Drake Maye is apparently trying to play flag football in the NFL, at least according to one opposing coach, and honestly, our Seattle Seahawks were among the first to expose it. The New England Patriots’ third-year quarterback is already catching serious heat for what an NFL evaluator called “erratic judgment,” especially after he coughed up three turnovers in Sunday’s brutal 35-6 beatdown by the Jacksonville Jaguars. That’s a 1-2 start for the Pats, and it ain’t looking pretty.
“Not Poor, Just Erratic” and Other Head Scratchers
This ain’t some new problem for Maye, either. The Athletic’s Mike Sando talked to an opposing coach who absolutely ripped into Maye’s game, pointing out how his decision-making has been super questionable right from the jump this year. That coach said Maye’s judgment wasn’t “poor, just erratic.” What does that even mean? It sounds like a polite way of saying he’s all over the place! Take Week 2 against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Maye had a deep cross route, with only three underneath defenders, and he “hangs the ball so much that the Mike linebacker miraculously gets into the play, chases it down and creates the interception.” Seriously, who even *does* that in the NFL? It’s like he’s begging for trouble instead of taking what the defense gives him. And it gets worse. In the red zone against Pittsburgh, he “doesn’t have to, but he sprints up in the pocket, he meets the defender and slides for the sack. He literally sacks himself.” You gotta wonder what’s going on in his head with plays like that.
Our Hawks Saw the Flag Football Heroics First
But here’s the real kicker for us, Emerald City faithful: that coach’s critique of Maye’s decision-making goes all the way back to Week 1, when Maye inexplicably “threw into tight coverage for a game-losing interception” against *our* Seattle Seahawks in the season opener. Yeah, that’s right! We saw this hero ball act up close and personal. The coach went on to hammer Maye, saying he feels the QB has been trying to play the hero, emulating other top quarterbacks who can thrive both in and out of the offense’s structure. But the coach’s take? “The best players, their fundamentals are impeccable, repeatable. This guy’s are not.” Ouch. He’s got “nervous, happy feet,” “does not throw off a sturdy platform,” and “is not real accurate on the move, and tries the heroics.” And then, the ultimate insult: “He looks like he is watching (Patrick) Mahomes and (Aaron) Rodgers in primetime games and is at the flag football game on Saturday afternoon trying to play copycat.” That’s brutal, and it sounds exactly like the kind of mistake that cost him against us in Week 1. Even this past Sunday, he just “muffs the ball while passing. Fumbled it and gave it to the other team” against the Jags. This ain’t no Saturday afternoon picnic, dude!
What’s Next
The Patriots are definitely gonna need to get Maye out of this “copycat flag football” mode if they have any hopes of making a second straight run to the Super Bowl. Things sure aren’t getting any easier for them, with the undefeated (3-0) AFC East rival Buffalo Bills coming up in Week 4. As for our Seahawks, we just wrapped up a wild one of our own, unfortunately falling to the Washington Commanders 33-31. It was a tough one, but we’ll be back at it. Always next week for the Hawks!
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Bleacher Report.
Leave a Reply