{"id":319859,"date":"2025-12-02T05:11:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T05:11:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/319859\/"},"modified":"2025-12-02T05:11:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T05:11:09","slug":"drake-maye-gains-leg-up-on-mvp-race-over-matthew-stafford-as-patriots-roll-to-11-2-with-blowout-of-giants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/319859\/","title":{"rendered":"Drake Maye gains leg up on MVP race over Matthew Stafford as Patriots roll to 11-2 with blowout of Giants"},"content":{"rendered":"

Matthew Stafford entered Week 13 viewed as a slight favorite over Drake Maye in what looks like a two-way race for NFL MVP.<\/p>\n

With Week 13 in the books, that script is flipped. Maye led his New England Patriots to a blowout 33-15 win over the New York Giants Monday night to close out the NFL week.<\/p>\n

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The Patriots jumped out to a 10-0 first quarter lead that they extended to 30-7 at halftime. At that point, the second half was just a formality as New England cruised to its 10th straight victory following a 1-2 start.<\/p>\n

With the win, the Patriots improved to 11-2 to vault past the 10-2 Denver Broncos for the best record in the NFL and control of the race for the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs.<\/p>\n

And Maye produced another sterling effort in his breakout second NFL season. Maye finished the game completing 24 of 31 passes for 282 yards with 2 touchdowns and no turnovers.<\/p>\n

Stafford\u2019s MVP case took a hit<\/p>\n

Compare that to Stafford, who didn\u2019t have nearly as good of a Week 13. The Los Angeles Rams quarterback entered Sunday having thrown 27 consecutive touchdown without an interception.<\/p>\n

\"Drake<\/p>\n

Drake Maye and the Patriots are now 11-2.<\/p>\n

(IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect \/ Reuters)<\/p>\n

He threw another to start Sunday\u2019s game to break Tom Brady\u2019s former record with his 28th touchdown pass without a turnover. But he threw interceptions on consecutive possessions from there \u2014 one in the end zone and another that the Panthers returned for a pick 6. And the Rams were stunned in a 31-28 loss to the Panthers that allowed the Chicago Bears to seize control of the race for the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs.<\/p>\n

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The divergent performances should be enough to tilt the balance of the MVP race back in Maye\u2019s favor.<\/p>\n

Patriots deliver on expected blowout<\/p>\n

The Patriots entered Monday as heavy favorites at home over the reeling and now 2-11 Giants and delivered as expected with a dominant effort.<\/p>\n

They bogged down in the red zone on their opening drive and settled for a field goal. But punt returner Marcus Jones broke things open with a 94-yard touchdown return after New York\u2019s first possession to extend New England\u2019s lead to 10-0.<\/p>\n

From there, the rout was on.<\/p>\n

On New England\u2019s next possession Maye hit receiver Kayshon Boutte with a fade in the end zone for a 3-yard touchdown despite tight coverage from cornerback Cor’Dale Flott. That score extended New England\u2019s lead to 17-0.<\/p>\n

The Giants responded with a touchdown. But the Patriots answered two possessions later with Maye\u2019s second touchdown of the night.<\/p>\n

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This time, Maye found Kyle Williams with a pinpoint deep ball down the left sideline that Williams corralled in the end zone for a 33-yard score.<\/p>\n

And that was more than enough for the Patriots. These Giants weren\u2019t going to mount a rally from that deficit against New England.<\/p>\n

The Patriots added two more field goals before halftime before hitting cruise control in the second half of the 18-point victory.<\/p>\n

Who will win No. 1 seed in AFC?<\/p>\n

The race for the No. 1 seed in the AFC remains hot with the Broncos now winners of nine straight games. They\u2019ll close out their season with games against the Raiders, Packers, Jaguars, Chiefs<\/a> and Chargers. Outside of the Raiders, each of their remaining opponents is either in the playoff picture or in the hunt.<\/p>\n

