Those types of plays have become routine for Maye, who just continues to ascend in his second season.
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“I always did say he was the MVP,” Boutte said. “I think I said it a month ago.”
What once seemed like an ambitious goal has now become a legitimate possibility.
In the second quarter, on a third and 9 from New York’s 33-yard line, Maye lofted, seemingly effortlessly, a deep ball that hit rookie wide receiver Kyle Williams in stride in the end zone. The touchdown pass was Maye’s 11th against the blitz this season, as he has consistently demonstrated poise and accuracy under pressure.
Patriots wide receiver Kyle Williams makes a 33-yard touchdown catch over Giants cornerback Paulson Adebo on perfectly placed pass by quarterback Drake Maye.Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff
“It was great ball placement — I don’t think it can get any better than that,” Williams said. “It’s unbelievable. Sometimes you just sit there and go, ‘That’s too good to be true.’ But he has great arm talent and he sees the field very well.”
After the score, which gave the Patriots a 17-point lead, the Gillette Stadium crowd once again started chanting, “M-V-P! M-V-P!”
With five weeks to go in the regular season, Maye’s case for the league’s Most Valuable Player seems to only grow stronger.
Among starting quarterbacks, Maye ranks first in the NFL in passing yards (3,412) and first in completion percentage (71.5). Maye will tell you he’s in that position because the Patriots haven’t had their bye week yet. Just like how he’ll say the “M-V-P” chants are for his teammates.
“He’s super hard on himself,” wide receiver Stefon Diggs said. “You can see out there that he wants to make every play, he wants to make all the good decisions and just stacking is going to be important. As for MVP, I think that’s probably the furthest thing from his mind. He’s a winner, so he’s focused on the wins.”
But Maye’s consistent, high-level play has been undeniable — and more than worthy of MVP consideration.
He’s emerged as one of the most accurate and effective passers when throwing the ball deep, with a league-high 49 completions of at least 20 yards. In each of New England’s 13 games, he has eclipsed 200 yards. After struggling with ball security last season, leading the NFL in turnover-worthy plays, he’s cleaned up his game.
On Monday, despite missing two members of the starting offensive line in left tackle Will Campbell and left guard Jared Wilson, Maye delivered a 282-yard, two-touchdown performance.
The “M-V-P” chants, the loudest they’ve been all season, continued to pop up throughout the night. After Maye scrambled to convert a third and 8 in the third quarter. After he executed a quarterback sneak to convert a third and short in the fourth. And when he took the field for the victory formation to seal New England’s victory.
Vrabel also pointed to a couple of impactful moments that lacked the glitz of a deep touchdown but reflected sound decision-making. Late in the fourth quarter, Maye scrambled for a first down and slid inbounds to force the Giants to call a timeout. Then, to close that same drive, he passed up on throwing a pass and decided to scramble to keep the clock going.
“Selfishly, he probably could have said, ‘Hey, I’m going to try to throw a touchdown,’” Vrabel said. “Those are the things that probably don’t show up in the stat sheet.”
Maye will be the first to admit there are things he needs to work on — executing in the red zone and learning how to slide are two — but there’s no doubt he has proved himself as one of the best quarterbacks in the league this season.
“Just trying to be the conductor,” Maye said. “Just trying to be the face of the offense. You know, you want the pressure. You want the ball in my hands. I tried to show that all year and throughout my career.”
Nicole Yang can be reached at nicole.yang@globe.com. Follow her on X @nicolecyang.
