Maye and the Patriots will host the winner of Monday’s game between the Houston Texans and the Pittsburgh Steelers next Sunday.
When Maye made his playoff debut, his sidekick, Justin Herbert, fell to 0-3 in the playoffs, thanks in large part to a strong showing by the Patriots’ defense, which held LA to 207 total yards and six carries.
Although it was a game primarily defined by defense, Maye’s outing was hardly high-profile. He completed 17 of 29 passes for 268 yards, a TD and an interception, while leading the Patriots rushing game with 66 yards on 10 carries.
Maye’s first playoff game marked the first time in the Patriots franchise that a player had 250-plus passing yards and 50-plus rushing yards in a postseason contest, according to NFL Research. He is just the fourth player in NFL history to accomplish the feat, joining Daunte Culpepper (2000), Lamar Jackson (2019) and Josh Allen (2019).
“I thought he came through when we needed him to,” Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel said of Maye’s night. “The broken pass is unfortunate that turned into an interception, but the throw to Hunter, I thought when we needed him, was elite.”
It was a pretty auspicious start for Maye. The Patriots scored on a 14-yard first drive, with a Maye incompletion and a sack that led to a punt. On his ensuing drive, Maye’s first pass in the box was tipped and intercepted by Daiyan Henley, setting up the Chargers at the Pats’ 10-yard line.
New England forced a turnover on downs with its back against the wall, and Maye and the offense responded with a 93-yard field goal.
He managed three goals in total. Maye let the Patriots offense go against a smart Chargers defense, but finding a salary cap eluded New England. Until Maye found Henry, anyway.
“It was great organization, great design by Josh (McDaniels), great timing,” Henry said. “Something we work on. Obviously they’re mostly a zone team and they played zone, just get them. Drake threw a great ball. They hit a guy, I just saw, up the middle. TreVeyon (Henderson) made a big block up the middle there to give Drake a little extension. It takes all 11 of his speed there and his guys are a threat. He ran a great route and they had to respect him.
Maye was 4 of 4 on the game’s lone TD drive, after making a perfect face after a struggling first half. He was just 6 of 15 for 95 yards in the first half, which was rectified by a second half where he was 11 of 14 for 173 yards.
“It wasn’t my best tonight, but hey, that’s why you have teammates and those guys picked me up,” he said. “I never lost my confidence, I was still throwing it around.
The No. 3 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, Maye didn’t take the Patriots’ starting reins until Week 6 of his rookie campaign. Many were worried that Maye would be dumped to the Wolves playing behind a porous attack. He still impressed, and in his second season he has taken off.
He’s an MVP candidate, a dual threat, and a 23-year-old with poise. It showed on Sunday night as a rough start didn’t get him noticed. And now he has postseason experience — and a playoff win — under his belt.
“I think the biggest thing coach McDaniels said to us and the offense is you come on the field with that sense of finality,” Maye said of playing in the playoffs. “That it’s win or go home or win and advance, and that’s the feeling you get. That’s the biggest thing I felt out there. And then teams get good. They had a great defense, they had a great quarterback. We were the better team tonight. We made plays when we had to.”