FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Drake Maye is rolling again and his New England Patriots teammates can't help but take notice.
"It's just fun to see Drake smiling big on the sidelines. That confidence is obviously back," linebacker Robert Spillane said in the aftermath of Sunday's 45-17 win over the Las Vegas Raiders (3-2).
Maye's turnaround from the first three games of the season has been dramatic. After throwing only one touchdown with six interceptions in the team's 1-2 start, and being sacked nine times, he has completed 67.6% of his passes with seven touchdowns and one interception over the past two games, while being sacked only twice.
Maye had a season-high 96.0 Total QBR -- the third best of his career -- against the Raiders while benefitting from strong offensive line play (only two pressures in the first half) that he said allowed him to "eat a ham sandwich" in the pocket on his first scoring pass because of how much time had. Maye became the first player this season with a Total QBR of 90 or better in back-to-back games. His Total QBR over the first three games was 49.
One thing that worked well Sunday was Maye's deep ball. He finished 6-of-9 for 182 yards and two touchdown passes on throws 15-plus yards downfield, which tied for his second-most such completions in a game in his career. In the Patriots' first four games of the season, he completed only 43.8% of those throws with one total TD.