On the surface, New England Patriots coach Jerod Mayo’s decision to start Drake Maye against the best defense in the NFL by opposing quarterback completion percentage and quarterback pressure rate, without the team’s starting running back, with its sixth offensive line in six weeks and a new center signed midweek (nevermind the fact that New England lost three more offensive linemen over the course of the game) felt like more than just malpractice. It felt like a panic maneuver for a new head coach feeling the political squeeze of a lost season and the dreadful emotional toll on the locker room that comes with protecting one kid’s future above the other players in the locker room.
And while that may or may not have been the impetus behind his ultimate decision, Mayo can walk away from Week 6 claiming he knew Maye was ready for the moment—because the rookie absolutely was. And ultimately, if you believe the story woven by owner Robert Kraft about a series of observations he had of Mayo’s interpersonal skills over the years and why that would make him a great head coach, the idea that Mayo knew this wasn’t going to be the absolute sinkhole disaster the rest of us did should go a long way toward calling the biggest decision of the post–Bill Belichick Patriots a success for the moment.
This is a delicate situation, given all the mounting evidence toward the benefits of sitting quarterbacks and the undeniable evidence of how playing them too quickly is ruinous. We exist in a data-driven NFL that is better and more optimized than ever, but within those margins are still the observational skills of a coach. Feeding a running back who is displaying obvious juice in private sideline moments during obvious passing downs. Kicking during an obvious go-for-it situation because the quarterback is displaying trademark symptoms of panic during off-field conversations during the game. And, in this case, playing Maye in a situation in which many of us would have begged him not to.
It’s much easier for us to sit here and say that Jacoby Brissett should get clubbed like a driving range yard marker for the remainder of the season for the betterment of the Patriots beyond 2024. In fact, I wrote about what a great job Brissett was doing in that exact role after New England was waxed by the New York Jets a few weeks ago on Thursday Night Football. It’s more difficult to identify the exact moment when a player such as Maye looks ready and prepared enough to handle a completely lopsided scenario without a public meltdown. When a player looks ready enough to hit the sensible routes against the correct coverages, take calculated shots against man coverage and scramble not for one’s life because they can’t understand what is happening in front of them, but because the defense has provided such an opportunity based on how they’ve lined up.
Maye finished 20-of-33 for 243 yards, three touchdowns, two interceptions and one fumble. New England lost 41–21 to the Houston Texans, but it was the best statistical performance by a Patriots quarterback this season in terms of touchdowns, yards and quarterback rating (88.3). Maye performed better in terms of EPA per play and total EPA (-0.11 per play, -5 total) than Trevor Lawrence and Caleb Williams did against the same defense. And, one of Maye’s picks was among the most incredible and nonsensical defensive plays we’re going to see all season; a convergence of multiple acts of God which we will likely not see replicated.
Maye’s touchdown pass to Kayshon Boutte, which traveled more than half a football field’s length in the sky, was the longest passing play in terms of air yards by a Patriots quarterback since 2022.
If this is what losing by 20 points looks like, it’s inherently more valuable than Maye not accumulating any repetitions at all. Not building any chemistry. Not being able to look at all the other people with pock marks on their helmets, tears in their uniforms and bruises across their bodies and nod knowingly.
Had Maye been torn into pieces à la Leo DiCaprio in The Revenant, Mayo would have worn that, too. Had this been the beginning of a slide to nowhere for the No. 3 pick, it would have been because Mayo acted out of fear and not out of the knowledge that got him the job in the first place. It’s important to consider these dueling narratives—providing valuable snaps as building blocks for Maye’s ascent versus hopeless ones that would turn him into Akili Smith—in concert with the fact that Mayo is replacing one of the greatest head coaches in NFL history, when deciding just how big of a deal this all was.
The Patriots were demolished Sunday, but Maye wasn’t the reason why. He was sacked four times but not pummeled. He was picked twice but not flummoxed. As the quarterback of one of the worst teams in the NFL, that is a resounding win. The same can be said for the coach who made the call.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Jerod Mayo Picked the Right Time to Start Drake Maye.