No one had the Patriots sitting on top of the AFC East back in September. Certainly not at 9–2, and certainly not after walking into Buffalo and Tampa and coming out with wins. Yet here they are, stacking victories while a good chunk of the football world keeps insisting the whole thing is a mirage. Former New England quarterback Brian Hoyer has heard enough of that.

Super Bowl winner Brian Hoyer hit back at media pundits who discredit what the Patriots have already achieved this season.

“These media pundits want you to think the Patriots are like Alabama putting Sam Houston State on their schedule….this is the NFL, any given Sunday, any team can beat the other. Also, they beat Buffalo and Tampa Bay, two playoff teams last year and most likely playoff teams this season, on the road. Give me a break,” he wrote on X.

There’s been a strange reluctance to give this Patriots team credit, as if what they’re doing is some kind of scheduling glitch. It isn’t. This roster is miles better than it was a year ago, and Drake Maye has picked up right where he left off as a rookie. Anyone paying attention in August could see the pieces were there; what’s surprising is how quickly it’s all come together.

Some pundits (former Panthers‘ QB Cam Newton among them) have downplayed the run, pointing to the strength of schedule. But the Patriots don’t get to choose who lines up across from them. They’ve beaten good teams, handled the ones they were supposed to handle, and now they’ve won eight straight. Now, that is not luck.

Thursday night’s 27–14 win over the Jets was another example. Not flashy. Not perfect. Just steady, physical football and a quarterback who’s learning how to close games. And somehow, even that gets met with a shrug from the national conversation.

The part everyone keeps glossing over: they already knocked off Buffalo, a team that was supposed to be a Super Bowl contender, and Tampa Bay, which looks like one of the NFC favorites. With Maye under center, they can go toe-to-toe with anyone right now. The criticism around him feels as misplaced as the skepticism around the team.

Drake Maye’s misplaced criticism

Just over a week ago, second-year quarterback Drake Maye received MVP shouts while playing away from home against the contending Bucs. And yet again, he led the Patriots to victory. Still, much like New England itself, the reaction around the league has been strangely muted.

Newton also took some shots against the sophomore quarterback.

“Is Drake Maye playing good football? Absolutely. I would like to attest his great play to one specific person that I know too well, Josh McDaniels. Now, Josh McDaniels may not be a great head coach, but he is a brilliant offensive mind. The thing I have a problem with is if you keep playing sorry scrubs, then you’re going to have this falsetto of a mentality going into the playoffs.”

Well, any quarterback that plays good football is because the offensive coordinator and the head coach are able to get the best out of him. That’s what OC Josh McDaniels does with Maye. And there’s nothing wrong with it. Playing good football is the only thing that matters, and Drake Maye has been doing that since the start of the season.

Through 11 games, he’s thrown for 2,836 yards with 20 touchdowns, five interceptions, and a 113.2 rating. Those are MVP numbers. The schedule doesn’t change that, and it certainly doesn’t explain away the way he’s processing, the poise he’s showing, or the throws he’s making with pressure in his face.

Maybe the standard is so high because of what he did as a rookie. Maybe people forget he’s still only in Year 2. But quarterbacks this young rarely look this polished this fast, at least not without some growing pains baked in. Maye still has some of those moments, but the overall picture is of a player who’s already well ahead of schedule.

And the truth is, if he keeps trending this way, the MVP talk isn’t a reach. It might even come sooner than expected. The Patriots have a real shot to make noise in January, and a big reason is No. 10. It wouldn’t hurt if the wider football world started recognizing that instead of nitpicking him into the ground.