Drake Maye not his best, but still good enough for Patriots to advance to AFC championship

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Drake Maye not his best, but still good enough for Patriots to advance to AFC championship

Karen Guregian · MassLive

Sun, Jan 18, 2026 ·

2 min read

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FOXBOROUGH - Drake Maye didn’t pick the best time to have one of his worst games this season.

The Patriots quarterback struggled in the wintry conditions. But even when he struggles, he’s found a way to make enough plays to win the game.

Mixed bag Maye was still good enough.

Sparked by another strong defensive effort, and Maye’s 3 touchdown passes, the Patriots took down the Houston Texans , 28-16, to advance to the AFC Championship game in Denver.

There, it’ll be Maye vs. former Patriots quarterback Jarrett Stidham , who will be starting in place of the injured Bo Nix (broken bone in ankle).

The snowy, wintry conditions made ball security tough, of course. So did the Texans top-ranked defense, who came as advertised.

Maye, who finished 16 for 27 for 179 yards with 3 TD passes and a pick, fumbled three times in the first half alone. All were strip-sacks, two were recovered by the Patriots.

The first possession of the third quarter? Another strip sack fumble. This one was recovered by the Texans. But Houston gave the ball right back in the turnover-fest as counterpart C.J. Stroud (4 interceptions) also had a tough time trying to solve the Patriots defense.

In between all of the miscues, Maye connected with his receivers when he had to.

He hit DeMario Douglas for a 28-yard touchdown pass to stake the Patriots to a 7-0 lead. A Marcus Jones pick-six put the Patriots up 14-10, then Maye fit a ball into a tight window for a 7-yard touchdown pass to Stefon Diggs before the half.

After more struggles in the third quarter, Maye came alive in the fourth, with a 32-yard touchdown pass to Kayshon Boutte , who made a spectacular one-handed grab in the end zone.

In all, Maye fumbled four times, losing the ball twice. Left tackle Will Campbell also struggled to contain Will Anderson , who forced three of those fumbles.

But Maye the the Patriots offense still managed to do plenty, killing clock in the fourth quarter with Rhamondre Stevenson doing most of the damage.

Maye wasn’t at his best last week in the Wildcard win over the LA Chargers - two turnovers - but like Sunday against the Texans, played well when he needed to down the stretch.

So it’s on to Denver , one win away from the Super Bowl for the Patriots and their second-year quarterback.

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