FOXBORO — Drake Maye gets all kinds of credit for having rare physical traits. He’s been lauded for his ability to process behind center and his willingness to lead.
But there’s one skill he possesses that is among the most fundamental for any quarterback, at any level, hoping to achieve some modicum of success: He can place the football just about wherever he wants, whenever he wants.
Maye has been unquestionably one of the most accurate quarterbacks in football in 2025. No small feat, especially given that at the time he was drafted, one of the knocks on his game was that some inconsistencies in his mechanics at times led to scattershot ball placement.
Less than two years later, Maye is first in the NFL among qualifiers in the following categories:
Completion percentage (71.9)
Quarterback rating (113.2)
Ben Baldwin’s completion percentage over expected metric (10.1)
NextGen’s expected points added (+84.1) and EPA per dropback (+0.21)
Quarterback rating (135.4) and EPA (+39.8) on deep passes
CPOE on intermediate passes (+13.8)
Quarterback rating (107.6), CPOE (10.7) and EPA per dropback (-0.10) when pressured
“Just being competitive,” Maye said this week. “I think that’s the biggest thing. I’m competitive and I want to make good throws. I want to complete passes in tight windows and give good ball placement for catch-and-run (opportunities).
“My high school coach used to tell me, he talked about yards after catch and ball placement. I’ve tried to take it from there and everywhere I’ve gone. I think accuracy is one of the biggest things. You see so many great quarterbacks that are so accurate, and I think it’s a great compliment when somebody says you’re accurate, and I think that’s what you try to work towards. Since I got in the league, that’s something that I’ve just tried to establish from the get-go is to try to be accurate.”
Maye’s has posted those gaudy accuracy metrics despite being one of the most aggressive quarterbacks in the league. He has somehow adeptly toed the line between gunslinger and game manager. He’s taking risks but not experiencing much in the way of negative when taking those chances because his ball placement has been on point.
Maye is currently second in the NFL in air yards per target (9.0). Among quarterbacks with at least 200 attempts this season, he’s eighth in NextGen’s “aggressiveness” metric (16.9 percent), which tracks the rate at which a passer targets a receiver with one yard of separation or less.
When Mike Vrabel was asked this week if Maye’s accuracy this year is a learned trait or an innate one, he called upon a baseball analogy.
“I think probably a little bit of both,” he said. “I think that (offensive coordinator) Josh [McDaniels] and (quarterbacks coach) Ashton [Grant] have tried to work hard on that. I also think Drake is talented.
“It’s like a pitcher. I don’t know if there’s a pitching coach that really taught Greg Maddux how to paint the plate and put the ball wherever he wanted it. So, I think there’s some natural skill there, but then I think that they work on those things.
“They work on platform, throwing off at different places, still remaining accurate, climbing the pocket, working with a base and all those things. And then there’s other times where it’s just natural athletic ability, hand-eye coordination and putting the ball in good spots.”
Baldwin, who runs the football analytics site rbsdm.com, defines CPOE as a pre-calculated metric that is based on historical passing attempts made in similar situations. It takes into account multiple variables like field position, down and distance, total air yards and more.
To this point, Maye has broken the mold when it comes to that particular statistic.
Since Baldwin has been tracking it over the last decade, going back to the 2016 season, no player has rated more highly than Maye (10.1) this season. No player has cracked 8.0 in CPOE, and Maye is on pace to be more than two percentage points higher than that. The only league leaders in that category to crack 7.0 are Philadelphia’s Jalen Hurts in 2024 (7.5), Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers in 2020 (7.2), Tennessee’s Ryan Tannehill in 2019 (7.7) and Seattle’s Russell Wilson in 2018 (7.5).
McDaniels sees in Maye a rare mix of processing power and raw ability to get an oblong-shaped ball from Point A to Point B.
“Any time a quarterback has a good day, a good practice, or a good season, whatever it is in terms of completion percentage and giving the guys an opportunity to catch the ball, I think he’s got to be aware of what’s happening in the coverage end of it,” McDaniels said. “(He has to) know what our guys are doing so that he’s going to the right place with the ball.
“Then, certainly, having the skill, the ability, the talent to put the ball in a place where our guys can catch it and nobody else can touch it. I think I’ve been very impressed with his ability to do that. He’s done it at all three levels of the field, which is another thing that I’m really excited about, and he can access those different points on the field when it’s the right time to throw it there.”
Maye has been effective against just about every coverage type and pressure scheme this season, but he’s seen a significant amount of zone coverage (64 percent, according to Sumer Sports), and his ability to put touch on the football to get it to where it needs to go has helped spark one of the most efficient passing attacks in the NFL.
Against zone, per Sumer Sports, Maye has a completion percentage of 76.6, he’s averaging 9.0 yards per attempt and he has eight touchdowns and just two interceptions.
“That’s actually a very underrated characteristic,” Henry said when asked about the varying levels of touch Maye uses on different types of passes. “Obviously, you see around the league, there’s a lot of zone coverage. The varying of throws, of touch, and layering it, having to put it in different spots, I mean, you have to have that. He has all that.
