AP/Nick Wass
Trailing by 11 with just under 13 minutes left in Baltimore on Sunday night, it looked as if the Patriots were going to officially hit an ill-timed December skid.
Then, that Drake Maye kid came up with his first real Brady impression.
Maye led the Pats to a stunning 28-24 win over a Ravens team that lost Lamar Jackson during the game and for some mind boggling reason, decided to bench Derrick Henry on its final two drives.
Maye had his first 300-yard game in the NFL, finishing with 380 yards (31-44) with two touchdowns and an interception. In true Brady-like fashion, Maye was at his best in the final quarter, going 12-14 for 139 yards with a touchdown and 14 yards rushing.
New England is now 12-3 and guaranteed a postseason berth for the first time since 2021. With Denver losing to Jacksonville earlier in the day, the No. 1 seed – along with the division title and guaranteed home playoff games – are still on the line the next two weeks against the Jets and Dolphins.
“You take it for granted, man. You take it for granted. What a beautiful sport. The best sport out there,” Maye said postgame. “This game is brutal. There’s times where injuries and losses weigh on you, but this winning feeling, there’s nothing like it.
“Coach reminded us of that pregame. He said ‘you can’t buy that back, winning in that locker room.’ At his age, he always says ‘I wish I could suit up again’ and ‘you just can’t buy that…you can buy anything else in life, but you can’t buy this time we’re in right now and what a time it is.’
“So, look forward to celebrating with these guys and just props to them. Man, just thank the good Lord. What a position I’m in in my life. Stay strong with my faith and good things happen.”
Trailing 24-21, the Pats got the ball back with 5:02 on the clock in the fourth quarter, but were backed up to their own 11. Maye started the drive with a 20-yard completion to Mack Hollins (7/69). A few plays later, Maye launched a deep ball for Kayshon Boutte who was tackled – and almost made the catch while falling down – with no pass interference call given. Instead of sulking or panicking, Maye followed that with an eight-yard completion to Austin Hooper and then a 21-yard dart to Stefon Diggs (9/138) on 4th-&-2 two plays after that.
With 2:07 left, Stevenson rumbled in from 21-yards out and Andy Borregales’ PAT made it 28-24. Two plays into Baltimore’s next drive, Zay Flowers – who had a monster night with (7/84) – was stripped from behind by K’Lavon Chaisson and Marcus Jones fell on it at the Baltimore 27. Maye and Stevenson ran out the final 1:48 to send New England home on a very, very happy flight.
Prior to that sequence with New England down 24-13, Maye led a seven-play drive of his own. This one spanned 73-yards and ended with a ridiculous 37-yard TD toss to Kyle Williams, who made a sick catch at the front pylon. a two-point pass to Rhamondre Stevenson – who saw increased snaps when TreVeyon Henderson went down with a concussion – cut it to 24-21.
“I felt like it was a big team win, it was a huge team win,” said Mike Vrabel. “We lost a lot of guys. A lot of guys went down. A lot of guys stepped up. We’re going to have to get healthy, but I thought this was a great win for us.”
Baltimore jumped ahead 7-0 early on a 21-yard TD run by Henry. Maye led a 10-play drive into the red zone on New England’s first possession, but threw a bad pick. Nine plays later, Henry was stripped by Jaylinn Hawkins and Craig Woodson recovered at the Pats’ 32. 10 plays later – including a 3rd-&-13 completion to Hollins – Maye found Hunter Henry for a one-yard TD to knot things up at 7-7.
Borregales gave the Patriots a 10-7 lead, but Baltimore tied things up again. Maye was strip-sacked near the end of the half, but with 19 seconds left, Tyler Huntley – in for Jackson who had taken a knee to the back in the quarter – threw a pass to Mark Andrews, but Andrews tossed it backwards and it was recovered by New England. The whole sequence was all for not though, as there were offsetting penalties.
Borregales made it 13-10 in the third, but an 18-yard touchdown run for Flowers on an end around put the Ravens ahead 17-13 with 4:35 left in the third. After a New England turnover on downs, Henry’s two-yard TD run made it an 11-point game and set up Maye’s heroics.
Perhaps the most impressive part of this win wasn’t the fact that Maye finally got his come-from-behind win, it was the mental toughness and full team effort the Patriots showed with so many guys getting hurt. Robert Spillane was out before the game even started. Then, Morgan Moses, Henderson, Thayer Munford Jr. (in for Moses), Joshua Farmer, Charles Woods and Khyiris Tonga all got banged up. Boutte ended up leaving the game after the no-call play. Demario Douglas ended up with a hamstring issue. Not to mention, Maye got roughed up quite a bit and Diggs took some heavy shots.
Still, they found a way. Through the injuries and the fourth quarter deficit, the Patriots didn’t make excuses, they simply solved the problem.
Now, they’re playoff bound once again. But, no one wearing red, white and blue postgame wanted to talk about it.
The goals remain much bigger.
“We’re going to try to win the division,” Vrabel said. “We’re going to focus on that. We’ll just take it one day at a time. Whatever happens, we’ll figure out what’s the best thing for the team…it’s all a credit to the players. So, when we win, it’s because of them.”
“That was one of the goals,” added Maye on the postseason berth. “You try to win the division and that’s still kind of what we’re fighting for. It’s awesome to clinch the playoffs, but we want to win the division.”