Opener at Seattle doesn’t offer Patriots Super redemption, but can remind all that Drake Maye is a star

Drake Maye is being underrated and overlooked nationally.

Here’s the case: In 2025, his second season in the NFL, Maye led the league in completion percentage (72.0) and passer rating (113.5) while also leading in passer rating on deep passes (131.0 over 20 yards).

He was the league’s most efficient quarterback and its most dangerous throwing downfield. That’s unheard for almost any quarterback, let alone one in his first full year as a starter.

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Wait, wait, case unrested!

We also must note that Maye did this despite having a receiving corps that was closer to the league’s worst than the league’s best. He did the heaviest lifting, by far, of any of the quarterbacks near him in those diverse categories.

He should have, and nearly did, beat out Rams legend-in-his-own-time Matthew Stafford for NFL MVP. It’s plausible that Maye is the best quarterback in the NFL this season. But he is not discussed that way, most likely because he struggled though a shoulder injury against a mighty Seattle defense in the Super Bowl.

Wednesday night’s opener doesn’t quite offer redemption, because this game is of far less magnitude. But it can offer a reminder: Maye is a superstar now, the delayed successor to Tom Brady, and even the toughest opponents on the Patriots schedule are going to discover that, at 24 years old, he is already a force to be reckoned with.

Kick it off, Borregales, and let’s get this one started …

A.J. Brown: During his first four games with the 2007 Patriots, Randy Moss caught 31 Brady passes on 35 targets for 505 yards and seven touchdowns. It was the most symbiotic and dazzling pairing of quarterback and receiver talent since Joe Montana was throwing strike after strike to Jerry Rice.

The Maye-Brown connection won’t be quite like Brady-Moss, because nothing is. But it will be electric, and instantly. During his four seasons with the Eagles, Brown averaged 85 receptions for 1,259 yards and eight touchdowns despite playing with a quarterback, Jalen Hurts, whose many skills do not include throwing with precision downfield. Maye’s strengths as a quarterback match with Brown’s as a receiver. This is a perfect match of quarterback, receiver, team, and time.

Thank goodness those Calvin Ridley and Brandon Aiyuk pursuits didn’t work out, huh?

Christian Gonzalez: The long regional football nightmare is over. Word broke near midnight Monday that the Patriots had signed their superb 24-year-old cornerback to a four-year, $135 million contract extension, with $102 million in guarantees, making him the highest-paid player at his position in the league.

It’s a massive commitment, and absolutely the right thing to do. Gonzalez is their best defensive player and probably the second-most important player on the roster. He excelled in the Super Bowl. Their defensive backfield goes from a strength to a weakness in a hurry if he’s not out there. (Are we sure safety Kevin Byard isn’t 2002 Victor Green?) Gonzalez is a player to celebrate and reward, a first-round pick that became everything he was supposed to be.

Jadarian Price: Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald has said he plans to use a committee at running back. But Price, the final pick of the first round out of Notre Dame, will get the biggest opportunity to fill the void left by Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker’s departure to the Chiefs.

It’s great to have the season finally arrive … but on a Wednesday? We could have waited another day, or four. A Wednesday game is more evidence that we must take the “don’t listen to what they say, watch what they do” approach to the NFL’s supposed commitment to player health.

Drew Bledsoe, proud son of Walla Walla, Wash., played against his home state Seahawks just once during his nine years with the Patriots.

In his third career game and start during Week 3 of his rookie 1993 season, Bledsoe, the No. 1 pick, lost a 17-14 duel to No. 2 pick Rick Mirer and the Seahawks at Foxboro Stadium. The Patriots fell behind, 17-0, before making it interesting with 14 fourth-quarter points, including a 25-yard touchdown pass to tight end Ben Coates, who was on his way to becoming the most trusted target Bledsoe had during his Patriots career.

I bring up Bledsoe in this space not to relive his modest history with his home state team, but to acknowledge how fun it was to watch him play when he was locked in. I was reminded of this by a recent clip posted on Bluesky of Bledsoe, then at Washington State, throwing an absolute laser through the snow for a 44-yard touchdown pass in the 1992 Apple Cup showdown with Washington.

When Bledsoe got on a heater, it felt like he was unstoppable.

I’ve always thought that part of the reason he didn’t live up to his full promise is that he was a normal, well-adjusted human being who liked other things about life more than football. It’s a good bet that he’s not going to show up in any ads calling this his “leather-pants era,” you know?

Maye hits Brown for one spectacular TD, and the offense looks vastly superior to the last time you, me, and the Seahawks saw it. But the defense will look like a work in progress. For the first time since a Week 16 loss to the Bills in December 2024, the Patriots will lose a regular-season road game. Seahawks 31, Patriots 27.

From the source Chad Finn can be reached at [email protected].