Drake Maye’s season had started looking like a mess the Patriots could not afford.
After a brutal opening stretch, he was piling up interceptions, pressing on throws that didn’t need to be forced and carrying far too much of the blame for New England’s rocky start to 2026. The Patriots were coming off a run to the Super Bowl, but the new season opened with frustration instead of momentum, and the pressure on their quarterback was obvious.
Then came Buffalo.
Since beating the Bills in Week 4, Maye has looked like a different player. New England has ripped off three straight wins, and the quarterback who looked out of sorts in September suddenly looks settled, sharp and in control again. Ahead of Thursday night’s matchup with the Bears, Maye explained the shift in a way that sounds simpler than the turnaround itself.
“(It’s) really just letting the game come to you. I think that's one of the biggest things I've tried to focus on. You want to make the right play instead of the big play.
And I've tried to really own that and get us to the right plays, and try to check the football and realize that that was really the main thing.“
The numbers behind the surge tell the story. Over his last three games, Maye has completed 66 of 103 passes for 878 yards, 10 touchdowns and just one interception. That stretch has put him first in the league in touchdown passes, first in passer rating at 119.3 and fifth in passing yards.
That’s a huge swing from the first three games, when he went 51 for 80 for 585 yards, one touchdown and six interceptions. The difference has been stark enough that the conversation around the Patriots has changed almost overnight.
And this doesn’t look like a random hot streak. It looks like a quarterback who stopped trying to force the issue and started trusting the offense around him. Whatever sparked the reset, the result has been the same: better decisions, cleaner football and a Patriots team that suddenly feels far more stable.
That matters because the schedule doesn’t get any easier. New England still has a run of difficult opponents before its Week 1 bye, and getting to that break with a winning record would be a major shift from how the season looked a month ago.
For now, though, the biggest takeaway is simple. The version of Maye that helped push the Patriots to last year’s MVP-caliber level appears to be back, and if that holds, New England’s ceiling looks a lot higher than it did when the season began.
The return of A.J. Brown only adds to that outlook.
In Other News...
Drake Maye Faces His Biggest Test Since Heating Up
Drake Maye has turned a corner for New England at just the right time, and Sundays matchup with Chicago gives the Patriots another chance to see how real that growth is. Over the last stretch, Maye has looked far more comfortable attacking downfield, and that development matters against a Bears defense that has had trouble holding up on deeper throws. On the other side, Caleb Williams has been working through his own learning curve while operating Chicagos offense with a shorter passing profile than the kind that can stress a secondary vertically.
For New England, the test is less about whether Maye can keep making the routine plays and more about whether he can keep forcing defenses out of their comfort zone when the windows get tighter. Chicagos availability on the back end adds another layer to the matchup, and the Patriots will be watching closely to see whether their young quarterback can keep the deep-ball momentum going against a unit that has had to patch together answers in the secondary. [Read more 🡒]
Patriots Face A Familiar Problem In A Very Winnable Bears Game
The Patriots head into a winnable matchup with Chicago carrying the same kind of offensive uncertainty that has followed them for stretches this season. New Englands line is again under the microscope, with injury questions surfacing at guard and along the right side, and that only adds pressure in a game where protection, rhythm and staying ahead of the chains could matter as much as anything the passing game does.
Chicago brings its own concerns, but the part of the Bears that most fits the Patriots' defensive attention is the ground game. With one key back unavailable, DAndre Swift figures to be a major part of the plan, and New England will have to be ready for a rushing attack that can control tempo if it gets rolling. For a Patriots team trying to turn a favorable spot into an actual result, the line play on both sides could end up deciding whether this one looks manageable or familiar in all the wrong ways. [Read more 🡒]
Drake Maye Is Betting Patriots Fans Will Stay Patient With A.J. Brown
A.J. Browns return from a high ankle sprain did not go the way the Patriots hoped, as the receiver was active again but came away with a quiet afternoon and a few costly miscues. After missing time, Brown was back in the lineup and immediately became a focal point in the offense, which only sharpened the attention on how he looked and how quickly he could shake off the rust.
Drake Maye is not sounding alarmed, though, and the quarterbacks confidence in Brown adds an important layer as New England turns its focus to the Bears. For the Patriots, the bigger question is whether Browns timing and comfort can sharpen quickly enough to make his return feel more like a turning point than a temporary detour. [Read more 🡒]