The New England Patriots clinched a spot in the postseason with their 28-24 comeback victory over the Baltimore Ravens in Week 16. In the process, second-year quarterback Drake Maye further solidified himself as one of the top MVP candidates in the league.

Maye completed 31 of his 44 pass attempts for 380 yards and two touchdowns, while also rushing for 25 yards on 10 carries. Maye committed a pair of turnovers along the way (one interception, one fumble), but when his team needed him to step up in the fourth quarter, he delivered two huge drives that ended with touchdowns.

With two games left in the regular season, it seems like Maye is in a neck-and-neck race with Los Angeles Rams’ quarterback Matthew Stafford for the MVP Award. In a poll conducted by NFL.com of various front office executives across the league, Stafford is still ahead of Maye, even when accounting for his big outing vs. Baltimore.

“Patriots quarterback Drake Maye was the runner-up with five votes,” Tom Pelissero wrote. “Still just 23 years old and in his second NFL season, Maye leads the NFL with a 70.9% completion percentage — topping Tom Brady’s franchise-record 68.9% in 2007 — and would be the youngest player ever to lead the NFL in that category.

“Along with the arrival of head coach Mike Vrabel, Maye’s growth is a big reason the Patriots have made the biggest jump in total wins from last season (4-13 in 2024 to 12-3 with two games to go this season).”

Stafford is enjoying the best season of his career (341/519, 4,179 YDS, 40 TD, 5 INT), as he’s leading the league in several major categories, such as passing yards and passing touchdowns. Maye’s numbers are right there with him, though (321/453, 3.947 YDS, 25 TD, 8 INT, 95 CAR, 387 YDS, 4 TD), which is why this race is coming down to the wire.

It is worth noting that the Rams suffered a crucial loss to the Seattle Seahawks in Week 16, so Stafford’s grip atop this race could be loosening. At the end of the day, though, Maye is more focused on winning football games with his team rather than winning individual awards, and he will look to do just that when the Pats return to action in Week 17.

Two players represent the New England Patriots on the AFC’s Pro Bowl Games roster.

The NFL revealed Pro Bowl selections on Tuesday, and Patriots fans may feel the 12-3 squad got short-changed. Only quarterback Drake Maye and cornerback Christian Gonzalez made the cut.

Maye led the fan voting for much of the process before Travis Kelce and Josh Allen surpassed him in the last update. The MVP candidate nevertheless landed his second straight Pro Bowl nod alongside Allen and Justin Herbert.

The Patriots noted that Maye joined Dan Marino, Russell Wilson and Andrew Luck as the fourth quarterback to begin his career with multiple Pro Bowl selections. This one was a bit more earned than last season.

Down years from Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow made Maye a near lock amid a breakout campaign. The 23-year-old wields an NFL-leading 70.9 percent completion rate while matching NFC Pro Bowler Sam Darnold’s league-best 8.7 yards per pass attempt.

Maye has accounted for 29 touchdowns and amassed an AFC-high 3,947 passing yards after recording his first career 300-yard game in Sunday night’s 28-24 win over the Baltimore Ravens.

Meanwhile, Gonzalez will represent New England’s defense with his first Pro Bowl invite. The 23-year-old has allowed a 66.3 passer rating in coverage with 10 passes defended in 12 games.

Marcus Jones stands out as New England’s biggest snub. The cornerback has three interceptions, three fumble recoveries and two punts returned for touchdowns in a standout fourth season.

The New England Patriots pulled off their best comeback in nearly a decade on Sunday night, erasing a 24-13 deficit in the fourth quarter to stun the Baltimore Ravens 28-24 at M&T Bank Stadium. It was the Patriots’ biggest fourth-quarter comeback since their historic Super Bowl LI rally against the Atlanta Falcons in early 2017.

But whereas that one was led by Bill Belichick and Tom Brady, this one was led by Mike Vrabel and a 23-year-old Drake Maye. Despite facing intense pressure from the Ravens’ defense, Maye calmly led New England on a pair of clutch touchdown drives during the fourth quarter to win the game and clinch a playoff berth.

On Monday, radio host Colin Cowherd showered Maye and his teammates with praise for their impressive comeback on the road.

“If you watch Drake Maye, in the final quarter, he was pressured on almost half of his throws, and yet was money,” Cowherd said. “That’s a star quarterback. Trailing, getting hit, drive them down the field.”

Cowherd complimented the Patriots by comparing them to the Los Angeles Chargers, who have also overachieved this year despite crushing injuries.

“The East Coast version of the Chargers. A team with a great coach and a great quarterback that should not be this good is the Patriots,” Cowherd said. “They’re still in a rebuild…Drake Maye’s only 23 years old. He was the rawest of all the quarterbacks in his class. Yet now he’s a top eight, nine, ten quarterback.”

Cowherd also praised New England for being ahead of schedule and overcoming numerous obstacles this season, including youth, injuries, roster depth and a relative lack of reliable weapons.

“For the Patriots to be this good with all their youth and all their new players is unbelievable,” Cowherd said. “That was a really impressive road win for Drake Maye.”

Maye will try to earn another road win on Sunday against the New York Jets as the Patriots continue to battle the Denver Broncos and Jacksonville Jaguars for the top seed in the AFC.

Pretty much everything’s gone right for New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye this season.

The second-year pro is an MVP contender, his Patriots clinched a playoff berth in Week 16 and the team is in good position to win their first AFC East crown in six years.

Josh Allen’s Buffalo Bills, meanwhile, lost four of seven games during the middle of the season and may finish as the division’s runner-up and things have been even worse for Travis Kelce’s Kansas City Chiefs.

Kelce has posted mediocre numbers and the three-time defending AFC champions have not only been eliminated from playoff contention, but two-time MVP signal-caller Patrick Mahomes suffered a season-ending torn ACL in Week 15.

Allen and Kelce did pass Maye atop the 2026 Pro Bowl Games fan voting leaderboard, however, as the final tallies were revealed on Monday.

Maye dominated the voting up until the final hours, leading all players in the race for the top spot until the polls closed at midnight on Dec. 15.

The North Carolina product finished in third place with 259,978 votes, while Allen was in second at 263,127 and Kelce garnered 420,383 tallies.

The Chiefs tight end’s finish wasn’t a shock, as he was the top vote-getter last season and is engaged to music superstar Taylor Swift.

The AFC and NFC rosters will be revealed at 10 a.m. ET on Tuesday.

The New England Patriots earned a thrilling 28-24 comeback victory over the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday Night Football, pushing their record to 12-3 on the season. With the game hanging in the balance, second-year quarterback Drake Maye took matters into his own hands to ensure the Patriots would win this game.

This wasn’t necessarily Maye’s cleanest outing, as he committed a pair of turnovers that cost New England at least six points, but he pulled off the first comeback win of his young career. When all was said and done, Maye had completed 31 of his 44 pass attempts for 380 yards and two touchdowns, while also rushing for 25 yards on 10 carries.

If those numbers seem impressive, that’s because, well, they are. Just how impressive are they, though? When you put it all together, Maye turned in a road performance under center that had literally never been seen in the NFL prior to this game.

In his first full season as New England’s starting quarterback, Maye has been wildly impressive. However, considering the stakes that were present against Baltimore, this may just be the best game of his young career.

With this win, the Patriots maintained their one-game lead atop the Buffalo Bills in the AFC East division. Matchups against the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins await New England, and it should be heavily favored to win both games.

The Pats have done a great job of focusing on going 1-0 each week, and they will look to carry that mindset into Week 17. New England will square off against New York next, with kickoff scheduled for 1 p.m. ET on Sunday afternoon.