That was a rough postseason for Drake Maye. And not just in the Super Bowl – the Chargers, Texans and Broncos also had some success in flustering him.
As well as Maye played in the regular season, he struggled in his playoff games, completing only 58 percent. And too often, he got caught holding the ball, taking a record 21 sacks. There were pass protection issues, of course, and he was playing against good defenses, but on some he just didn’t get rid of the ball.
Playing around with the numbers, there have been 42 quarterbacks who’ve attempted at least 100 passes in postseasons in the 32-team era. Only three of those guys had lower passer ratings than Maye.
The numbers get worse if looking at net yards per pass attempt (last) or sack percentage (last). Among those quarterbacks, Maye was sacked over twice as often as all but two of them. He was sacked over three times as often as the four quarterbacks who finished with lower passer ratings.
| POSTSEASON PASSER RATING SINCE 2002 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | G | Com | Att | Pct | Yds | TD | Int | Rate |
| 2021 | Patrick Mahomes, K.C. | 3 | 89 | 122 | 73.0 | 1057 | 11 | 3 | 118.8 |
| 2012 | Joe Flacco, Balt. | 4 | 73 | 126 | 57.9 | 1140 | 11 | 0 | 117.2 |
| 2009 | Drew Brees, N.O. | 3 | 72 | 102 | 70.6 | 732 | 8 | 0 | 117.0 |
| 2017 | Nick Foles, Phi. | 3 | 77 | 106 | 72.6 | 971 | 6 | 1 | 115.7 |
| 2022 | Patrick Mahomes, K.C. | 3 | 72 | 100 | 72.0 | 703 | 7 | 0 | 114.7 |
| 2008 | Kurt Warner, Ari. | 4 | 92 | 135 | 68.1 | 1147 | 11 | 3 | 112.2 |
| 2019 | Patrick Mahomes, K.C. | 3 | 72 | 112 | 64.3 | 901 | 10 | 2 | 111.5 |
| 2011 | Drew Brees, N.O. | 2 | 73 | 106 | 68.9 | 928 | 7 | 2 | 110.1 |
| 2010 | Aaron Rodgers, G.B. | 4 | 90 | 132 | 68.2 | 1094 | 9 | 2 | 109.8 |
| 2017 | Tom Brady, N.E. | 3 | 89 | 139 | 64.0 | 1132 | 8 | 0 | 108.6 |
| 2021 | Matthew Stafford, LAR | 4 | 98 | 140 | 70.0 | 1188 | 9 | 3 | 108.3 |
| 2003 | Peyton Manning, Ind. | 3 | 67 | 103 | 65.0 | 918 | 9 | 4 | 106.4 |
| 2003 | Jake Delhomme, Car. | 4 | 59 | 102 | 57.8 | 987 | 6 | 1 | 106.1 |
| 2016 | Aaron Rodgers, G.B. | 3 | 80 | 128 | 62.5 | 1004 | 9 | 2 | 103.8 |
| 2023 | Jared Goff, Det. | 3 | 77 | 111 | 69.4 | 837 | 4 | 0 | 103.3 |
| 2011 | Eli Manning, NYG | 4 | 106 | 163 | 65.0 | 1219 | 9 | 1 | 103.3 |
| 2011 | Tom Brady, N.E. | 3 | 75 | 111 | 67.6 | 878 | 8 | 4 | 100.4 |
| 2023 | Patrick Mahomes, K.C. | 4 | 104 | 149 | 69.8 | 1051 | 6 | 1 | 100.3 |
| 2014 | Tom Brady, N.E. | 3 | 93 | 135 | 68.9 | 921 | 10 | 4 | 100.3 |
| 2009 | Peyton Manning, Ind. | 3 | 87 | 128 | 68.0 | 956 | 6 | 2 | 99.0 |
| 2020 | Tom Brady, T.B. | 4 | 81 | 138 | 58.7 | 1061 | 10 | 3 | 98.1 |
| 2024 | Jayden Daniels, Was. | 3 | 75 | 114 | 65.8 | 822 | 5 | 1 | 97.9 |
| 2016 | Tom Brady, N.E. | 3 | 93 | 142 | 65.5 | 1137 | 7 | 3 | 97.7 |
| 2021 | Joe Burrow, Cin. | 4 | 97 | 142 | 68.3 | 1105 | 5 | 2 | 97.3 |
| 2007 | Tom Brady, N.E. | 3 | 77 | 109 | 70.6 | 737 | 6 | 3 | 96.0 |
| 2007 | Eli Manning, NYG | 4 | 72 | 119 | 60.5 | 854 | 6 | 1 | 95.7 |
| 2004 | Donovan McNabb, Phi. | 3 | 68 | 110 | 61.8 | 823 | 7 | 3 | 94.6 |
| 2025 | Matthew Stafford, LAR | 3 | 66 | 119 | 55.5 | 936 | 6 | 1 | 94.4 |
| 2020 | Josh Allen, Buff. | 3 | 77 | 120 | 64.2 | 817 | 5 | 1 | 94.3 |
| 2013 | Peyton Manning, Den. | 3 | 91 | 128 | 71.1 | 910 | 5 | 3 | 94.2 |
| 2020 | Patrick Mahomes, K.C. | 3 | 76 | 117 | 65.0 | 850 | 4 | 2 | 90.8 |
| 2005 | Matt Hasselbeck, Sea. | 3 | 62 | 103 | 60.2 | 707 | 4 | 1 | 89.7 |
