Maye wasn’t dinking and dunking, either. He averaged a healthy 9.1 yards per attempt for the game, and completed four passes of 22-32 yards, two each to Stefon Diggs and Hunter Henry.

It was arguably Maye’s best game in 1½ years as a pro, when factoring the opponent and hostile road environment.

“I was just so proud of him coming in here and leading the team,” said Diggs, who finished with 10 catches for 146 yards.

Sunday’s performance highlighted a promising trend for the Patriots through five games:

The passing game is back. Most notably, the downfield passing game.

The Patriots of the last two seasons could barely throw the ball. Under Bill O’Brien and Alex Van Pelt, and quarterbacks Mac Jones, Bailey Zappe, Jacoby Brissett, Joe Milton, and Maye, the Patriots ranked 31st in 2023 and 2024 in completions of 20-plus yards, and also in the bottom five in yards per attempt. Not surprisingly the Patriots scored the second-fewest offensive touchdowns over those two seasons as they went 8-26 and bored their fans to tears.

But under new coordinator Josh McDaniels, Maye and the offense are pushing the ball downfield like the days of Tom Brady. After a slow start against the Raiders and Dolphins, Maye has improved significantly over the last three games to the point that:

⋅ Maye ranks No. 5 in the NFL in yards per attempt (8.24) and No. 2 in completion percentage (73.9), a lethal combination. Maye’s yards per attempt are up from 6.73 last year, which ranked 27th.

⋅ Though he only has one completion of more than 40 yards, Maye has 16 of 20-plus, tied for sixth-most in the NFL. He’s had nine in the past two weeks — five against Carolina and four against Buffalo. Maye is on pace for 54 such completions, compared with 34 in 2024.

⋅ On passes of 20-plus yards in the air, Maye is 7 for 9 for 205 yards and a 118.8 rating that ranks seventh-best.

⋅ And the advanced analytics love Maye. In the all-encompassing stat of Expected Points Added (think WAR in baseball), Maye ranks No. 6 for the season on a per-play basis, and No. 1 on passes over 20-plus air yards. Maye also ranks No. 4 in “completion percentage over expected,” meaning he’s completing more passes than he “should” be.

Only eight other times in Patriots history has a quarterback started a season better than Maye’s 8.24 yards per attempt — Brady five times (2005, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2017), Drew Bledsoe twice (1998, 1999), and Steve Grogan (1980).

The 2021-22 Patriots with Mac Jones, McDaniels, and Matt Patricia had some measure of downfield passing success and weren’t completely dysfunctional like the 2023-24 Patriots. But factor in Cam Newton’s low-wattage 2020 season, and Brady’s frustrating 2019, and it has been since the Super Bowl teams of 2016-18 that the Patriots have had this much success throwing the ball down the field.

Maye isn’t doing this in a vacuum, either. Against the Bills, he hit big throws in big spots: 22 yards to Hunter Henry on second and 15 to get the Patriots in range for a field goal before halftime; 32 yards to Diggs to set up a touchdown in the third quarter; and 24 yards to Henry and 30 to Diggs in a span of three plays to set up another touchdown.

Data from NFL Next Gen Stats shows Drake Maye’s production on downfield passes.NFL

Against the Panthers, Maye hit Diggs for 22 yards to convert third and 15. And against the Steelers, Maye converted third and 10 and third and 13 with completions of 20-plus yards to Rhamondre Stevenson and Kayshon Boutte.

Most impressively, Maye is doing it in all kinds of ways — in the pocket, outside the pocket, on the run, against the blitz, and against disguised coverages. And on Sunday night in Buffalo, Maye proved that he can do it on the road in a tough environment against a great team.

“He’s continuing to grow and gain confidence, and show us, show everybody, show his team and himself the ability to operate in the pocket, ability to operate on schedule, move the pocket plays and then also off-schedule,” Vrabel said. “A really gutty performance from Drake. Just continue to enjoy watching him grow and lead this football team.”

Ben Volin can be reached at ben.volin@globe.com.