\n<\/p>\n
NFL MVP voters select a winner based on regular-season merit, leaving playoff performance ostensibly out of sight.<\/p>\n
If New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye tackles his greatest challenge to date in Sunday\u2019s AFC Divisional clash with Houston, however, he\u2019ll have earned other accolades befitting his rising star.<\/p>\n
Maye leads the second-seeded Patriots<\/a> into a matchup against the Texans and their elite defense after steering a remarkable turnaround. New England went 14-3 this season<\/a>, an inverse of its record from 2024, when Maye started 12 games as a rookie.<\/p>\n Maye brings accuracy, mobility, and assuredness after passing for 268 yards and a touchdown and gaining 66 yards on the ground to lead the Patriots to a 16-3 win against the Los Angeles Chargers in the wild-card round.<\/p>\n That sort of stat line makes it easy to forget how Maye sputtered against visiting Houston in his first career start last season.<\/p>\n Maye joked that the Week 6 game \u201cfeels like 10 years ago\u201d but still recalled \u201ckind of just trying to stay alive out there.\u201d<\/p>\n He gamely gained composure, passing for three TDs. But there also was the matter of those two interceptions and four sacks \u2014 three by defensive end Will Anderson Jr. \u2014 in a 41-21 defeat.<\/p>\n Danielle Hunter sacked Maye that day, too, and with Anderson Jr. has sparked one of the top edge-rushing tandems in the league. The duo combined for 27 sacks during the regular season for a defense that yielded the fewest yards in the NFL (5,079) and allowed the second-stingiest average points per game (17.4).<\/p>\n The experience of last season notwithstanding, Maye realizes what the Houston \u2018D\u2019 brings to the table.<\/p>\n \u201cThey fly around. They\u2019re relentless,” he said. “They\u2019re great up front, and great on the back end. They\u2019ve got great linebackers. They\u2019re great all-around. They have great coaching. So we\u2019ve got our hands full, and we know it\u2019s going to be a tough game.\u201d<\/p>\n Houston recognizes that Maye is much improved, too, with linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair using a comparison from the kitchen to note Maye\u2019s tangible boost in confidence.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s anybody with anything when you do something, you know,\u201d Al-Shaair said. \u201cYou bake a cake for the first time, probably mess it up, and then you do it again, do it again, do it again, and it looks better, tastes better next time.\u201d<\/p>\n Given his nimble ways in the pocket and 4.4 yards per carry in the regular season, the 6-foot-4, 225-pound Maye likely built his stature on something other than sweets.<\/p>\n Whatever the case, the Texans are bracing to face more than a budding pocket passer.<\/p>\n \u201cThese dudes now are big, strong, fast. He\u2019s literally bigger than me, stronger than me, probably just as fast,\u201d said Al-Shaair, who\u2019s listed at 6-2, 228. \u201cAnd this is a quarterback, you know. I\u2019m a linebacker.<\/p>\n “So, I think you see stuff like that and then you also see the ability to throw the ball downfield and you mix that up with the play calling that they have and the run game that they have and it just complements everything well. That\u2019s why he\u2019s in the position he\u2019s in.\u201d<\/p>\n A victory Sunday would put the Patriots one win away from their first Super Bowl in the post\u2013Bill Belichick\/Tom Brady era.<\/p>\n That could elevate Maye to legend status in New England whether he takes MVP honors or not.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n