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Greg Olsen Raises Ceiling on Drake Maye's Potential to New Level After Win vs. Bills

Patriots QB secured an unlikely win with gritty play.

Kyle Koster

Drake Maye helped New England pull off a stunning Sunday night upset in Buffalo.
Drake Maye helped New England pull off a stunning Sunday night upset in Buffalo. / Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images
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Drake Maye and the Patriots walked into Buffalo on a Sunday night and emerged with a 23-20 victory. The second-year quarterback was tough and gritty and all the other things a franchise would want their leader to be in outplaying Josh Allen. Maye completed 22 of his 30 passes for 273 yards and was a perfect 6-for-6 in the fourth quarter. Though he did not find the end zone with any of his linkups there was a palpable sense of poise and determination that Mike Vrabel must be thrilled about seeing shine through.

New England is now 3-2 and vibes are high. It's not unreasonable to think they could end up a playoff team and a road win over Buffalo proves they could make some noise. Fox's Greg Olsen sparked even more fire by sharing his assessment of what he saw while appearing on Wake Up Barstool Monday morning.

"Last night he looked like he's going to be the best quarterback in the league, he's that good," Olsen said.

This is what happens with primetime, standalone games. The spotlight is the brightest and the takeaways are heavy. Maye was, in fact, terrific and more than belonged on the same field as Allen as he did more to win the game than the reigning MVP when it most mattered.

If there is such an ascension it's going to take a long time, though. A winning record in early October is nice. Something to build on. Let's all remember to check back in on this later in the season.

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Kyle Koster
KYLE KOSTER

Kyle Koster is an assistant managing editor at Sports Illustrated covering the intersection of sports and media. He was formerly the editor in chief of The Big Lead, where he worked from 2011 to '24. Koster also did turns at the Chicago Sun-Times, where he created the Sports Pros(e) blog, and at Woven Digital.

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