New England Patriots - NESN.com
Drake Maye and the New England Patriots will encounter their biggest challenge of the season in Week 5.
Maye has completed over 75 percent of his passes and tossed two passing touchdowns in three straight games, two Patriots victories. The 23-year-old will look to maintain that momentum when going on the road to play the undefeated Buffalo Bills on Sunday night.
When previewing the matchup on her self-titled podcast, ESPN’s Mina Kimes noted that Maye ranks third in expected points added per dropback above Josh Allen. He’s among the league’s top-10 quarterbacks in success rate, accuracy rate and completion percentage over expected, but the “NFL Live” analyst wondered how the second-year player will perform against a more formidable opponent.
“The only thing he’s not top 10 in is DVOA, which accounts for opponent,” Kimes said. “And that’s kind of the big question, right? OK, he’s been balling. Looks really good, looks really accurate, but he has played pretty low-level competition.”
Kimes anticipates Buffalo’s top-ranked rushing offense succeeding against the Patriots, who are tied for the second-fewest rushing yards allowed through four weeks. New England may need a lot of points from Maye’s offense to keep up.
“I’d like to see if Drake Maye can go toe-to-toe,” Kimes said. “Because the Bills defense is OK. They’re still missing guys. They’re OK. But thus far this season, quietly one of the stories of the NFL season has been how well Drake Maye has been playing.”
Kimes predicted a Bills victory but believes the Patriots will make things “interesting” on Sunday night. Her podcast guest, Brett Kollmann, picked a New England upset.
“There’s always one game a week that doesn’t go the way people think it will,” Kollmann said. “I think that’s gonna be this one.”
