Drake Maye schedule criticisms aren’t going anywhere after loss to Packers

Drake Maye continues to struggle against good teams in disastrous loss to Packers

The only distinction between his MVP-level play and seismic struggles in the postseason was the competition. New England had a historically easy schedule in the regular season, so Maye folded under the pressure when he had to play elite teams that he wasn’t used to facing.

It seemed like the third-year quarterback stabilized himself this year, as he and the Patriots had won four of the last five games heading into Sunday’s meeting with the Green Bay Packers.

But it was a disaster from start to finish for Maye, who finished with 299 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions in the 45-27 loss. The stat line may not look too bad besides the turnovers, but most of his production came when the Patriots were already down three scores.

Maye is playing much better than he was at the start of the season, but it should concern New England that all of his bad games seem to come against winning teams.

The Patriots have played teams with a winning record in six of their nine games this season, and they are just 2-4 in those games. Maye has 11 interceptions and two fumbles in those contests.

Patriots’ path to the playoffs is getting foggier

New England has Super Bowl aspirations after a disappointing loss in the big game earlier this year. But the team is going to need a strong close to the season if it even wants to get back to the playoffs.

The Cleveland Browns are right on New England’s heels with an identical 5-4 record, and the Baltimore Ravens and Las Vegas Raiders aren’t too far behind at 4-5.

Maye is still one of the better quarterbacks in the league, and he has an extremely bright future. But he needs to figure out these struggles against good teams because it’s impossible to have high-level success without beating winning teams.