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The Patriots, meanwhile, have a Week 14 bye before closing their season with games against the Bills, Ravens, Jets and Dolphins. The Ravens and Bills will be fighting to remain in the playoff picture. The Jets and Dolphins most certainly will not.<\/p>\n

Live30 updates\"RyanMon, December 1, 2025 at 8:11 PM PST<\/p>\n

Ryan Young<\/p>\n

The Patriots will enter their bye week on a 10-game win streak and in total control of the AFC. When they come back, though, they\u2019ll have to host Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills.<\/p>\n

\"RyanMon, December 1, 2025 at 8:07 PM PST<\/p>\n

Ryan Young<\/p>\n

\"RyanMon, December 1, 2025 at 8:05 PM PST<\/p>\n

Ryan Young<\/p>\n

And that\u2019ll officially do it. The Patriots have secured their 10th straight win and reclaimed the No. 1 spot in the AFC standings.<\/p>\n

They are now the first team since 1999 to win 10 straight after losing 13 or more games in the pervious season.<\/p>\n

\"RyanMon, December 1, 2025 at 7:57 PM PST<\/p>\n

Ryan Young<\/p>\n

The Patriots got all the way down inside the 10, but an incomplete pass and a scramble that came up short left them settling for another field goal.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s 33-15 now with 2:14 left. We\u2019re just about done here.<\/p>\n

\"RyanMon, December 1, 2025 at 7:43 PM PST<\/p>\n

Ryan Young<\/p>\n

The Patriots forced a quick punt there after the Tracy injury, so they\u2019ll get the ball back with 7:41 left. A score here would almost certainly seal the win.<\/p>\n

\"RyanMon, December 1, 2025 at 7:40 PM PST<\/p>\n

Ryan Young<\/p>\n

Tyrone Tracy went down hard after a big hit in the backfield there for the Giants, and couldn\u2019t put any weight on his left leg as he was helped off the field.<\/p>\n

\"RyanMon, December 1, 2025 at 7:33 PM PST<\/p>\n

Ryan Young<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a quick stop for the Giants, thanks in part to a sack from Zaire Barnes on second down, and the Patriots will punt it away here.<\/p>\n

New York is getting it back with about 11 minutes left, down by 15.<\/p>\n

\"RyanMon, December 1, 2025 at 7:26 PM PST<\/p>\n

Ryan Young<\/p>\n

Now that\u2019s how you start a quarter. Devin Singletary just ran in a 22-yard touchdown on a direct snap and a fake pitch to Jaxson Dart.<\/p>\n

They went for the 2-point conversion, and got it after a long scramble from Dart in the backfield.<\/p>\n

The Patriots lead 30-15 now early in the fourth.<\/p>\n

\"RyanMon, December 1, 2025 at 7:20 PM PST<\/p>\n

Ryan Young<\/p>\n

This game has slowed way down, but the Patriots are still in control here.<\/p>\n

The Giants are driving, and will come back at the New England 25 to start the final period.<\/p>\n

\"RyanMon, December 1, 2025 at 7:13 PM PST<\/p>\n

Ryan Young<\/p>\n

Andy Borregales was perfect up until now, but he just pulled a 45-yard field goal attempt wide left.<\/p>\n

The Giants will take over now, but they\u2019re running out of time to make a comeback. A touchdown here, and fast, is going to be critical.<\/p>\n

\"RyanMon, December 1, 2025 at 7:03 PM PST<\/p>\n

Ryan Young<\/p>\n

The Giants quickly got across midfield, but their drive stalled out almost immediately. The Patriots pushed them back on third down for a loss of three, too, and then Jaxson Dart missed Theo Johnson on fourth down.<\/p>\n

So New England will take over.<\/p>\n

\"RyanMon, December 1, 2025 at 6:56 PM PST<\/p>\n

Ryan Young<\/p>\n

The Giants have received the kick, and the third quarter is officially underway.<\/p>\n

