New England Patriots
“It’s very hard to bottle him up.”
New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye didn’t have his best showing on Thursday Night Football, but his generally positive performance caught the attention of the Chicago Bears head coach.
Maye finished the 30-24 loss by completing 24 of his 31 pass attempts for 321 yards, two touchdowns, and a 117.8 passer rating. However, he caught the turnover bug again for the first time since Week 4 by throwing a brutal end zone interception as the Patriots were driving late in the second quarter with aspirations of taking the lead over the Bears.
Aside from the costly pick, Maye continued a stretch of impressive quarterbacking after a dismal start to the season. The 24-year-old particularly shone in the second half of Thursday’s contest to give New England a fighting chance against a Chicago team that seemingly had an answer to everything its opponent did.
Maye cut the Bears’ late third-quarter lead from 27-21 with an impressive drive and a 30-yard touchdown pass to tight end Eli Raridon. The nine-play series came in response to Chicago’s second-half-opening scoring drive of its own.
After the game, Bears head coach Ben Johnson had nothing but good things to say about Maye’s night on the field.
“Just watching Drake Maye play, I mean, he’s an outstanding player,” Johnson, Chicago’s second-year HC, said. “It’s very hard to bottle him up. You only rush four and he finds a way. If he doesn’t see anything down the field, he’ll find an open gap and skirt on through.”
The Bears sacked Maye twice and logged six QB hits against the third-year signal-caller, but they had probably hoped to get their hands on him more entering the week. Maye also had a highlight-reel, albeit frightening, goal-line rushing score to put the Patriots on the board.
Heading into the matchup, Johnson noted Maye’s ability to scramble effectively as well as possess one of the NFL’s best arms.
“It’s a dangerous combination of a guy that’s an elite deep ball thrower along with he can crush you with his legs,” Johnson said. “I think that combination is deadly.”
Despite the final score, Maye proved to be a formidable quarterback in the eyes of one of the best young coaches in the league. His trend of end-zone turnovers is concerning, but given it was the only blemish in his final stat line and how impressive the Bears’ defense was, most teams would gladly take the performance.
Maye’s own coach, Mike Vrabel, made sure to praise him postgame, too. Vrabel mentioned that he’s “glad” to have Maye as his QB.
“He gave us a chance. He competed and I know he’d like to have that throw back to Eli (Raridon) but, I thought he really competed,” Vrabel said. “Whether that was running around and scrambling or finding good places to go with the football, he gave us a chance. I know he’d like to have that one back and he’ll learn from it like he always does.
“I’m glad he’s ours.”
Vrabel’s last sentence was a notable one given Thursday’s QB matchup. Both Maye and Chicago’s Caleb Williams were drafted in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft: Williams was selected first overall and Maye third. The Bears could have chosen Maye, but opted for the consensus top pick in Williams.
Williams played well himself — going 22-for-33 with 308 yards and two touchdowns — but Maye was no dud. Vrabel made sure to remind Maye of that during his press conference.
Johnson doesn’t think Maye will revert back to the bleak version of himself from the first three weeks of the season after getting a close-up look at the player.
“You can tell he’s kind of caught his rhythm now at this part of the season, and he’ll probably continue to do that,” Johnson said.
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