The New England Patriots heard a lot of narratives surrounding the team’s lack of difficult schedule during their AFC championship season last year. Well, on Tuesday, ESPN’s Ben Solak flipped the narrative on its head.
There’s a growing narrative around the league that Patriots quarterback Drake Maye might not be as good as a lot of pundits indicated last season. Maye threw three interceptions in the fourth quarter during Week 1 and had another pick Sunday in a win versus the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Solak acknowledged Maye isn’t as good as other recent NFL MVP candidates. But Solak also argued his recent growing pains are the result of a difficult schedule.
“The Patriots have faced a brutal run of opponents. In the playoffs, they saw the defenses of the Chargers, Texans, Broncos and Seahawks. This season started with a Seattle rematch,” Solak wrote. “Because so much was written about Maye’s easy schedule in 2025, this stretch has become the cleansing light of truth in the world of knee-jerk discourse (this is who Maye really is).
“The better explanation is far simpler: Every quarterback looks worse when they play truly top-tier defenses. The truth of Maye is somewhere in the middle, and the truth will change over time, especially as Brown gets reintroduced to the offense and as Maye gains more playoff experience.”
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Solak couldn’t have put his argument defending Maye any plainer than what he wrote just before his explanation about the team’s difficult schedule.
“This weird scrambling to rip the mask off Maye and reveal a so-so quarterback, similar to an episode of ‘Scooby-Doo,’ feels unwarranted and ultimately fruitless,” wrote Solak.
Phrased another way, Maye is suffering from a couple different things — his new high expectations and recency bias.
Maye finished second in MVP voting and very nearly won the award. So, in the minds of a lot of pundits and fans outside New England, Maye should be playing at an elite level every single week.
The reality is the Patriots quarterback is still only 24 years old and has more developing to do.
Maye also hasn’t played well recently. So it’s easy for pundits to forget about how well Maye performed last season.
Easy schedule or not, Maye led the NFL with a 72% completion percentage and an 8.9 yards per pass average. He threw for 4,394 yards and 31 touchdowns with just eight interceptions.
In each of his first two seasons, Maye has earned Pro Bowl nominations.
A two-game sample size is too small to say anything definitive about Maye this season. While his cold streak dates back to the playoffs, he still led the Patriots to an AFC championship.
Overall, Maye is 6-2 in his last eight games. He doesn’t have the prettiest statistics. But the team is winning, and the quarterback has a chance to keep getting better.
Until he fully proves he’s plateaued, Solak’s argument that a difficult stretch of defenses is hurting Maye’s production rings true.
Patriots Gets Cold Water Thrown On Growing Drake Maye Narrative