Drake Maye

Drake Maye completed 22-of-36 passes for 261 yards, two touchdowns and one interception, rushed six times for 30 yards and lost one fumble in the Patriots’ 21-24, Week 16 loss to the Bills.

Maye looked great, carving up the Bills’ injury-depleted secondary. The Patriots called plays very aggressively early on, wielding a 63.4 percent pass play rate in the first half. Jerod Mayo even called a successful fake punt from the Patriots’ own 23-yard line, with four minutes left in the first half. The box score credits Maye with a lost fumble-touchdown but the play is less cut-and-dried. From the Patriots’ own 11-yard line, Maye targeted Rhamondre Stevenson on a swing pass out of the backfield. Stevenson perhaps panicked seeing imminent contact from a Bills defender and bobbled the pass, setting it volleyball-style up and into the end zone, where Bills CB Taron Johnson recovered it. Maye looked a little stiff while walking off-field in the fourth quarter but he remains is a QB1 candidate against the Chargers in Week 17, pending reasonably good health.