The New England Patriots pulled off their best comeback in nearly a decade on Sunday night, erasing a 24-13 deficit in the fourth quarter to stun the Baltimore Ravens 28-24 at M&T Bank Stadium. It was the Patriots’ biggest fourth-quarter comeback since their historic Super Bowl LI rally against the Atlanta Falcons in early 2017.
But whereas that one was led by Bill Belichick and Tom Brady, this one was led by Mike Vrabel and a 23-year-old Drake Maye. Despite facing intense pressure from the Ravens’ defense, Maye calmly led New England on a pair of clutch touchdown drives during the fourth quarter to win the game and clinch a playoff berth.
On Monday, radio host Colin Cowherd showered Maye and his teammates with praise for their impressive comeback on the road.
“If you watch Drake Maye, in the final quarter, he was pressured on almost half of his throws, and yet was money,” Cowherd said. “That’s a star quarterback. Trailing, getting hit, drive them down the field.”
Cowherd complimented the Patriots by comparing them to the Los Angeles Chargers, who have also overachieved this year despite crushing injuries.
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“The East Coast version of the Chargers. A team with a great coach and a great quarterback that should not be this good is the Patriots,” Cowherd said. “They’re still in a rebuild…Drake Maye’s only 23 years old. He was the rawest of all the quarterbacks in his class. Yet now he’s a top eight, nine, ten quarterback.”
Cowherd also praised New England for being ahead of schedule and overcoming numerous obstacles this season, including youth, injuries, roster depth and a relative lack of reliable weapons.
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“For the Patriots to be this good with all their youth and all their new players is unbelievable,” Cowherd said. “That was a really impressive road win for Drake Maye.”
Maye will try to earn another road win on Sunday against the New York Jets as the Patriots continue to battle the Denver Broncos and Jacksonville Jaguars for the top seed in the AFC.
Featured image via James Lang/Imagn Images
