Ladies and gentlemen, we have a new man at the top of the MVP leaderboard.
After his team’s huge 28-23 win in Tampa Bay (6-3), Patriots quarterback Drake Maye is now your MVP favorite, with FanDuel listing him at +250 to win the award as of publishing.
The 23-year-old is the best player on an 8-2 team that currently leads the AFC East by two games over the five-time defending division champions in Buffalo (6-3).
Through 10 games, Maye has 19 passing touchdowns to only 5 interceptions, good for a passer rating of 113.9. He’s already passed for 2,555 yards, and has a completion percentage of 71.7%.
He’s also continued to make plays with his legs, rushing for 283 yards and 2 touchdowns.
With the Bills looking lost down in Miami (3-7) and the Chiefs (5-4) on a bye, Maye overtook Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen as the favorite to win the award at FanDuel.
Even on a day that wasn’t his best, it was a big enough win while making enough big plays to vault him to the top.
Getting big wins while not playing your best football is the mark of a great player. Even when he’s not playing at an elite level, he’s doing enough for his team to win games.
Make no mistake about it, there were still MVP-level plays made in this game. But with the QB under pressure all day long with Tampa blitzing more than just about anyone in the NFL, Maye was sacked just once. He was 16 for 31 passing for 270 yards, with 2 touchdowns, an interception, and a passer rating of 89.4.
He deserves a ton of credit for placing a first half touchdown perfectly for Stefon Diggs:
And he deserves credit for finding Kyle Williams in a position where he had room to burn down field for a 72-yard score:
While he has the skillset to wow you with his arm and legs, he’s showing that he doesn’t need to play that way to keep the train on the tracks. He’s becoming a true field general before our eyes.
And even though this drive ended in with a pick in the end zone, this 55-yard bomb to Mack Hollins was our weekly reminder of how good this guy is at completing the ball down the field:
Maye will have an opportunity right away to back-up what the odds are saying, as his Patriots are back in Week 11 on Thursday Night Football for a home game against the Jets (2-7).
As of publishing, the Patriots are 5.5-point favorites. You can get them at -220 on the moneyline, and the total sits at 42.5.
Tune in each and every Monday throughout the football season to Patriots Monday on WEEI. Head coach Mike Vrabel joins The Greg Hill Show at 6:30 a.m. ET, and quarterback Drake Maye joins WEEI Afternoons.