Five things that make Patriots QB Drake Maye an MVP favorite - ESPN

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye has made plenty of highlight-reel plays this season to become the favorite to win the NFL's Most Valuable Player Award.

But it's one of the simplest plays in the playbook that excites the second-year player more than any other:

Maye ensures three players are behind him, approaches the line of scrimmage, sets under center Garrett Bradbury, calls for the snap and then backtracks a step before planting his left knee in the ground.

«Getting into victory formation… That's what I'm proud of the most,» he said. «There are probably some plays in there, some throws I made, but I think as a whole, it's just working hard to win in this league.»

Maye hardly had practice at the play as a rookie in 2024, when the Patriots won four games. But he already has called the play 11 times this season for minus-13 yards, one of the rare occasions in football where moving backward means a team is surging ahead.

The 23-year-old Maye has helped the 8-2 Patriots to a seven-game winning streak, tied for the longest in the NFL with the Denver Broncos, and hopes to be calling the victory formation again Thursday when they host the 2-7 New York Jets (8:15 p.m. ET, Prime Video).

This season, Maye ranks in the top three in completion percentage (71.7%), passing touchdowns (19) and passing yards (2,555).

He has had five games with a 75% completion rate and at least two touchdown passes, which ties for the fourth most in a season in NFL history. Only Tom Brady (2007), Matt Ryan (2016) and Jared Goff (2024) have more, and Brady and Ryan earned MVP honors in those respective seasons.

All of that has been made possible thanks to an evolving leadership role, a growing mastery of offensive