Despite finishing second in MVP voting, only behind Matthew Stafford, the New England Patriots quarterback continues to face criticism after his poor performance in the Super Bowl, where he was overwhelmed by the Seattle Seahawks. Maye committed three turnovers, all of which ended up costing his team points in one way or another.
After the Super Bowl, Maye admitted that following a right shoulder injury suffered at the end of the AFC Championship Game against the Denver Broncos, he had to receive a painkilling injection in order to play in the NFL’s biggest game. Throughout the matchup, he never looked comfortable: he was sacked six times and constantly pressured.
In the end, Maye’s stat line showed 295 passing yards and two touchdown passes, but the reality is that most of that production came in the fourth quarter, when the game was essentially decided. It was during so-called “garbage time” that the former North Carolina standout padded his numbers.
Shedeur Sanders has a statistic about Drake Maye that has sparked controversy
The Patriots’ season was heavily questioned, mainly because they had the easiest schedule in the NFL and recorded only one win against a team that finished .500 or better in 2025 – their first meeting with the Buffalo Bills. As a result, scrutiny has continued, now focusing directly on Drake Maye.
The issue is that Maye threw just two touchdown passes all season against teams that finished above .500, and that came early in the year in a loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Meanwhile, Shedeur Sanders threw three touchdown passes against .500 or better teams: one against the 49ers, one versus the Buffalo Bills, and one against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
That statistic is now being used to criticize Maye. Additionally, the Patriots’ playoff path was also questioned: they faced the Los Angeles Chargers, who scored only three points; then the Houston Texans, where C.J. Stroud was intercepted four times; and in the AFC Championship Game they played a Broncos team that was without its starting quarterback.
Now Maye faces another tough historical statistic: no quarterback who reached the Super Bowl in his second season has ever returned to the big game later in his career. There are four quarterbacks on that list alongside Maye, and one of them is still active – Joe Burrow, who lost to the Rams in his second season and has yet to make it back to compete for the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
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