The Patriots Will Need Drake Maye to Play His Best for a Shot at History

Twenty-four years ago, the Patriots were a surprise entrant in the Super Bowl. They had a second-year, baby-faced quarterback. A defensive guru coached them. They were supposed to get crushed by the NFC representative.

Nobody thought they could win.

Until they did.

If Drake Maye and the 2025 Patriots are going to follow in the footsteps of Tom Brady and the ’01 team, they’ll need their 23-year-old quarterback to play like the MVP candidate he was during the regular season.

Maye was sublime, throwing for 4,394 yards and 31 touchdowns against eight interceptions. He ranked first in EPA at +151.2 and had a league-best CPOE of +9.1. Maye was the driving force behind an offense that was third in yards and second in points, helping New England win 14 games and the AFC East, and earn the No. 2 seed.

Things have been far different in the playoffs.

Maye has struggled through three games, all coming against top-five defenses. The Patriots have enjoyed the final result, but Maye is a cumulative 43-of-77 (55.8%) for 533 yards and four touchdowns, two interceptions, 15 sacks taken and six fumbles (three lost).

In the Super Bowl, things won’t get any easier. Drawing the Seahawks, he will face an elite mind in coach Mike Macdonald, whose league-leading scoring defense allows only 17.2 points per game. Seattle has one of the NFL’s top secondaries as well, boasting defensive backs Devon Witherspoon, Riq Woolen, Coby Bryant and star rookie Nick Emmanwori.

Seattle struggled in the NFC title game against the Rams, surrendering 27 points and 435 yards on 7.9 yards per play. Unfortunately for New England, Los Angeles is the only team to consistently give the Seahawks such problems, with only the Buccaneers scoring more than 24 points against them this season.

For Maye, getting to the Super Bowl is both a checkmark on his eventual career résumé and a tremendous accomplishment, considering how bad the Patriots were a year ago. As a rookie, Maye was on a 4–13 team led by one-and-done coach Jerod Mayo. A few of his best weapons were Demario Douglas and the fumble-prone Rhamondre Stevenson.

One year later, Maye has an elite coaching staff headlined by Mike Vrabel and coordinator Josh McDaniels, improved weapons, including 1,000-yard receiver Stefon Diggs, a much-improved Kayshon Boutte and rookie back TreVeyon Henderson.

Before Super Bowl LX kicks off in Santa Clara, Calif., Maye will have two weeks to huddle with the aforementioned staff and figure out the best plan of attack. He’ll also get far better weather than he had the past two games after dealing with significant precipitation against the Texans in Foxborough and the Broncos in Denver.

Still, the challenge is immense. The Patriots won’t have the benefit of seeing the limited offenses of the Chargers, Texans and Broncos, three teams that finished outside the top 10 in scoring this season. In the divisional round, the Texans were missing star receiver Nico Collins while the Broncos had to play Jarrett Stidham because Bo Nix sustained a fractured ankle in their win a week earlier over Buffalo.

If the Patriots are going to complete their dream season, they’ll need to win one more game against the best opponent they’ve faced all year.

It’ll take Vrabel and McDaniels coming up with the right game plans. It’ll require the defense having another excellent showing, building on the three they’ve had so far this postseason, allowing only 26 points.

But more than anything, it’ll demand Maye playing his best football, something we’ve yet to see this postseason.

If Maye can do it, history—Patriots history—will repeat itself.

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