Foxboro, Massachusetts — Defender Drake Maye cemented his position as the favorite to win the NFL MVP award with another impressive performance as New England Patriots» the turn continued with victory with a score of 27-14 about visiting New York Jets on Thursday night, lifting the team to an NFL-best 9-2 record.
The Patriots won eight games in a row, breaking a tie with the Patriots. Denver Broncos for the longest winning streak in the league to date. After finishing 4–13 in each of the last two seasons, the Patriots became just the fourth team in the last 25 years to win nine of their first 11 games after winning four or fewer the previous season to enter the 2013 tournament. Kansas City Chiefs2016 Dallas Cowboys and 2019 San Francisco 49ers.
While the turnaround caught many by surprise, that was not the case for May, who completed his first 11 passes and finished 25 of 34 for 281 yards with 1 TD and 0 INT.
“I don’t think anything surprised me,” May said. “When you put in the effort and we have good players and good coaches, you will get the results you want.”
In the last 20 years, Maye became just the fourth quarterback in his first or second NFL season to lead his team to eight straight wins and score at least 20 points in each of those games. Dallas' Dak Prescott (10 in a row in 2016), Philadelphia Carson Wentz (nine in a row in 2017) and Baltimore Lamar Jackson (eight in a row in 2019) were the rest.
“I would say his overall performance has met our expectations,” said Patriots coach Mike Vrabel, who was praised by many players after Thursday's win for instilling a culture in his first year as New England's coach that has become a catalyst for change in the franchise. “We have high hopes for Drake. He has high expectations for himself.
“He's going to continue to improve. I know he's going to stay humble through it all. … We just have to continue to focus on the little things, the plays, the unforced errors throughout the offense. The only thing that's really stopping us is our offense.”
May, 23, is completing 71.8 percent of his passes this season with 20 touchdowns and just five interceptions. He had 10 interceptions in 13 games last season. Vrabel and Patriots assistant coaches noted his improved ball security, one of the pillars of Vrabel's desired team identity.
As he often does, May deflected credit Thursday night, praising teammates like the rookie running back. TreVeyon Hendersonwho joined tight end Rob Gronkowski (2010) and running back Sony Michel (2018, playoffs) as the only rookies in franchise history to score three touchdowns in a game.
But Patriots fans serenaded him with chants of “MVP! MVP! MVP! something his teammates reinforced after the game.
“He's playing at an elite level right now,” rookie left tackle. Will Campbell said. “I'm biased, but I think he's the best player in the NFL. There's no game we can get out of when we have him.”
