Patriots quarterback Drake Maye continues to take the league by storm in his second NFL season.
New England won their seventh consecutive game on Sunday afternoon with a 28–23 victory over the Buccaneers, and it did so—in part—thanks to a 270-yard, two-touchdown performance from their second-year quarterback. The victory brings the Patriots to 8–2 on the year and, even while playing on the road in Tampa, Maye was serenaded with MVP chants from the crowd.
After the game, CBS’s Tracy Wolfson asked the 23-year-old if he heard the noise from fans—which prompted quite the humble response from the rising star.
“They may have been for Baker [Mayfield],” Maye said with a humble smile. “Baker played his butt off. I’m a big fan of Baker’s game and they have a good football team. But you know, we travel well. That’s the Patriots. That’s us. We’re gonna travel every week.”
"We're not worried about Buffalo — we're worried about Thursday night."
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) November 9, 2025
- Drake Maye after @tracywolfson told him the Bills lost pic.twitter.com/6QUmgzTEpp
Mayfield did have quite the game for himself—throwing for 273 yards and three touchdowns—but in the end, it wasn’t enough to stop New England.
Even with Maye throwing what could have been a back-breaking, fourth-quarter interception in the red zone, the Patriots secured a win behind 147 rushing yards and two touchdowns from rookie TreVeyon Henderson, a 100-plus-yard performance from veteran Mack Hollins, and a crucial stop by the defense in the final frame.
“That was fun. Man, our team’s resilient.” Maye also said postgame. “It don’t matter what happens. Throw an interception and put our defense in a bad spot? It don't matter. They’re gonna come out and get a stop. TreVeyon takes one. Man, what about TreVeyon, man? Just proud of our guys. People just keep stepping up. That’s this team. That’s what we’re trying to build here. Just trying to enjoy this one. We’ve got a quick turnaround."
And a quick turnaround it is. The Patriots will return home and immediately flip the switch towards the Jets, who they’ll welcome to Gillette Stadium this coming Thursday night to kick off Week 11 in the NFL.
Drake Maye is the NFL’s MVP favorite through Week 10
The NFL officially has a new frontrunner in the MVP race, as Maye is now officially the favorite to win the award after the Patriots' win against Tampa Bay. As things currently stand, the second-year pro has the edge over fellow quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, and Matthew Stafford—as well as running back Jonathan Taylor.
On the year, Maye has now completed 72% of his passes for 2,555 yards, 19 touchdowns, and five interceptions. Additionally, he’s run for 283 yards on the ground and two more scores.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Drake Maye Had Such a Selfless Answer to Receiving 'MVP' Chants in Tampa.
