{"id":95296,"date":"2025-09-19T09:27:37","date_gmt":"2025-09-19T09:27:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=95296"},"modified":"2025-09-19T09:27:37","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T09:27:37","slug":"patriots-qb-drake-maye-forcing-defenses-to-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=95296","title":{"rendered":"Patriots QB Drake Maye Forcing Defenses to Change"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\">\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/GettyImages-2235407935-e1758235553197.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/GettyImages-2235407935-e1758235553197.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/GettyImages-2235407935-e1758235553197.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/GettyImages-2235407935-e1758235553197.jpg?quality=35&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"Patriots QB Drake Maye Forcing Defenses to Change\" width=\"780\" height=\"439\" \/><\/figure>\n<div>\n<p>Getty<\/p>\n<p>NFL defenses are already changing against New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>It hasn\u2019t taken long for NFL defenses to change the way they play against New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye. The second-year passer is forcing opponents to become more passive to try and contain his dual-threat skills.<\/p>\n<p>Change is being summed up by Maye seeing \u201czone coverage on 83.3% of his drop-backs, fifth-highest in the NFL, and over a 10% increase from his rookie season (71.2%),\u201d according to Patriots.com Senior Writer Evan Lazar.<\/p>\n<p>The latter speculated this coverage trend through two games \u201ccould be a small sample size alert, or defenses worrying about Maye scrambling vs. man.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"5db96935fd760be97d1401e8027e1c3a\">\n<div data-url=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ezlazar\/status\/1967743762513436957\">\n<blockquote data-dnt=\"true\" data-width=\"550\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">An early-season trend for the #Patriots: QB Drake Maye has seen zone coverage on 83.3% of his drop-backs, fifth-highest in the NFL, and over a 10% increase from his rookie season (71.2%).<\/p>\n<p>Could be a small sample size alert, or defenses worrying about Maye scrambling vs. man.<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/twitter.com\/ezlazar\/status\/1967743762513436957?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Identifying Maye\u2019s threat as a runner as the catalyst for change among defenses is the correct assumption. More zone also makes sense because aggressive pressure schemes aren\u2019t working to rattle New England\u2019s would-be franchise passer.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Drake Maye Responding to New Challenge<\/h2>\n<p>Sitting back in zone isn\u2019t just allowing defenses to keep eyes on Maye in case he breaks contain and flees the pocket. The heavy diet of zone shells is also challenging the third player taken in the 2024 NFL draft to make the right reads and beat densely populated coverage.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s a tough challenge for any young QB1, but the good news is Maye\u2019s been answering the challenge. The 23-year-old has been a model of efficiency during the first two weeks of the campaign.<\/p>\n<p>Maye\u2019s efficiency is summed up by him being \u201c1 of 2 QBs to throw 68+ times and only account for 1 Turnover Worthy Play (TWP). The other is Josh Allen,\u201d according to SCOUTD NFL\u2019s Daniel Rotman, who noted \u201cMaye is playing very clean football.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"b1a1d845f71c834ed76dfe716f704d8a\">\n<div data-url=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/daniel_rotman15\/status\/1967647542428229892\">\n<blockquote data-dnt=\"true\" data-width=\"550\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Pending MNF\u2026.<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 Drake Maye is the only QB to throw 68+ times and maintain a 70%+ completion rate<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 Drake Maye is 1 of 2 QBs to throw 68+ times and only account for 1 Turnover Worthy Play (TWP). The other is Josh Allen<\/p>\n<p>Bottom Line: Drake Maye is playing very clean football pic.twitter.com\/kXSLzhWh1G<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/twitter.com\/daniel_rotman15\/status\/1967647542428229892?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1967647542428229892%7Ctwgr%5E971641149252996c4548bd246c3238ffa9661a1f%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fheavy.com%2Fsports%2Fnfl%2Fnew-england-patriots%2Fdrake-maye-change-defense-josh-mcdaniels%2F<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The numbers are an endorsement of the impact returning offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels has made to Maye\u2019s development and performances. He\u2019s back for a third tour as play-caller, and McDaniels already has Maye being more selective with his targets and protecting the football.<\/p>\n<p>Those are no small things when Maye entered the league as a feast-or-famine playmaker. Not only is McDaniels reining in the signal-caller\u2019s more gung-ho instincts, Maye\u2019s smarter and safer brand of football is punishing defenses willing to take risks of their own.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Patriots Have Answers for the Blitz<\/h2>\n<p>Any team hoping to force Maye into mistakes via the blitz is finding out the hard way an attacking game-plan won\u2019t work. Defenses need a less reckless strategy because Maye ranks among the NFL\u2019s best defeating the blitz, per Taylor Kyles of Patriots on CLNS, who cited statistics from Pro Football Focus.<\/p>\n<div id=\"00d59d4dbd1af8b978928ad14b41e435\">\n<div data-url=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/tkyles39\/status\/1968661772551725479\">\n<blockquote data-dnt=\"true\" data-width=\"550\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Drake Maye vs blitz, per PFF:<\/p>\n<p>\u2013 27 dropbacks (8th)\u2013 120.4 passer rating (7th) \u2013 12 conversions (T-4th) \u2013 2 TD-0 INT (T-2nd; J. Love, 3-0)\u2013 2.44 sec average time to throw (9th-fastest)<\/p>\n<p>&gt; No TO-worthy plays, 1 sack taken pic.twitter.com\/dLixIooVwY<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/twitter.com\/tkyles39\/status\/1968661772551725479?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1968661772551725479%7Ctwgr%5E971641149252996c4548bd246c3238ffa9661a1f%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fheavy.com%2Fsports%2Fnfl%2Fnew-england-patriots%2Fdrake-maye-change-defense-josh-mcdaniels%2F<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Many of those numbers can be explained by changes made by McDaniels. He\u2019s given Maye simple reads and quick completions against defenses trying to take away the boom-or-bust throws, while also leaning into the player\u2019s athleticism as a runner.<\/p>\n<p>This is a potent combination making the Patriots more effective at football\u2019s most important position. Progress has been obvious, but there\u2019s still room for improvement.<\/p>\n<p>Notably, Maye needs to get key wide receivers DeMario Douglas and Stefon Diggs more involved. The pair have combined for a mere 20 targets and 13 catches, but more is surely to come from an after-catch specialist like Douglas, while Diggs is one of the only true vertical threats on the roster.<\/p>\n<p>For now, Maye can continue getting to grips with the McDaniels playbook and mastering the complexities that helped make Tom Brady a legend and Mac Jones a Pro Bowler.<\/p>\n<p>James Dudko covers the New York Giants, Washington Commanders, New England Patriots and Baltimore Ravens for Heavy.com. He has covered the NFL and world soccer since 2011, with bylines at FanSided, Prime Time Sports Talk and Bleacher Report before joining Heavy in 2021. More about James Dudko<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye is already changing the way defenses play in his second season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":95297,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-95296","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Patriots QB Drake Maye Forcing Defenses to Change - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=95296\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Patriots QB Drake Maye Forcing Defenses to Change - 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