EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — The chants got louder as Drake Maye jogged off the field after another terrific performance and neared the visitors' tunnel leading to the New England Patriots' locker room.
“MVP! MVP! MVP!” a large group of fired-up fans shouted as they serenaded their second-year quarterback, who again made a strong case Sunday that he might be exactly that this season.
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New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye (10) passes against the New York Jets during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin)
New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye celebrates after a win over the New York Jets in an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye talks during a news conference after his team defeated the New York Jets in an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin)
New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye warms up before an NFL football game against the New York Jets, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
Maye threw a career-high five touchdown passes in less than three quarters as the Patriots dominated the New York Jets 42-10 to improve to 13-3, including 8-0 on the road. New England also won the AFC East title for the first time since 2019 when Buffalo lost to Philadelphia a few hours later.
“They don’t give me a vote,” coach Mike Vrabel said, “but there is nobody else we want as our quarterback or that I want as our quarterback.”
Maye made it look easy against the Jets, leading the Patriots on touchdown drives on each of their first six possessions.
He was 19 of 21 for 256 yards and a 157.0 quarterback rating with TD tosses to Rhamondre Stevenson, Stefon Diggs, Austin Hooper, Hunter Henry and Efton Chism III before being lifted for Joshua Dobbs with 5:31 left in the third quarter. Maye became the first player in NFL history to complete 90% of his passes while throwing for 250 or more yards and five TDs in a single game.
“Guys getting open, guys running the right routes,” said Maye, who got the game ball in the postgame locker room but humbly attributed his success to his teammates. “The guys up front blocking their butts off to give me time to make plays and extend plays and find guys down the field.”
The 24-year-old Maye has been capitalizing on those opportunities all season in what has been a breakout year that followed a promising rookie campaign.
He has already been selected to the Pro Bowl Games twice since being drafted with the No. 3 overall pick last year out of North Carolina.
“We want to get the ball in his hands as much as we can,” safety Jaylinn Hawkins said. “He makes it happen. He’s out there just doing what he does, having fun. He’s confident, he’s playing with swag.”
Maye also joined Tom Brady (11 times) and Drew Bledsoe (twice) as the only New England quarterbacks to reach 4,000 yards passing in a season. Maye has 4,203 through 16 games, along with 30 TD passes and just eight interceptions.
“Whatever it takes to win,” he said. “That’s the most important thing. The only thing I care about is our won-loss record. We still have work to do and some games ahead that should be fun.”
Maye made his NFL debut last year at MetLife Stadium last year in Week 3, when he replaced Jacoby Brissett in the Patriots' 24-3 loss to the Jets. He went 4 of 8 for 22 yards in mop-up action, but made his first NFL start three weeks later.
“It’s pretty funny looking back,” Maye said. “The stadium was pumped for that Thursday night game and it’s kind of a full-circle moment just of how far we’ve come and kind of the flip side of things — this year compared to last and how much fun we’re having out there.”
The Patriots have bounced back from consecutive 4-13 finishes to return the franchise to its winning ways in Vrabel's first year as coach. Maye has thrived along the way, establishing himself as one of the NFL's best playmaking quarterbacks — and perhaps the league's most valuable player.
“He goes out there and shows it every week,” cornerback Christian Gonzalez said. “I think that’s something he’s earned. Him and this team are focused on winning games. If it happens to be him, then it is.”
Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford would appear to be Maye's biggest competition for the award, voted on by a panel selected by The Associated Press. Fellow quarterbacks Josh Allen of Buffalo, Jacksonville's Trevor Lawrence and the Los Angeles Chargers' Justin Herbert are also considered contenders.
But the Patriots are backing their guy, of course.
And so are the fans, who shower Maye with those “MVP! MVP!” chants — whether they're at home or on the road.
“He goes in there with a mindset,” Stevenson said. "Wednesday is our first day of practice. He kind of wants to win the game on Wednesday and throughout the week until he gets to Sunday. That’s a big thing for him and the team, putting our best foot forward in practice and reaping the rewards on Sunday.”
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL
New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye (10) passes against the New York Jets during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin)
New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye celebrates after a win over the New York Jets in an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye talks during a news conference after his team defeated the New York Jets in an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin)
New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye warms up before an NFL football game against the New York Jets, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Drake Maye and the New England Patriots took care of things on their end to become AFC East champions.
And they didn't even need four quarters.
Maye threw a career-high five touchdown passes before getting the rest of the game off in the third quarter, New England scored a TD on its first six drives and the Patriots finished the regular season undefeated on the road by dominating the New York Jets 42-10 on Sunday.
“It comes down to unfinished business,” Maye said. “You want to go 8-0 on the road. That would be something we thought would be pretty cool. In this league, it’s hard to win on the road and we accomplished that today.”
