A decade ago, Drake Maye was sitting at Levi’s Stadium with his father, rooting for Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers to beat the Denver Broncos in the Super Bowl. Fast forward to now, and Maye is heading back to Santa Clara. Only this time, as the New England Patriots’ starting quarterback. Ironically, the quarterback he once admired isn’t exactly sold on giving him full credit for getting there.

“It’s giving Trent Dilfer, it’s giving Jim McMahon, Brad Johnson, Rex Grossman,” Newton said. “All of those names combined benefited off a great defense alone. They’re not here because of Drake May. That’s just facts. Does that make Drake Maye a bad player? No. Did Drake Maye do enough to win a football game? Yes, but I would also say Drake Maye did enough to lose a game that he won, too.”

Newton doesn’t believe the Patriots’ Super Bowl run is primarily about Maye. On his 4thand1show, Newton argued that New England’s postseason success mirrors several past Super Bowl runs where the quarterback played a secondary role behind an elite defense.

Newton’s point wasn’t that Maye is a liability. Rather, it was about context. Those quarterbacks reached the Super Bowl, but their teams didn’t ask them to carry the offense. And in Newton’s view, that’s exactly what’s happening in New England right now. When you look at the numbers, it’s hard to completely dismiss that argument.

The Patriots are 3–0 this postseason and will try to make it 4–0 against the Seattle Seahawks on February 8. But during that stretch, Maye’s play has dipped compared to his regular-season form. In the first two playoff games before the Championship round, his downfield completion percentage fell dramatically from an NFL-best 61.8% in the regular season to just 38.9% in the postseason.

Then came Sunday’s AFC Championship against Denver. The Patriots’ offense struggled to get anything going. Maye finished 10-of-21 for 86 yards, with no touchdowns, no interceptions, and five sacks taken. New England as a whole managed just 65 passing yards. Across three playoff games, Maye has totaled 533 yards, four touchdowns, two interceptions, and a 55.8% completion rate. In the process, New England averaged just 18 points per game this postseason, the lowest mark by any Super Bowl team since 1979.

That’s where the defense enters the conversation.

New England has allowed only 26 total points across three playoff wins, and the trend started right away in the Wild Card round. Against the Chargers, the Patriots held Justin Herbert to just three points and 207 total yards, putting the game firmly under control early. A week later, they followed it up against Houston by forcing C.J. Stroud into one of the worst outings of his career. Stroud went 20-of-47 for 212 yards, one touchdown, and four interceptions.

Then came Denver. Despite the Broncos taking an early 7–0 lead, their offense stalled completely. They failed to score again, were held to 63 rushing yards on 20 designed runs, and faced constant pressure, with New England generating a 35.1% pressure rate. Put all of that together, and Newton’s argument starts to hold weight. The Patriots didn’t just win three playoff games. They controlled them, largely through dominant defensive performances.

That, however, still doesn’t mean Drake Maye has been bad. He helped New England secure the No. 2 seed, navigated a full season as an MVP contender in just his second year, and did enough to keep the offense from imploding when it mattered. And Cam Newton, despite not giving Maye the credit, believes it as well.

Cam Newton might not credit Drake Maye, but he still wishes a great career for the QB

It took time, but the Patriots eventually found their footing after moving on from Tom Brady and Bill Belichick. They drafted a new franchise quarterback, hired a new head coach, and now find themselves heading to Santa Clara for their first Super Bowl appearance without either of the two pillars of the dynasty. While the defense played a major role in getting them there, and even as he stopped short of fully crediting Drake Maye for the run, Cam Newton made it clear that he believes the quarterback’s long-term future is bright.

“Drake Maye, if he keeps this up with this trajectory, winning this early in his career, whether I like it, whether I love it, whether I hate it, hate it some more, hate it even more than that, despise it, or just don’t want to give credit what credit’s due, Drake Maye will go down as an all-time great, even superseding the individual that played there, that got a statue right outside Gillette Field,” Newton said. “It’s Drake May’s second year. He is already going to the Super Bowl. Drake Maye, congratulations.”

Maye entered his second NFL season coming off a disappointing rookie year. But under head coach Mike Vrabel, he helped lead New England to a 14–3 record, the No. 2 seed in the AFC, and a deep postseason run. Along the way, Maye threw for 4,394 yards, 31 touchdowns, and just eight interceptions, while completing 72.0 percent of his passes. Now, he’s staring at his first chance to win a Super Bowl. Maye is 3–0 in the postseason. One more win would make him a champion.