Drake Maye threw for 321 yards in the New England Patriots’ 30–24 loss at Chicago on Thursday night and moved from 11th to second in the NFL in passing yards. He has 1,784 yards after seven games, 10 behind Matthew Stafford of the Los Angeles Rams, who has 1,794.
Maye got there with one more game than the quarterbacks around him. Stafford, C.J. Stroud and Jordan Love have each played six games and all three play on Sunday, while the Patriots do not play again until Nov. 1. Per game, Bryce Young (309.8 in five games) and Stafford (299.0) lead the top 10, and Stroud is at 285.7. Maye is at 254.9.
Passing yards leaders after Thursday night
| Rank | Player | Team | G | Yards | Yds/G | TD | INT | Rating | Rank after Wk 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Matthew Stafford | LAR | 6 | 1,794 | 299.0 | 11 | 6 | 91.7 | 1 |
| 2 | Drake Maye | NE | 7 | 1,784 | 254.9 | 13 | 8 | 96.4 | 11 |
| 3 | C.J. Stroud | HOU | 6 | 1,714 | 285.7 | 9 | 1 | 100.9 | 2 |
| 4 | Jordan Love | GB | 6 | 1,684 | 280.7 | 11 | 4 | 91.8 | 3 |
| 5 | Dak Prescott | DAL | 6 | 1,639 | 273.2 | 10 | 5 | 90.1 | 4 |
| 6 | Kirk Cousins | LV | 6 | 1,582 | 263.7 | 14 | 5 | 98.0 | 5 |
| 7 | Bryce Young | CAR | 5 | 1,549 | 309.8 | 11 | 2 | 98.5 | 6 |
| 8 | Josh Allen | BUF | 6 | 1,504 | 250.7 | 9 | 4 | 102.1 | 7 |
| 9 | Aaron Rodgers | PIT | 6 | 1,487 | 247.8 | 12 | 5 | 88.0 | 8 |
| 10 | Jared Goff | DET | 5 | 1,485 | 297.0 | 12 | 0 | 111.3 | 9 |
Stroud, who was second after Week 6 at 80 yards behind Stafford, is now third, 80 behind Stafford and 70 behind Maye. Maye passed nine quarterbacks in one night: Stroud, Love, Dak Prescott, Kirk Cousins, Bryce Young, Josh Allen, Aaron Rodgers, Jared Goff and Trevor Lawrence. Before Thursday, he had 1,463 yards.
Maye’s season, game by game
| Week | Opponent | Result | Comp/Att | Yards | TD | INT | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | at Seattle | L 10–13 | 23/33 | 178 | 1 | 3 | 54.9 |
| 2 | Pittsburgh | W 20–3 | 14/22 | 208 | 0 | 1 | 75.6 |
| 3 | at Jacksonville | L 6–35 | 14/25 | 199 | 0 | 2 | 48.6 |
| 4 | at Buffalo | W 29–26 | 22/37 | 269 | 3 | 1 | 97.7 |
| 5 | Las Vegas | W 45–17 | 26/34 | 374 | 4 | 0 | 150.9 |
| 6 | NY Jets | W 26–19 | 18/32 | 235 | 3 | 0 | 110.8 |
| 7 | at Chicago | L 24–30 | 24/31 | 321 | 2 | 1 | 117.8 |
The climb started in Week 4. In his first three games, Maye threw for 585 yards with one touchdown and six interceptions, and the Patriots were 1–2. In the four games since, he has thrown for 1,199 yards, 12 touchdowns and two interceptions, and New England went 3–1.
| Games | Comp/Att | Comp % | Yards | Yds/Att | TD | INT | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1–3 | 51/80 | 63.8% | 585 | 7.3 | 1 | 6 | 58.6 |
| Weeks 4–7 | 90/134 | 67.2% | 1,199 | 8.9 | 12 | 2 | 119.0 |
His 12 touchdown passes over his last four games are the most by any quarterback over his most recent four. Rodgers is next with 11, and Goff, Joe Burrow and Lawrence have 10. Maye’s run of three straight games with at least three touchdown passes ended on Thursday with two: a 48-yard catch-and-run by Rhamondre Stevenson on the last play of the first half and a 30-yarder to rookie tight end Eli Raridon in the third quarter.
The early-season interceptions still show up on the board. Maye’s eight interceptions are tied with Justin Herbert for the most in the league, but six of them came in the first three weeks. His one on Thursday was in the end zone, picked off by Bears linebacker D’Marco Jackson with the Patriots at the Chicago 15 late in the first half.
One touchdown pass off the lead
Maye now has 13 touchdown passes, one behind Cousins, Lawrence and Brock Purdy, who share the lead at 14. Lawrence’s Jaguars are on a bye this week. Cousins and the Las Vegas Raiders play the Rams on Sunday, and Purdy and the San Francisco 49ers play at Atlanta.
Passing and rushing yards combined
Maye also ran four times for 26 yards and a touchdown on Thursday. With 211 rushing yards this season, he leads all quarterbacks in passing and rushing yards combined with 1,995, 180 more than Stafford. His 15 total touchdowns, 13 passing and two rushing, are tied with Purdy for second among quarterbacks behind Allen’s 17, eight of which came on the ground.
| Player | Team | G | Pass yds | Rush yds | Total | Pass TD | Rush TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drake Maye | NE | 7 | 1,784 | 211 | 1,995 | 13 | 2 |
| Matthew Stafford | LAR | 6 | 1,794 | 21 | 1,815 | 11 | 0 |
| C.J. Stroud | HOU | 6 | 1,714 | 76 | 1,790 | 9 | 1 |
| Josh Allen | BUF | 6 | 1,504 | 240 | 1,744 | 9 | 8 |
| Dak Prescott | DAL | 6 | 1,639 | 73 | 1,712 | 10 | 0 |
| Jordan Love | GB | 6 | 1,684 | 10 | 1,694 | 11 | 1 |
On the other side Thursday, Caleb Williams threw for 308 yards and two touchdowns without an interception. In four games he has a 105.6 passer rating, fifth among quarterbacks with at least 100 attempts. Luther Burden III’s 130 receiving yards on four catches took him to 491 for the season, eighth in the league.
When the passing-yards chasers play next
| Quarterback (yards) | Game | Kickoff (ET) | Cairo time |
|---|---|---|---|
| C.J. Stroud (1,714) | NY Giants at Houston | Sun, Oct. 25, 1:00 p.m. | Sun 20:00 |
| Matthew Stafford (1,794) | LA Rams at Las Vegas | Sun, Oct. 25, 4:25 p.m. | Sun 23:25 |
| Jordan Love (1,684) | Green Bay at Detroit | Sun, Oct. 25, 4:25 p.m. | Sun 23:25 |
| Dak Prescott (1,639) | Dallas at Philadelphia | Mon, Oct. 26, 8:15 p.m. | Tue 03:15 |
| Drake Maye (1,784) | New England at Miami | Sun, Nov. 1, 4:25 p.m. | Sun, Nov. 1, 23:25 |
Stroud needs 71 yards against the Giants to pass Maye. Love needs 101 at Detroit and Prescott needs 146 at Philadelphia, all before the Patriots play again on Nov. 1.
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