The Wild Card round of the NFL Playoffs featured strong quarterback performances from Caleb Williams, Josh Allen, and Matthew Stafford. Drake Maye also quietly delivered a solid outing in a low-scoring 16-3 game against the LA Chargers.
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Maye threw for 268 yards and a touchdown, averaged 9.2 yards per completion, and added 66 rushing yards. Watching from home, Jameis Winston was impressed by the New England Patriots the most among all the quarterbacks in the wild-card weekend.
It was a surprising take from Winston, since statistically, Allen and Stafford posted better games. However, Winston explained that elite performances from those quarterbacks were expected at that moment. Maye, on the other hand, had much more to prove under pressure.
It was the sophomore quarterback’s first career playoff start. And that context made his showing stand out above the rest for Winston.
“I gotta go with Drake… I just think that the consistency Drake Maye has played with this entire year has been impressive,” Winston shared on the New Heights podcast with Jason and Travis Kelce.
“Especially, like, his offensive coordinator just got fired last year. His head coach parted ways a year before, and he’s coming onto this tour,” he added.
Maye has been sensational this season. So much so that running neck-to-neck in the MVP race against Stafford.
Many believe that the LA Rams QB’s first-team All-Pro selection is an indicator that he will win the award. However, that is not a guarantee. We saw Josh Allen win MVP while Lamar Jackson made first-team All-Pro just last season.
So it is difficult to brush aside Winston’s take. He did not claim that Maye outperformed the other quarterbacks statistically in the Wild Card round. He simply said the New England Patriots QB impressed him the most, which is a matter of opinion.
At the same time, though, Maye did turn the ball over twice, once via interception and once on a fumble. Both came at crucial points in the game. Those are mistakes he will need to clean up heading into the Divisional matchup against the Houston Texans, who arguably have the best defense in the NFL.
Winston was justified in highlighting Maye’s consistency. His final stat line looked similar to one of his regular-season performances.
Even in his first playoff start, the Patriots QB did not let the moment overwhelm him. He stayed calm and composed, delivering the franchise its first playoff win since 2018.
