Drake Maye Silences Emerging Narrative About Patriots-Chargers Matchup

The NFL is a players’ league. Moreover, the NFL is a quarterback’s league.

As such, big games are often billed as a head-to-head matchup between each team’s quarterback.

This narrative is beginning to take shape ahead of the New England Patriots’ wild-card playoff matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers.

Quarterback Drake Maye was asked about how much stake he places in his “head-to-head” matchup against Chargers superstar quarterback Justin Herbert.

“I think you play the defense. You play who you’re out there on the field against,” Maye said. “I think the ‘quarterback matchups’ is something that’s natural for people to do, but I’m playing against 11 guys on defense.

“Unless he rolls out there on defense — I don’t expect him to do that — we’re focusing on the defense, and we got a tough job.”

For those who do put stake in the head-to-head matchup, Maye and Herbert have met once before.

Last season, the 9-6 Chargers came to Gillette in the final week of December looking to bolster their playoff push with a victory over the 3-12 Patriots.

Herbert threw for 281 yards and three touchdowns in the 40-7 win, in what became ex-head coach Jerod Mayo’s second-to-last game. Maye was held to 117 yards and a touchdown in his 11th career start.

However, this year Maye finished the regular season with nearly 700 more passing yards than Herbert on 20 fewer attempts. He threw for 31 touchdowns compared to Herbert’s 26, and only eight interceptions to Herbert’s 13.

Both quarterbacks were very effective using their legs; Herbert finished with the second-most rushing yards at the position, while Maye placed fourth.