Breaking Down Drake Maye's Playoff Struggles
There’s no question that Drake Maye hasn’t looked the same during the postseason.
After completing 72% of his passes for 8.9 yards per attempt during the regular season, he’s completed just 55.8% of his passes for 6.9 yards per attempt during the playoffs. He has 5 total touchdowns and has committed 5 turnovers (He’s fumbled 6 times and lost just 3 of them, so he’s lucky it hasn’t been more).
One area that stands out is downfield passing. Maye has completed just 34.6% of his passes traveling 10 yards or more from the line of scrimmage during the playoffs after completing 61% of those throws during the regular season according to NFL Next Gen Stats.
Overall, the Patriots offense has suffered, averaging just 15.7 points per game in the postseason.
So what’s going on with Maye?
Navigating the Pass Rush
The level of competition certainly has to be somewhat of a factor. The Patriots did not play against one top-10 scoring defense during the regular season. During the playoffs, all three of his opponents have been in the top 10.
Each of those teams can rush the passer and all 3 had success doing so against the Patriots. Maye has been sacked 15 times in 3 playoff games. That’ll impact any quarterback.
Some of the pressure has been immediate, and that has likely been unsettling for Maye. But many of the sacks he’s taken (and some of the fumbles) have been on him.
For instance, this sack came in the second half of the Patriots’ 16-3 win over the Chargers. The pass rush won quickly around the edge against left tackle Will Campbell. That you can’t put on Maye. What you can blame him for is trying to throw the ball downfield while a pass rusher was hanging onto him:
It looked like Maye was trying to throw the ball down the right sideline to a receiver who was locked up:
That just wasn’t a good decision. Eat the ball, take the sack, and live to play another day. Especially in a game like that where 3 points would have been huge since the Chargers offense couldn’t do anything.
Later in that game, Maye made a similar mistake. This time, the Patriots led 16-3 with about 6 and a half minutes remaining. They were in total control. The only way the Chargers could get back in this game was with a turnover. And Maye nearly gave it to them: