NASHVILLE – In his fourth NFL start, Drake Maye delivered what could be the defining highlight of his rookie season.
Facing a third-and-goal from the 5-yard line with five seconds left and his Patriots down seven, Maye bobbed, weaved, scrambled and dodged as he waited for a receiver to spot in the Titans’ end zone.
Finally someone did. After getting past edge rusher Arden Key, and with three other Tennessee defenders closing in on him, Maye slipped the unlikeliest of touchdown passes to running back Rhamondre Stevenson.
DRAKE MAYE MAGICCCCCCCCC!!!!!!!!
: FOX pic.twitter.com/UvIB3dRi8k
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) November 3, 2024
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The score capped an 11-play, 50-yard drive and sent the game into overtime. The Titans ultimately prevailed, winning 20-17 on a Nick Folk field goal, but Maye’s elusiveness and playmaking skills had his teammates buzzing.
“That’s Drake,” cornerback Christian Gonzalez said. “To be honest, no one was surprised. Drake does things like that all the time. He fought and did what he could. I’m proud of him, happy for him.”
From snap to throw, Maye’s touchdown took 11.82 seconds. It was the second longest time to throw on a touchdown pass since Next Gen Stats began tracking such statistics in 2016, behind only the last second Hail Mary fellow 2024 draftee Jayden Daniels threw for Washington a week earlier.
“Drake is just phenomenal,” wide receiver Kendrick Bourne said. “He continues to show it week in and week out, and I’m just proud of him. We have to stay behind him – help block for him, catch the ball, run good routes – so we can get the full potential out of him. But when you have someone like that, it encourages you to go harder, and that’s what we want as a unit: for everyone to put their best foot forward, because that’s what he clearly is.”
Maye’s legs were the biggest – and for long periods only – asset to the Patriots’ offense in Sunday’s game. He scrambled eight times for 95 yards and five first downs, easily surpassing the measly rushing totals of New England’s running backs. Stevenson, Antonio Gibson and JaMycal Hasty combined for 12 carries for 15 yards and one touchdown.
Despite missing the second half of the Jets game, Maye has more rushing yards (159) than the entire Patriots backroom over the last three weeks. His 209 rushing yards on the season are already the third-highest total of any New England QB in the past 30 years, trailing only Matt Cassel’s 270 in 2008 and Cam Newton’s 592 in 2020.
Not since Steve Grogan in 1976 had any Patriots signal caller rushed for 95 yards in a single game.
As a passer, Maye went 29-for-41 for 206 yards and one score behind an offensive line that struggled to keep Tennessee’s pass rushers at bay. A week after being sidelined by a concussion in a win over the New York Jets, the 22-year-old was sacked four times and hit nine times, not counting the contact he sustained while scrambling.
“(I saw) mental toughness and the ability to make plays with his legs, which he has shown before,” head coach Jerod Mayo said. “He gave us the opportunity to win the game.”
As encouraging as Maye’s latest outing was, it didn’t go smoothly. The young quarterback turned the ball over three times with two interceptions and a strip sack. Maye’s first two giveaways gave Tennessee the ball deep in New England territory, while the second set up a go-ahead Titans touchdown with 4:27 to go. The third – a deep heave to Kayshon Boutte on first and 10 overtime – ended the game.
“Look, he’s a guy trying to put on a play,” Mayo said. “He’s trying to make a play. And I think sometimes even though he’s played, we forget how young he is. He will continue to develop and he will be a good quarterback in this league. We will all learn from this, including myself.”
Maye focused more on his mistakes than his highlight reel touchdown when he spoke to reporters after the game. He called his final pass “a stupid decision” that he wished he could get back, “especially in that situation.”
“I made some bad decisions, like the one at the end there,” he said. “We had a chance to go there and at least tie it to our own 40, and I think it was first down. So I just have to be better. Some decisions I made during the game affected the outcome. I take that upon myself. … We found a way at the end of the fourth and just came out on top.” So we have to go back and learn from it – especially me.”
When asked about the touchdown, Maye praised Stevenson’s ability to expose and make a contested catch.
“But in the end we came up short,” he added, “so that game doesn’t really matter at this point.”
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