Earlier this year, after Drake Maye had a phenomenal 2025 season with the New England Patriots, Ben Affleck was asked what he thought of the quarterback. Affleck, a longtime Patriots fan, acknowledged that he never thought the team would find another good quarterback. “I thought I’d be dead before New England had another great football team,” Affleck said at the time.
Now, however, things have changed in Foxborough. The Patriots are 2-2 after a difficult stretch that included a pair of losses, while Maye is facing criticism for his poor performances, particularly his multiple turnovers. As that happened, Affleck once again came to the quarterback’s defense after reading a home media headline that nicknamed Maye “Drake Maybe Not.”
“Drake Maye, you see how good a quarterback the guy is,” Affleck told Jason and Travis Kelce on the New Heights podcast. “You see what he’s capable of doing. It’s not like, all of a sudden, his skills have changed, right? I don’t know what the tools are. I think part of it has to be that confidence is [something] you build on. And negative confidence takes you the other way.
“It doesn’t honestly help – New England is a very hard place to play. Like I can remember getting so mad when The Globe would be beating the s–t out of, like, Pedro Martinez; I’m like, ‘Why are you s——g on us. That’s the best f—–g pitcher we have; why are you writing all about what an a—–e he is. Write that about the Yankees.’ I saw a headline the other day that was like ‘Drake Maybe Not’…that s–t don’t help, man. I mean, who are you rooting for?”
Maye entered the 2026 season with enormous expectations after finishing as the MVP runner-up in 2025 and leading the Patriots to the Super Bowl. Four games into the season, however, things have gone downhill. Maye’s performance has raised questions about his decision-making, ball security, and ability to handle pressure.
For broader context, Maye’s season began with a 13-10 loss to the Seattle Seahawks in the season opener. New England led 10-0 midway through the third quarter, but the quarterback threw three interceptions on the Patriots’ three drives in the fourth quarter.
The final interception, meanwhile, proved costly. With New England in field goal range and a chance to tie the game, Maye forced a pass toward Mack Hollins in the end zone rather than take a safer option. Seattle intercepted the ball to seal the win. Then in Week 3, Jacksonville exposed the problem again, as the Patriots lost 35-6 to the Jaguars.
He completed 14 of 25 passes for 199 yards, threw two interceptions, and recorded two fumbles, losing one. He was sacked three times and finished with a 48.6 passer rating.
During the 2025 season, Maye recorded a passer rating of 113.5 and a completion rate of 72.0%, throwing for 4,394 yards, 31 touchdowns, and just eight interceptions in the regular season. However, four games into the 2026 season, his passer rating has dropped to 71.0, while his completion rate stands at 62.4%. He has thrown for 854 yards, with just four touchdowns and seven interceptions.
However, Affleck’s comments came after Drake Maye led New England to a 29-26 win over the Buffalo Bills, completing 22 of 37 passes for 269 yards, three touchdowns, and just one interception. While Affleck called out the media for criticizing Maye, he also acknowledged that Patriots fans are spoiled, considering how much they expect from the team.
“It’s an example of people expect a lot; they pay for their tickets,” Affleck added. “New England got obviously spoiled, but the truth is they were like that before. New England fans were like that when I was growing up, and you couldn’t even watch the games on TV because they weren’t selling out at Foxborough, so they blacked it out…But the flip side of that is people show up. They show up at the games; they’re informed; they’re dedicated; they care.”
New England certainly didn’t get the kind of start they expected after making a Super Bowl appearance earlier this year. But with a Week 4 win over the Bills, the team will now face the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday.