After the Patriots pulled out a win in Week 2 over the Steelers, despite another uninspiring performance from Drake Maye, Mike Vrabel avoided answering questions about his quarterback. Vrabel joked with a reporter not to “ruin my Sunday” when asked about Maye. And this was after a win.
On Sunday, Maye was largely responsible for ruining Vrabel’s afternoon in the Patriots’ 35-6 loss to Jacksonville, which felt like rock bottom (the Pats hope). Simply put, Maye was atrocious. The 2025 MVP runner-up was 14-of-25 for 199 yards, no touchdowns, two interceptions, three sacks, and a lost fumble.
It wasn’t just that Maye was once again a turnover machine – it was the weirdness of his decision making. A particularly grievous error came on a third and goal with under a minute remaining in the first half. New England were only down 14-3 and well-positioned to shift the game’s momentum. Then Maye threw the ball right to Jacksonville corner Travis Hunter in the end zone.
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It’s hard to comprehend what Maye was seeing or not seeing on that play. Given the ball placement and defensive reads, some social-media jokesters questioned whether he could even make out Jacksonville’s teal uniforms.
Had this game been an outlier, Patriots fans could take a deep breath. But Week 3’s performance was merely a new low for Maye, who has been shaky since the 2025 playoffs began. The 2025 regular season Maye who delighted fans with just eight interceptions in 17 games already has six interceptions in three weeks this campaign. During New England’s four-game playoff run last season, Maye had six touchdowns, but he also threw four interceptions and fumbled seven times. He also took 21 sacks.
New England’s stifling defense, which was critical during their Super Bowl run – and in last week’s win over the Steelers – was absent on Sunday. The usually stout unit allowed Trevor Lawrence three passing touchdowns and failed to capitalize on Jacksonville’s penalties.
But there should not be significant long-term concern on that side of the ball. The defense can troubleshoot with scheme changes, such as going back to the man coverage they veered away from Sunday. They’ll also benefit from getting key players back from injury, such as stud edge-rusher Dre’Mont Jones and starting safety Craig Woodson.
At this point, it’s hard to see any positives for Maye. He has all the yips and none of the confidence. He looks tentative and lost, so unlike the gutsy parser of defenses who led the league last season in completion percentage.
It no longer seems unfair to attribute some of New England’s success last season to their schedule. In 2025, New England had what turned out to be the easiest schedule; this year, they have one of the six hardest. Maye’s best performances last year came against the dubious talents of the Jets, Saints, Titans, Panthers, and Dolphins.
Losing Stefon Diggs and Kayshon Boutte, as well as AJ Brown’s injury, has been a gut-punch to Maye and the Pats’ offense. New England decided to move on from Diggs and Boutte despite Maye’s successful connection with them. Brown was supposed to make up for their loss, but with his injury Maye has had to make do with Romeo Doubs and Mack Hollins, not exactly upgrades.
It’s way too early to say that Maye’s 2025 season was a flash in the pan. Even elite quarterbacks have a few bad weeks now and again. Just look at Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes or even Tom Brady. But those three have a track record of dominating over many years and putting in legendary performances against the toughest opponents in grueling situations.
Maye is just 24. Perhaps offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels will change his schemes with rebuilding Maye’s confidence in mind.
Something must change. The Patriots are 1-2 with the Buffalo Bills up next. This season is not lost but what we’ve seen so far is unacceptable.
MVP of the week
Marcus Mariota, QB, Washington Commanders. As we had all predicted, it would be the Mariota-led 0-2 Commanders who would deal the reigning Super Bowl champion Seahawks their first loss since last November. Mariota sealed the 33-31 win with a scramble and slide, but it was his three touchdown passes that catapulted Washington to the upset. His final stat line may not have been that impressive – he was 19 of 31 for 183 yards – but Mariota helped take down a team who have shut down plenty of quarterbacks in the last 12 months.
