New England Patriots - NESN.com
Drake Maye can pad his numbers like he’s never done before when the New England Patriots face the Cincinnati Bengals this Sunday.
Maye sits near or at the top of most efficiency metrics throughout a standout second season. However, he’s yet to reach one increasingly common benchmark for quarterbacks.
Through 24 career games, Maye has never recorded 300 passing yards. That could change when the Patriots oppose the NFL’s most vulnerable defense.
The Bengals enter Week 12 last in points and yards allowed. Only the Pittsburgh Steelers have allowed more passing yards per game than Cincinnati’s 257.3.
They’re also last in opposing expected points added before facing Maye, who leads all quarterbacks in that category.
Maye has still tallied an NFL-leading 2,836 passing yards through Week 11. While he hasn’t reached 300, the 23-year-old also hasn’t fallen short of 200 this season.
Yet there’s a “problem” that could complicate the road to 300. Cincinnati has also permitted an NFL-worst 160.9 rushing yards per game.
New England enters Paycor Stadium as a touchdown favorite, so Mike Vrabel may instead give a heavy dose of touches to rookie running back TreVeyon Henderson if the Patriots establish an early lead. That could mean another efficient, but less gaudy stat line from Maye, who could probably use some more volume stats to keep up with Matthew Stafford and Josh Allen in the MVP race.
Either way, Maye is positioned to have another big game against a weak Bengals defense likely to play without star pass rusher Trey Hendrickson. Sunday’s matchup starts at 1 p.m. ET on CBS.
