Patriots quarterback Drake Maye dropped a monstrous performance in Week 5, tying his career-high with five total touchdowns and pushing New England past the Raiders. But despite nearly 400 total yards of offense and a scorching 150.9 passer rating, the reigning MVP runner-up was snubbed for the AFC Offensive Player of the Week award, and the explanation is baffling.
Five Scores, Zero Trophy: The Unfair Truth
Maye has been on an absolute tear these past couple of weeks, turning his season around in a big way. Just one week before this Raiders game, he tallied four touchdowns in the Patriots’ Week 4 win over the Bills. You’d think that kind of consistent, high-level production would guarantee him the weekly honor when he outdid himself. We’ve seen it happen before, right? Josh Allen snatched the AFC Offensive Player of the Week award after putting up five scores against the Lions in Week 2 this season. Trevor Lawrence did the exact same thing last year against the Jets in Week 15. Maye’s Week 5 outing, with those five total scores (four passing, one rushing) and that insane 150.9 passer rating, was the fifth-highest mark of his career in a single game, and one of his previous high-rating games *did* earn him the trophy. Yet, this time, the third-year gunslinger was left empty-handed. Instead, Steelers standout Jaylen Warren walked away with the award after compiling nearly 200 total yards and two touchdowns in Pittsburgh’s third win of the year. Warren certainly had a compelling case, no doubt, and his play out of the backfield has been key for the Steelers early on. But looking at the sheer numbers, Maye was clearly the more deserving candidate.
The “No Back-to-Back” Rule Is a Joke
So why was Maye, who was clearly on another level, deprived of what would have been his third-ever AFC Offensive Player of the Week award? It all comes down to a seemingly unwritten, and frankly, arbitrary rule: it’s uncommon for players to receive the award two weeks in a row. Call it voter fatigue, or maybe it’s just plain stubbornness from the people making these decisions, but the “holy deity of Player of the Week voters” rarely gives the award to the same guy in back-to-back weeks. In the last two seasons, only one player, Jonathan Taylor, has managed to sweep the honors consecutively, doing it in Week 2 and Week 3 of the 2025 season with a combined 333 yards and four touchdowns. Maye’s numbers had more than enough juice to earn him his second-straight POTW award. But because he already secured the prize last week, it seems the league just decided to look elsewhere, much to the chagrin of Maye and Patriots fans everywhere. It’s a frustrating precedent, and it just robbed one of the league’s top talents of a well-deserved recognition.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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