“He just throws a catchable ball. It’s easy. You can trust in your route that you don’t have to rush anything. He just throws you a ball that’s easy to catch.”
Against Cincinnati’s permissive secondary, Maye should have plenty more opportunities to show off just how accurate he can be. And perhaps he’ll do so with one of the most accurate quarterbacks in the NFL for the last several seasons on the opposite sideline.
Let’s get to the most critical matchups of this Week 12 contest between the Patriots and Bengals…
Matchup that will determine the outcome
Drake Maye vs. Bengals’ porous secondary
Take one look at the advanced metrics when it comes to the Bengals’ pass defense, and it doesn’t take long to get a feel for what has been a football disaster of cataclysmic proportions.
They rank last in points per game (33.4), EPA per play, EPA per dropback, EPA allowed on short pass attempts, EPA allowed when facing motion, blitz percentage, blitz EPA and success rate (50.9 percent). They rank second-to-last in passing yards per game (257.3), explosive play percentage (12.4), EPA allowed when facing under-center looks, and EPA allowed to 11-personnel packages.
Given the season Maye is having — he’s second in the NFL with a 55 percent completion rate on passes that travel 20 yards or more beyond the line of scrimmage — expect him to try to hit on an explosive attempt or two early. The Patriots have the third-best explosive play rate (12.7) in the NFL this season, per Sumer Sports.
Drake Maye’s 39-yard TD pass to Kayshon Boutte traveled 52.6 yards in the air, Maye’s 2nd of the season over 50 yards by air distance.
Maye is the only QB this season with multiple TD passes that traveled over 50 yards in the air.#NEvsTEN | #NEPatspic.twitter.com/n6UJtMDbXD
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) October 19, 2025
Matchup that could surprise you
Patriots’ defense vs. Chase Brown
The Bengals offense is headlined by an All-Pro quarterback and perhaps the best “No. 2” receiver in the NFL. But if Joe Burrow and Tee Higgins have themselves a game, you wouldn’t be stunned. What might surprise you, however, is if running back Chase Brown is able to go off against what has been one of the better run defenses in football in 2025.
This matchup bears watching because the Bengals are — surprisingly, perhaps — second in the NFL in EPA per rush. The Patriots, meanwhile, are fourth in limiting EPA when facing rushing attempts.
That Bengals rushing offense could be limited, as it might see more bodies crowding the line of scrimmage without Ja’Marr Chase attracting attention down the field. But the Patriots have hit some bumps in the road defending the run of late — they’ve allowed 5.0 yards per rush in each of the last two weeks — so don’t be surprised if Cincinnati tests them on the ground, especially with defensive tackle Milton Williams (ankle) on injured reserve.
Matchup that will make your Sunday
Patriots’ running game vs. Bengals’ porous run defense
Did we mention this Bengals’ defense is struggling on all fronts? Because it’s not just the passing game that has had its issues this season.
No team allows more rushing yards per game (160.9), and the Bengals have the second-worst defense when it comes to EPA allowed per rush. Against heavy personnel groupings with multiple backs or tight ends, Cincy has been poor from an EPA-allowed standpoint, checking in as the third-most ineffective defense against 12-personnel (one back, two tight ends) sets and the seventh-worst against 21-personnel (two backs, one tight end) looks.
Rhamondre Stevenson (toe) has been limited in practice this week, but if he’s able to play, perhaps that allows TreVeyon Henderson to give the Patriots offense the best version of himself in more limited work.
Either way, the Patriots should have plenty of room to run in this one. And if they’re able to play with a lead, that should mean all kinds of opportunities for them to drain the clock as the planes get warmed up to go back to New England.
Matchup that could ruin your Sunday
Zak Kuhr vs. Joe Burrow
Here’s the one wild card in this one. For as bad as the Bengals have been, and despite missing an all-world wideout in the suspended Chase, the ability to trot one of the game’s best quarterbacks onto the field Sunday gives Cincinnati a puncher’s chance.
Burrow hasn’t played since Week 2, when a toe injury knocked him out of action and required surgery. But he’s practiced in full this week, and his replacement — Joe Flacco — is dealing with a shoulder issue. As of this writing, it hasn’t yet been determined that Burrow will certainly play. But it would come as a serious surprise to see a franchise quarterback practice fully and then not play in his team’s game soon thereafter.
How to limit him? With one serious threat on the outside, Higgins, this could come down to what kind of performance the Patriots get from top cornerback Christian Gonzalez.
Looking at a major payday as early as this offseason, Gonzalez hasn’t always been used by Vrabel and defensive play-caller Zak Kuhr to shadow the opposing team’s best receiver. But this would seem like a good opportunity for that kind of assignment — especially in passing situations.
There aren’t many No. 1-caliber wideouts remaining on the Patriots’ schedule, meaning this could be a chance for Gonzalez to further prove he’s worthy of whatever extension might be slid his way in the coming months.
Prediction: Patriots 34, Bengals 20