| 2022 | Joe Burrow, Cin. | 3 | 72 | 109 | 66.1 | 721 | 4 | 2 | 89.3 |
| 2023 | Brock Purdy, S.F. | 3 | 66 | 108 | 61.1 | 774 | 3 | 1 | 88.3 |
| 2018 | Tom Brady, N.E. | 3 | 85 | 125 | 68.0 | 953 | 2 | 3 | 85.8 |
| 2003 | Tom Brady, N.E. | 3 | 75 | 126 | 59.5 | 792 | 5 | 2 | 84.5 |
| 2002 | Rich Gannon, Oak. | 3 | 73 | 115 | 63.5 | 841 | 7 | 6 | 84.0 |
| 2008 | Donovan McNabb, Phi. | 3 | 73 | 121 | 60.3 | 892 | 5 | 4 | 83.1 |
| 2025 | Drake Maye, N.E. | 4 | 70 | 120 | 58.3 | 828 | 6 | 4 | 82.2 |
| 2006 | Tom Brady, N.E. | 3 | 70 | 119 | 58.8 | 724 | 5 | 4 | 76.5 |
| 2014 | Andrew Luck, Ind. | 3 | 70 | 120 | 58.3 | 767 | 3 | 4 | 71.8 |
| 2018 | Jared Goff, LAR | 3 | 59 | 106 | 55.7 | 712 | 1 | 2 | 71.7 |
| 2006 | Peyton Manning, Ind. | 4 | 97 | 153 | 63.4 | 1034 | 3 | 7 | 70.5 |
At the same time, those playoff struggles aren’t scaring me away from Maye for the 2026. I expect his numbers next year will be just fine, with him contending for top-5 numbers among quarterbacks.
Maye was awfully impressive in the regular season. While he benefited from a soft schedule, he also deserves a fair share of credit for the team’s climb from 4 to 14 wins.
Consider the following stat, which comes from the NFL’s Next Gen Stat division. According to their player chip data and film analysis (I’m not exactly sure about their methods) Maye should have completed just under 63 percent of his passes. He instead completed 72 percent, creating the largest difference in the league – 9 percentage points higher. Brock Purdy was No. 2 in this regard, coming in just over 5 percent higher than expected.
The league has these stats dating back to 2018, in fact, and Maye comes in the highest of any quarterback who’s started at least half of his team’s games. Only one other quarterback, via their numbers, has finished even 7 percent higher.
In the last eight years, only 25 other quarterbacks have finished with a completion percentage at least 4 above expectation.
A tough day for Maye, but I expect he’s going to be a good one for years.
| COMPLETION PERCENTAGE ABOVE EXPECTATION | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Tm | Player | Com% | xCom% | +/- |
| 2025 | N.E. | Drake Maye | 72.0 | 62.8 | 9.1 |
| 2019 | Ten. | Ryan Tannehill | 70.3 | 62.2 | 8.0 |
| 2018 | N.O. | Drew Brees | 74.4 | 67.6 | 6.8 |
| 2024 | Phi. | Jalen Hurts | 68.7 | 62.1 | 6.6 |
| 2019 | N.O. | Drew Brees | 74.3 | 68.0 | 6.3 |
| 2021 | Cin. | Joe Burrow | 70.4 | 64.4 | 6.0 |
| 2019 | Min. | Kirk Cousins | 69.1 | 63.6 | 5.5 |
| 2025 | S.F. | Brock Purdy | 69.4 | 64.3 | 5.1 |
| 2024 | Cin. | Joe Burrow | 70.6 | 65.6 | 4.9 |
| 2020 | Hou. | Deshaun Watson | 70.2 | 65.4 | 4.8 |
| 2019 | Sea. | Russell Wilson | 66.1 | 61.3 | 4.8 |
| 2023 | Dall. | Dak Prescott | 69.5 | 64.8 | 4.7 |
| 2018 | Atl. | Matt Ryan | 69.4 | 64.7 | 4.7 |
| 2020 | Buff. | Josh Allen | 69.2 | 64.6 | 4.6 |
| 2023 | Min. | Kirk Cousins | 69.5 | 64.9 | 4.6 |
| 2018 | Min. | Kirk Cousins | 70.1 | 65.6 | 4.5 |
| 2025 | Dall. | Dak Prescott | 67.3 | 62.9 | 4.4 |
| 2020 | G.B. | Aaron Rodgers | 70.7 | 66.4 | 4.4 |
| 2022 | Sea. | Geno Smith | 69.8 | 65.3 | 4.4 |
| 2024 | Det. | Jared Goff | 72.4 | 68.0 | 4.3 |
| 2020 | Min. | Kirk Cousins | 67.6 | 63.3 | 4.3 |
| 2025 | Sea. | Sam Darnold | 67.7 | 63.4 | 4.3 |
| 2023 | Phi. | Jalen Hurts | 65.4 | 61.3 | 4.1 |
| 2018 | Phi. | Carson Wentz | 69.6 | 65.5 | 4.1 |
| 2023 | N.O. | Derek Carr | 68.4 | 64.4 | 4.0 |
| 2020 | Sea. | Russell Wilson | 68.8 | 64.8 | 4.0 |
—Ian Allan