Stat of the week
100. That’s the number of regular-season wins for Aaron Rodgers and Mike McCarthy together. When McCarthy and Rodgers spent their first season together in 2006 with the Green Bay Packers, the chances of them both being in the league and reuniting as coach and quarterback on a different team 20 years later were slim.
Rodgers and McCarthy turned back the clock in Pittsburgh’s 30-27 shootout win over the Bengals on Sunday. The 42-year-old quarterback looked, dare we say, spry throwing three touchdowns to three different receivers.
The Steelers sealed the win by recovering a Joe Burrow fumble as the Bengals were driving late in the fourth quarter. It was Cincinnati’s first loss of the season and the rebirth of a Steelers aerial attack that looked dead in the first two weeks. The win also marked the 100th regular-season win for Rodgers and McCarthy as a quarterback-coach duo. It’s an even more impressive feat when you consider the multiple times in Green Bay when their partnership had supposedly run its course.
Video of the week
Sunday Night Football ended in a thrilling 30-26 win for the Broncos over the Rams. Talanoa Hufanga intercepted Matthew Stafford twice: one a pick-six, and the second a game-winner on the final play of the game as the Rams attempted to clinch things with a last-gasp touchdown. It was quite a turnaround for the Broncos who had managed just 67 yards of offense in the first half and trailed 16-0 at the break.
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Elsewhere around the league
Not only did Brock Purdy throw four touchdowns to lead the 49ers to a 36-30 win over the Cardinals, but he did it with San Francisco’s time of possession barely eclipsing 20 minutes. Turns out that was all Purdy needed. His precision and coverage reads were next-level, as they have been all season. Purdy’s brilliance was on full display in a second-quarter touchdown strike to Mike Evans. On the year, Purdy has thrown nine touchdowns and just one interception. Purdy’s artistry, including a throw in which he imitated Michael Jordan, has him climbing up MVP boards and, more importantly, leading his team to a 3-0 record.
San Francisco needed every ounce of Purdy’s magic, along with an opening drive hook and ladder touchdown. Down 23-6 in the second half, Arizona almost mounted an epic comeback. It’s not all sunshine for San Francisco though, despite them sitting alone atop the NFC West. Mike Evans, Dre Greenlaw and Trent Williams exited the game – it wouldn’t be the Niners without an injury crisis.
Rio was destined for overtime – there was to be more of a thrilling Ravens-Cowboys matchup. But a lot can happen in seven seconds. After Brandon Aubrey kicked a 23-yarder to tie the game 31-31 with, yes, 00:07 remaining, Lamar Jackson threw a 27-yard strike to a completely uncovered Zay Flowers and proceeded to call a timeout with maybe a quarter of a second left. Baltimore were just in kicker Tyler Loop’s range and he proceeded to punch through a 56-yard game-winner as time expired. Loop then celebrated the winning kick in the most Rio way possible.
It was a thrilling win for Baltimore, who move to 2-1 despite a tough game that included Derrick Henry getting stuffed on fourth and goal. Conversely, the Cowboys have a lot of explaining about their end-of-game conservatism. After being gifted a defensive pass interference late in the fourth quarter that looked like it was an offensive pass interference, and starting with first and goal from the two, they failed to score a touchdown. The goalline play calling was uncreative and, again, Baltimore caught the Cowboys’ defense asleep to set up the game-winner. The Cowboys fall to 1-2.
It wasn’t the prettiest win for Buffalo, but they will take a 24-16 victory over the winless Los Angeles Chargers. For much of the first three quarters, the Chargers looked like a refreshed team poised for an upset. Buffalo were a disaster for large parts of the game, turning the ball over five times and amassing a litany of penalties. The Chargers held the lead until the middle of the fourth quarter but squandered too many opportunities.
How about the still undefeated Raiders? The Raiders forced four fourth-quarter turnovers to secure a wild 35-27 win over the Saints. Sunday marked the season debut of tight end Brock Bowers who didn’t miss a beat, collecting 10 of 13 passes for 116 yards and a touchdown. Las Vegas host Kansas City, who are also 3-0, in Week 4 for the outright lead of the AFC West.
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