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With the New England Patriots set to begin their preparations for the Seahawks in what’s about to be an unprecedented 10th Super Bowl appearance in the last 26 years, there will be many who make comparisons to New England’s previous postseason runs.
However, one thing appears to be pretty clear. Second-year quarterback Drake Maye seems intent on trying to carve out his own piece of history, with his team now sitting with an opportunity to add to the team’s existing hardware when they face Seattle in Santa Clara in two weeks.
Sunday’s 10-7 AFC Championship victory was the first-ever postseason win for the Patriots in Denver, which adds to a long list of things Maye’s been able to accomplish this season. He also went into Miami and beat the Dolphins back in Week Two, which had been the Patriots’ first victory in South Florida since 2019. The Patriots also broke the 30-point mark in that game (a 33-27 win) for the first of eight times in 2025, including two games where they went over 40. The 490 points they put up this year were also the most of any previous Patriots team since 2012, when they scored 557.
While Maye appreciates the historical aspect of what they’ve done, he’s more intent on trying to leave his own mark on a franchise that has obviously had so much success over the last two decades.
“It’s a new team. It’s a new era,” said Maye. “I respect and appreciate what the Patriots’ dynasty did. Unfortunately, they didn’t come out with some wins here, but we changed that narrative and look forward to bringing our best football for Santa Clara. That’ll be pretty special.”
For Maye to say that tells you that it’s something that’s on his mind. The 23-year old already has had plenty of comparisons to Patriots legend, Tom Brady. While no one can or ever will reach the heights Brady did as a player, Maye is in a situation where he’s fit the mold and the style of football that Mike Vrabel has been looking for as a coach.
Looking back at his teams in Tennessee, we’ve seen a similar style of play. A solid defense, and an offense that does enough to put up points and doesn’t turn it over. With the Titans, Vrabel had to rely on Ryan Tannehill, who had a tough time making a play or not turning it over in key moments. With Maye, he’s got someone who has had his own issues, but has also been someone who can come up big when it counts.
On Sunday, that included the final run of the day when Maye saw Denver’s defense getting a little “lackadaisical” on a play they had been designed to run to the right. Instead, Maye held onto the football and faked the handoff and went left, with the quarterback outrunning a Broncos’ defender and crossing the first-down marker, which sealed the victory.
“Yeah, we were in big personnel running the same deal to the right, a little stretch play,” explained Maye after the game. “At some point, they get lackadaisical and got a chance to get around the edge. I thought he was going to track me and hunt me down, but we got enough to pick up the first [down].”
“Coach Vrabe’s will probably get mad about [me] running out of bounds, but at that point, it doesn’t matter when you get the first down. That was a cool moment and cool to celebrate with those guys. It’s always cool finishing in victory formation. It’s pretty sweet.”
For now, Maye and his football team could certainly put quite a stamp on this incredible run if they can beat the Seahawks to close out this 2025 season. They head into Santa Clara in relatively good shape, with the majority of their team mostly healthy. They’ll now also have two weeks to hopefully heal up ahead of that match-up.
Winning a Lombardi Trophy would definitely allow them to close the door to the past and open the door to what feels like a bright future. Maye, who struggled the last two weeks, having faced rain and sleet against the Texans and then driving snow on Sunday, believes they haven’t played their best yet.
With that in mind, the goal now is to try to bring it all together, and he’s excited to embark on this next part of what’s already been a remarkable postseason.
“I think we still haven’t played our best football yet in these playoffs, and I’m looking forward to seeing that and hopefully having that click in the Super Bowl,” said Maye. “That’d be pretty cool.”
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