Sunday afternoon’s Packers-Patriots matchup has a lot going for it, but the headliner is obvious: Jordan Love and Drake Maye. Two young quarterbacks.
Two aggressive downfield throwers. And for the first time in their careers, they’ll be on opposite sides of the same field.
Because the Packers and Patriots play in different conferences, Love and Maye have never met before. Love, despite being drafted in 2020, is still waiting for his first start against New England; Aaron Rodgers was Green Bay’s quarterback the last time the Packers played the Patriots in 2022, when the Packers won 27-24 in overtime.
What makes this one stand out is how similarly these two attack a defense. Both are willing to push the ball deep, and both have put up big numbers doing it.
Love leads the NFL in passing yards this season with 2,099, while Maye is sixth with 1,983. They’ve each played eight games, and the comparison gets even more interesting when you dig into how they’ve gotten there.
Both quarterbacks stumbled out of the gate before settling in. Love dealt with heavy pressure early, completed less than 56% of his passes through the first three weeks, and was sacked often.
Since then, the picture has changed fast: he’s been taken down just once in his last two games and has completed more than 70% of his passes in three of his past five, including a season-best 80.7% against the Bears. Maye had his own early-season issues, with turnover concerns following him after one touchdown through three weeks.
But over his last five games, he has thrown multiple touchdowns in each one and has only two interceptions in that stretch.
The deep-ball numbers are where this matchup really pops. Love has attempted 46 passes of 20 or more air yards, the most in the NFL by a wide margin, per Next Gen Stats.
Maye is right behind him with 32. Love has completed 13 of those throws for 493 yards, four touchdowns, two interceptions and an EPA per dropback of +0.21.
Maye has gone 15-of-32 for 538 yards, six touchdowns, four interceptions and an EPA per dropback of +0.53.
Love’s best deep-passing performance of the year came in Week 5 against the Bears. He completed six of eight throws of 20 or more air yards for 258 yards and two touchdowns, per Next Gen Stats.
There’s also the context around how Love has had to do it. Green Bay’s offensive line has improved lately, but it struggled early and left him under plenty of pressure.
The receiving group has talent in Christian Watson, Matthew Golden and Tucker Kraft, but the Packers also drop more passes than any other team. And the run game has offered almost no help at all; Green Bay is last in the league at 60.6 rushing yards per game.
Maye’s profile is built on similar boldness, and his yards per attempt show it. He is tied for second among qualified passers at 9.3, and he has averaged 10 or more yards per attempt in three of his past four games. In each of those outings, he completed over 70% of his passes, a strong sign of how efficient he’s been while pushing the ball downfield.
That said, the Packers’ defense has been tough on quarterbacks. Green Bay has allowed just 6.2 yards per attempt this season, tied with the Vikings for third-best in the league.
Maye already saw one elite pass defense in Week 1 against the Seahawks, who rank first in YPA allowed at 5.5. In that game, he averaged 5.4 yards per attempt.
The Patriots will get another real test here against one of the league’s better pass defenses.
The air-yards numbers back up the eye test, too. Maye ranks fourth in air yards per attempt at 9.3.
Love is tied with Malik Willis for second at 9.5, behind C.J. Stroud’s 9.6.
And while both quarterbacks are known for attacking deep, they’re getting the ball out in different rhythms. Love has the fastest time to throw in the NFL this season.
Maye, meanwhile, is averaging 3.14 seconds to throw, one of four quarterbacks at three seconds or more. Only Caleb Williams is slower at 3.24 seconds, with Willis and Brock Purdy also in that group.
That could matter on Sunday. The Packers and Patriots both rank eighth in time to pressure at 2.57 seconds, and they’re tied for sixth in sacks with 22. So even with all the fireworks these quarterbacks can bring, both may have to work quickly to keep this one moving.
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