Drake Maye Week 5 QB Grade: Patriots @ Bills

Some might say this was a Drake Maye 'coming out' game, seeing as many hasn't seen his game as the Patriots (of recent) don't make their way to primetime football. But for those who keep an eye on him, or watch weekly, this was well overdue. After an up and down 1st half, Maye showcased why he is so highly thought of, taking control and piloting the Patriots to an upset win over the Bills on Sunday Night. While the stat sheet might not exactly show that, the quality of throws, the situation of those throws, and his ability to play all shine on film. And that all went into the upset win Sunday. Let's take a look at the breakdown.

Basics (Season Average in Italics)

C/A: 22.8/30.8 (74.0%) | 22/30 (73.3%)

Yards: 247 | 273

aDOT: 7.2 | 7.9

Touchdowns: 2 | 0

Turnovers: .8 | 0

QB at Fault Sacks: 1.3 | 1

Passer Rating: 109.4 | 101.1

True Passer Rating: 130.0 | 127.4

Time to Throw: 2.70s | 2.85s

Time to Pressure: 2.63s | 2.22s

Pressure Rate: 28.87% | 45.00%

On-Target Rate: 61.6% | 59.4%

PPR / BPR: 7.8%PPR / 5.4%BPR | 2.4%PPR / 12.2%BPR

Abridged Breakdown

• The Maye to Diggs connection is popping! 16 completions between the two for 247 yards over just the last two weeks after just 13 receptions for 112 yards over the first 3 weeks of the season. Maye commonly looked his number one's way this week, and it paid off.

• 5 total big plays, 3 graded Great, and 2 Elite, both Elite throws on completions deep to Stefon Diggs.

• Drake was LETHAL deep, going 3 for 3 on deep balls, all on-target. He also was good in the Mid level, going 5 for 8. 8 for 11, a 72.7% completion.

• All this despite the Bills getting a 45.00% pressure rate on the game on Maye. He was cool under pressure, and accurate while on the run. A fantastic game despite facing pressure in near 1 our of every 2 drop backs.

• His one bad miss was over the seam to Hunter Henry, it was a difficult throw to begin with but Maye air mailed it, giving Henry no chance at hauling in the throw.

• An interesting caveat this week: I graded a sack he took as a plus grade. The sack he took on the last drive was actually a smart choice, keeping the clock running while not losing much as far as field position goes. In a situation where time was the Patriots best friend, Maye did a great job of milking that and not panicking and throwing the ball away or trying to do something with it he shouldn't.

• This was Maye's best game I have graded so far, and also includes an "Elite" 2nd half grade. 0.35/4.65/5.00 this is the best game graded so far this season, surpassing Jared Goff's week 2 score of 4.90 against the Bears.