplayed Josh Allen, and the Pats emerged with a 3-point win, putting the league on notice. Yes, this team and this quarterback come into 2026 with a much more impressive resume, but they can still remind everyone that last year was no fluke, just part of the progression from league laughingstock to bona fide contender. To do that, Maye will have to be even better, but he seems poised and ready for that challenge.