A few hours later, the Patriots (13-3) won the AFC East title for the first time since 2019 when Buffalo, which took the last five division crowns, lost 13-12 to Philadelphia.
“Winning the division, we’ve got to win out to win the division,” Maye said. “That was our mindset. If that means the No. 1 seed is at play, that’s what we’re trying to do.”
Maye was 19 of 21 for 256 yards and a 157.0 quarterback rating with TD tosses to Rhamondre Stevenson — who also had a touchdown run — Austin Hooper, Stefon Diggs, Hunter Henry and Efton Chism III before being lifted by coach Mike Vrabel for Joshua Dobbs with 5:31 left in the third quarter.
Maye joined Tom Brady (11 times) and Drew Bledsoe (twice) as the only New England quarterbacks to reach 4,000 yards passing in a season.
“They don’t give me a vote,” Vrabel said of the league MVP buzz around Maye, “but there is nobody else we want as our quarterback.”
Dobbs' first drive ended the Patriots' touchdown run, with New England settling for a field goal on its seventh possession — but Andy Borregales clanked the 41-yard attempt off the right upright.
It didn't matter much by then, though, as the Patriots cruised to their eighth 13-win season in team history.
In a road game that looked and sounded more like a Patriots home game with all the red, white and blue-clad fans who made the trek down to MetLife Stadium, New England finished with no regular-season road losses for the third time in franchise history. Only San Francisco (1984, 1989 and 1990) has also gone undefeated on the road in three seasons since 1970.
“Coming in here and going 8-0 on the road, that’s a big thing for us as a young team,” cornerback Christian Gonzalez said.
Meanwhile, it was another embarrassing showing in the home finale for the lowly Jets (3-13), who have lost four in a row and have two straight seasons with multiple losing streaks of at least four games. New York became the fifth team in NFL history to lose four straight by 23 or more points in one season, and the first since the 1972 Patriots.
“Highly, highly disappointed in the way that we came out,” coach Aaron Glenn said. “Today was probably the one time I feel like our effort wasn’t as good as I want it to be.”
Undrafted rookie quarterback Brady Cook made his third consecutive start and went 19 of 33 for 152 yards and an interception.
Breece Hall had 111 yards rushing, including a 59-yard TD run early in the fourth quarter, to give him his first 1,000-yard season.
Maye and the Patriots sliced through the Jets' porous defense on their opening drive, capping it with a 2-yard TD catch by Hooper.
After a three-and-out by the Jets, New England again got into the end zone when Stevenson ran it in after a questionable pass interference call on Brandon Stephens in the end zone put the ball on the 1.
The Patriots took advantage of an interception by Jaylinn Hawkins and scored on their third straight possession, this time on Maye's 22-yard TD pass to Stevenson to make it 21-0.
New England made it 4 for 4 on TD drives on their next possession with Maye hitting Diggs on a screen on fourth down for a 3-yard touchdown.
After a roughing-the-passer call on third down kept the Patriots' next drive alive, Maye found a wide-open Henry for a 13-yard score.
New England stayed perfect on TD drives on the first possession of the second half with Maye finding a diving Chism for a 10-yard score that made it 42-3.
The Jets tried to find a spark with two fake punts on the same drive to open the second half.
On fourth-and-2 from the Jets 43, punter Austin McNamara took the snap and tossed a 3-yard pass to Malachi Moore for a first down.
Four plays later on fourth-and-6 from the 50, McNamara again lined up to punt but Isaiah Davis took the direct snap and was immediately dropped for a 3-yard loss and a turnover on downs.
Patriots: FB Jack Westover injured an ankle in the fourth quarter.
Jets: Hall left in the fourth quarter with a knee injury, but said he was OK after the game. ... CB Qwan'tez Stiggers injured a knee in the second half. ... Davis was evaluated for a concussion in the fourth quarter. ... LG John Simpson hurt a knee in the fourth quarter.
Patriots: Host Miami next weekend.
Jets: Finish the season on the road in Buffalo next weekend.
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL
New York Jets quarterback Brady Cook (4) dives for a fumble against the New England Patriots during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin)
New England Patriots running back Rhamondre Stevenson (38) celebrates a touchdown against the New York Jets with teammate Kyle Williams (18) during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin)
New England Patriots tight end Hunter Henry scores a touchdown against the New York Jets during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin)
New England Patriots wide receiver Stefon Diggs (8) celebrates after a touchdown against the New York Jets with teammate Demario Douglas (3) during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin)
New England Patriots tight end Hunter Henry, left, celebrates after a touchdown against the New York Jets with teammate Drake Maye (10) during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin)
