Here come the Patriots: What's changed for Drake Maye, New England as they look all the way back

Drake Maye looks like his MVP self, and New England could be back in the Super Bowl conversation Don't look now, but the reigning AFC champions have started to look more like themselves lately. After a tumultuous first three weeks of the 2026 campaign, where it looked like Mike Vrabel's club was enduring a hangover from the success they had a year ago, they've stabilized over the past two games and sit at 3-2 on the year. More than that, they seem primed to once again vie for the conference crown and make a bid for the Super Bowl. The biggest change, of course, has been Drake Maye. He was at the crux of New England's early-season struggles and has seen a night-and-day difference in his play over the past two weeks, especially when it comes to the turnover department.

He's also coming off his first career back-to-back games with three-plus passing touchdowns. If you dig a little deeper into what's changed with Maye over these past two games, it's been the return of his deep ball. Last year, Maye was arguably the best deep-ball thrower in the NFL, but that effectively vanished at the start of this season — that sort of bled over from the offense's struggles last postseason. From Week 1-3, Maye was just 9-of-23 passing (39%)