\"RyanMon, December 1, 2025 at 6:42 PM PST<\/p>\n

Ryan Young<\/p>\n

This has been all New England so far tonight. The Patriots just added three more points to close the first half after a 28-yard field goal from Andy Borregales, and they\u2019re up big at the break.<\/p>\n

\"RyanMon, December 1, 2025 at 6:41 PM PST<\/p>\n

Ryan Young<\/p>\n

Rhamondre Stevenson just picked up 35 yards easily after the Giants left him wide open on the left side of the field. The Pats are now in position to add more points before the break after gaining 58 yards in just three plays.<\/p>\n

\"RyanMon, December 1, 2025 at 6:39 PM PST<\/p>\n

Ryan Young<\/p>\n

Hodgins was just shy of the first down marker after a catch on third down, and then the Giants failed to get the Pats to jump on fourth-and-one. They\u2019ll instead take the penalty and punt it away again.<\/p>\n

New England will get the ball back now with a little more than a minute left.<\/p>\n

\"RyanMon, December 1, 2025 at 6:33 PM PST<\/p>\n

Ryan Young<\/p>\n

The Patriots struggled to get much going after that fumble, but a field goal works. Borregales is good from 30 yards out, and their lead is now 27-7 with 1:48 left in the half.<\/p>\n

\"RyanMon, December 1, 2025 at 6:29 PM PST<\/p>\n

Ryan Young<\/p>\n

That was a ridiculous hit on the kickoff there, which forced a fumble and gave the Patriots the ball right back.<\/p>\n

Gunner Olszewski needed a lot of help to walk off the field after taking a shot directly to his helmet, and he went straight to the medical tent. Part of the Giants\u2019 logo was ripped right off his helmet, too. That\u2019s how big the hit was. Somehow, though, no penalty.<\/p>\n

\"RyanMon, December 1, 2025 at 6:25 PM PST<\/p>\n

Ryan Young<\/p>\n

Just five plays after that wild failed kick from Younghoe Koo, the Patriots have extended their lead. Drake May threw a dime to Kyle Williams in the corner of the end zone, and they now lead 24-7 late in the first half.<\/p>\n

\"JasonMon, December 1, 2025 at 6:21 PM PST<\/p>\n

Jason Owens<\/p>\n

The Giants settled for a field goal attempt after Theo Johnson couldn\u2019t hang on to a deep pass in the end zone from Jaxson Dart.<\/p>\n

Then Younghoe Koo straight up failed to kick the ball on a 47-yard attempt. He kicked the ground instead. Seriously.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how it looked from the end zone.<\/p>\n

And here\u2019s how it looked from field level.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s one of the most bizarre things ever seen on an NFL field. And instead of a touchdown or a field goal, the Giants walked away with no points and a 17-7 deficit.<\/p>\n

\"RyanMon, December 1, 2025 at 6:08 PM PST<\/p>\n

Ryan Young<\/p>\n

The Giants sacked Drake Maye on third down there to complete the quick three-and-out, and they\u2019ll get the ball back in great field position after an absolute shank of a punt.<\/p>\n

A score here would completely change the game. Let\u2019s see what they can do\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Matthew Stafford entered Week 13 viewed as a slight favorite over Drake Maye in what looks like a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":319860,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[436],"tags":[12595,49,48,8822,1735,8825,1743,2221,7668,13267,52303,16398,1749,56082,3150,19260,1718,1728,514,2693,82,12486],"class_list":["post-319859","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-bills","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-chargers","tag-chicago-bears","tag-chiefs","tag-denver-broncos","tag-drake-maye","tag-giants","tag-jets","tag-kayshon-boutte","tag-kyle-williams","tag-los-angeles-rams","tag-marcus-jones","tag-matthew-stafford","tag-new-england","tag-new-england-patriots","tag-new-york-giants","tag-nfl","tag-raiders","tag-sports","tag-tom-brady"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319859","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=319859"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319859\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/319860"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=319859"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=319859"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=319859"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}