SI

One Moment in Patriots’ Win Had NFL World Comparing Drake Maye to Tom Brady

The Brady comparisons were flying around the internet on Thursday night. But not for the reason you might think.

Tom Dierberger

Maye threw for 281 yards and one touchdown on 25-of-34 passing on Thursday night.
Maye threw for 281 yards and one touchdown on 25-of-34 passing on Thursday night. / Erick Rasco / Sports Illustrated
In this story:

It appears that Drake Maye, or Drake “Drake Maye” Maye as he’s known in New England these days, is that guy.

In the Patriots’ 27–14 win over the Jets on Thursday at Gillette Stadium, Maye completed his first 11 pass attempts and didn’t throw an incompletion until there was 3:36 remaining in the first half. He finished the night with 281 yards and one touchdown on 25-of-34 passing, which was more than enough to guide New England to its eighth straight win.

Look, it’s way too early to even think about comparing Maye to Tom Brady, arguably the greatest quarterback of all time who won seven Super Bowl titles, and six of those over his Patriots tenure from 2000 to ‘19. But the NFL world couldn’t help but highlight a similarity between the two quarterbacks on one particular screenshot of Amazon Prime’s Thursday Night Football broadcast.

Early in the game, Amazon Prime cameras spotted Maye on the Patriots’ sideline rocking an oversized coat—a similar giant coat to the one Brady would wear over his career during chilly games in Foxborough. Brady’s coat became synonymous with Patriots late-season playoff games at Gillette Stadium, and fans would debate if the iconic coat was actually getting bigger on Brady as the years rolled on.

Wardrobe aside, Maye did join Brady on an exclusive list in NFL history earlier this year. After his performance against the Falcons in Week 9, Maye became the fourth quarterback in league history to throw for 200+ yards with a passer rating over 100 in at least seven straight games. The other quarterbacks to do so: Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers, Patrick Mahomes and, of course, Brady.

Just for fun, here’s a comparison of Maye and Brady’s stats through their first 23 career starts:

Drake Maye vs. Tom Brady: First 23 career starts (regular season)

DRAKE MAYE

TOM BRADY

RECORD

12–11

16–7

CMP%

69.4%

64.9%

YDS/G

221.3

229.1

TD

35

39

INT

15

22

RATE

100.9

89.6

Maye and the Patriots—and perhaps his Brady-like giant coat—will return to the gridiron in Week 12 for a matchup against the Bengals (3–6) at Paycor Stadium.

More NFL on Sports Illustrated

FREE NEWSLETTER. SI BTN Newsletter. Start off your day with SI:CYMI. dark

feed

Published
Tom Dierberger
TOM DIERBERGER

Tom Dierberger is a staff writer and editor on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He joined SI in November 2023 after stints at FOX Sports, Bally Sports and NBC Sports. Dierberger has a bachelor's in communication from St. John's University. In his spare time, he can be seen throwing out his arm while playing fetch with his dog, Walter B. Boy.

Home/NFL