Josh McDaniels and Drake Maye's secret play surprised teammates in AFC Championship

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Josh McDaniels and Drake Maye's secret play surprised teammates in AFC Championship

Mark Daniels · MassLive

Fri, Jan 30, 2026 ·

3 min read

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FOXBOROUGH – At one of the most crucial points in Sunday’s AFC Championship game, several Patriots offensive linemen feared the worst.

While in the huddle, Drake Maye told his teammates that they were running an outside zone play to the right, where Rhamondre Stevenson would get the ball. Instead, offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels radioed into Maye’s headset that he had other ideas.

He wanted Maye to fake the handoff and execute a bootleg run that would have him sprint to the left while his teammates were blocking for a run play to the right.

“I just remember it happening, and I looked at the guy I was going to block, and I just see him start sprinting over to the left,” left guard Jared Wilson said. “I was just like, ‘Oh, no. Something happened. Something bad has happened.’ I just see Drake running across. I’m like, ‘Oh my goodness.’”

At 1:57 of the fourth quarter, facing a third-and-6, Maye faked the handoff and sprinted seven yards. The first down allowed the Patriots to run out the clock and secure their 10-7 win over the Denver Broncos .

On the field, Patriots offensive linemen didn’t know what was happening but were elated about the result.

“None of us knew it was happening. Kind of took us off guard,” left tackle Will Campbell said. “But hey, it worked.”

“I was surprised but not entirely surprised. It’s one of those plays. Drake is a playmaker. It was third-and-6. I’m glad he did,” right guard Michael Onwenu said. “Once I saw the linebackers shuffling in and start running, I pretty much figured the running back cut the ball back, or someone got the ball to the left. While I was blocking, I was like, ‘ok, everyone is running the other way.’”

That play marked a first for Maye. During his football career, the quarterback had never called a play in the huddle only to have a different play radioed in his headset. He said it was a fun moment.

“I haven’t done that before,” Maye said. I asked a few of (my teammates) after, and they’d rather me not tell them. I think it was pretty cool, a pretty cool moment for coach McDaniels and the guys in the box to see, and for me to try to catch the edge. I was able to catch the edge and give a little stiff arm, try to make a play.”

Players didn’t know why Maye opted for the bootleg run until after the game.

While the Patriots were celebrating their berth to Super Bowl 60, Maye walked up to center Garrett Bradbury and told him about the play. He explained that he debated telling everyone, but opted to keep it between him and McDaniels.

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“It was a called play by Josh. So Drake wasn’t just going crazy off the rails,” Bradbury said. “I’ve been in offenses where that’s happened before, where like they’re pursuing really hard on the backside, then it’s a good option, especially when everyone in the world knows you’re running it.”

Although Bradbury has seen that happen before during his NFL career, the center said it’s the first time McDaniels had Maye execute a run play where no one else on the field knew it was coming.

“I was super surprised,” Bradbury said. “Then we’re all sitting there watching, have no part in blocking for him or anything. You’re just like, ‘Please get it, please get it, please get it.’ So he got it, and we were all juiced up.”

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