Drake Maye turned in the kind of outing that can reset a season in a hurry.
The New England Patriots rolled past the Las Vegas Raiders, 45-17, on Sunday, and Maye drove the whole thing with 371 passing yards, four touchdown throws and a rushing score. New England moved to 3-2 and stretched its winning streak to two games behind a quarterback who looked nothing like the player who had entered the week with seven interceptions.
Maye was sharp from the start and stayed that way. He completed 26 of 34 passes and topped 300 yards for the second time in his career.
Just as important for New England, he didn’t put the ball in harm’s way at all - his first game this season without an interception. That mattered because turnover issues had been the loudest storyline around him through the opening month.
The touchdown throws came in bunches. Maye found Hunter Henry, Kyle Williams and Demario Douglas, with Douglas catching two of them.
That gave Maye eight passing touchdowns on the season, doubling his previous recorded passing touchdown total in 2026. He had thrown four scoring passes through the first four weeks and matched that total in Week 5 alone.
He added to the blowout with his legs, too. In the third quarter, Maye scrambled left for a four-yard touchdown, giving the Patriots their second rushing score of the game.
The stat line came with the kind of efficiency coaches love to point to later: a 150.9 passer rating and a clean sheet in the turnover column. For Maye and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, that was the most encouraging part of the afternoon.
Through the first month, Maye had piled up 11 turnovers in New England’s two wins and two losses, leaving plenty of questions about how steady the offense could be. Sunday was the answer.
It also followed on the heels of a 29-26 win over the Buffalo Bills, a result that, along with this one, has started to push Maye back into the conversation as one of the league’s best young quarterbacks. After an uneven start, the Patriots have climbed to 3-2 and are once again being talked about as an AFC contender. The schedule doesn’t get much scarier from here, either, with New England owning the 27th-easiest remaining slate in the NFL.
The bigger picture around Maye is easy to spot if you zoom out. A year ago, he threw for 4,394 yards and 31 touchdowns, then followed that with 374 passing yards and five total touchdowns in a runner-up MVP season behind Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford. He also helped lead the Patriots to a Super Bowl appearance in the 2025 season after what the source described as a stroke of luck, though Sunday’s performance stood on its own without needing any outside help.
Now New England gets ready for another division test. The Patriots will host the New York Jets, who are 2-3, next Sunday in Foxborough.
In Other News...
Patriots Offense Just Put More Pressure On Drake Maye
The Patriots offense took another hit heading into a pivotal stretch, with New England adjusting its lineup as it prepares for a Week 5 meeting with the Raiders. Sitting at 2-2, the team is trying to stabilize a unit that has already been forced to adapt early in the season, and the timing matters with another game against the Bears coming up on Oct. 22.
Reggie Gilliam and Mack Hollins are both out of the picture for now, which narrows the options around Drake Maye and puts more on his plate in a matchup where the offense could use a clean, organized showing. For a Patriots team still searching for rhythm, the next couple of weeks will say plenty about how well it can absorb roster changes without losing ground. [Read more 🡒]
Patriots May Need An Unlikely Answer To A Growing Offensive Concern
Mack Hollins has become a growing concern for the Patriots this week after missing consecutive practices with a calf injury, putting his status for Sunday against the Raiders in doubt. With A.J. Brown still on injured reserve, New Englands margin for error at receiver is getting thinner, and the team may need to lean harder on whatever options are available to keep the passing game functional.
One of those options could be Eli Raridon, who took a season-high 44 snaps last week and has been productive in limited chances. He is healthy for the upcoming game after working through a thigh issue earlier, and he even lined up wide on five of his 23 pass snaps against Buffalo, a hint that the Patriots could ask him to stretch beyond his usual role if Hollins is unavailable. [Read more 🡒]
Patriots Secondary Suddenly Faces A Depth Test They Couldn't Avoid
The Patriots secondary is heading into Week 5 with plenty of uncertainty, and Charles Woods is part of the reason there is at least a little relief on the injury front. Woods had been listed questionable with a shoulder issue, but he has been cleared to play, giving New England one more body to work with as it prepares for the Raiders.
Even with that bit of good news, the picture remains thin. New England ruled out four cornerbacks and will be without Christian Gonzalez and Carlton Davis, along with backups Channing Canada and Karon Prunty, leaving the defense to patch together a depth chart against a Las Vegas group that wont have receiver Jalen Nailor but does have Ashton Jeanty available. [Read more 🡒]