Last season, New England Patriots QB Drake Maye finished as the runner-up for the NFL MVP Award. He fell short of Matthew Stafford by just a 5-point margin and secured 23 first-place votes, securing Second-team All-Pro honors. Now, many claimed that Maye will win the 2026 MVP honor. However, what was supposed to be the start of that first-ever NFL MVP run turned out to be a disaster in the season opener rematch of Super Bowl LX against the Seattle Seahawks, where Drake Maye and the Patriots bottled it from 10-0 to 10-13.
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The young signal-caller had never thrown more than 2 picks in a single regular-season game until now. In fact, the last time he was intercepted twice was in November 2024 in his rookie year. Despite all this, Drake Maye managed to throw 3 interceptions against Seattle in just the 4th quarter alone, diffusing NFL MVP shouts as soon as they had begun.
One of Maye’s supporters turned out to be former New England and 2x Super Bowl champion cornerback Asante Samuel, who replied to Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy’s X post voicing expectations ahead of the Patriots v Seahawks game that read,
“Drake Maye stakes his claim for MVP tonight. Aj Brown stakes his claim as acquisition of the year. Patriots crush the schedule merchants narrative. Mike Vrabel is laser-focused in opener. Tonight is the 1st step to LA #patriotfootbal.”
“Myself and Dave against the world Drake Maye MVP,” Samuel concurred with Dave Portnoy on X, showing his faith in Drake Maye despite a horrific opening-night outing on the road.
New England held a 10-0 second-half lead against Seattle backup QB Drew Lock, after their starting QB Sam Darnold was taken off the pitch after just the 5th offensive play of the game.
Maye completed 23 of 33 passes for 178 yards and 1 TD while being sacked 3 times. The highlight was the three painful 4th-quarter picks to seal a 13-10 loss. Maye finished the game with a poor 54.9 passer rating, whereas the 4th-quarter meltdown quickly flipped Portnoy’s mood.
“Horrible game from Drake. That last throw, disgusting… The game was right there for the taking obviously. It’s only Week 1, but that was a s***** way to start the season. Got to be a lot better than that… That was F-minus s***,” Portnoy admitted in a changed tone in a video after the game on X.
Facing a critical 3rd-and-5 at Seattle’s 16-yard line with under 30 seconds left, New England already had an easy-make field goal locked in to force overtime.
Maye forced a fluttering pass toward WR Mack Hollins in the corner of the end zone. Seahawks CB Josh Jobe read it instantly, undercut the trajectory of the pass, landing both feet just inside the sideline chalk before going out of bounds to complete the interception that effectively won the Seattle Seahawks the game.
“All of it was on him last night. Three interceptions on your last three drives. Three interceptions in the fourth quarter… You can’t make mistakes like that,” ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith stated on First Take.
Analyst and former NFL QB Dan Orlovsky would further label it a “nightmare” and the “worst game” of Drake Maye’s pro career, adding that it was “as immature as a performance that you could have.”
While it is just the first game of the season, it is safe to say that, despite former NFL legends like Asante Samuel pushing Drake Maye for the MVP, the Year 3 QB will have to come up with much better performances than the one he gave on Wednesday night for him to even be in contention.