Patience.
That's been the buzzword around Drake Maye since his fourth-quarter meltdown in Seattle that snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.
That's totally fair. He acknowledged it after the game and has since then. So have Mike Vrabel and Josh McDaniels.
But everyone outside 1960 Patriot Place (the address changed when the new building opened) needs to show their own patience when it comes to Maye.
Last season was magical for the quarterback and the Patriots. After being unburdened of the Mayo regime from his rookie season, Maye came out of nowhere to nearly win the MVP and help New England to a shocking Super Bowl appearance.
But things weren't as easy for Maye in the postseason, as he went from facing the 32nd-ranked offensive schedule in the regular season (the closest playoff team in that regard was the Eagles, whose offensive schedule was nearly twice as difficult) to facing a murderers' row of pass defenses: Chargers (9th in DVOA against the pass), Texans (2nd), Broncos (10th) and Seahawks (first).
McDaniels talked this week about defenses adjusting to Maye after a full season in the McDaniels' offense.
“I would say there was no film on him and our offense prior to Week 1 last year,” McDaniels said. “And so you go through the process of playing a season and 21 games or whatever the number was, and now there’s evidence of things he does, things he does in our offense, things we use him to do, how we use our players, et cetera.
“I think there’s a natural progression in this league because the coaches on the other teams, the players on the other teams are so talented. And when you have a year like Drake did last year, there’s going to be a reaction and a response to that.”
Here's the thing: that started in the postseason.
Gameplanning during the regular season is sort of the Cliff Notes version of preparation. Once you get through the previous game, grading it, making corrections, the gameplan for the following week amounts to basically Monday night and all day Tuesday (that is, if you're not playing on Thursday night) before it's presented to the team first thing on Wednesday. There's advanced scouting going on, but it's not as thorough as the postseason.
If you're headed to the playoffs, teams dedicate