Drake Maye's MVP-caliber season propelling Patriots entering playoffs

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Drake Maye was the most accurate starting quarterback in the NFL this season.

He has also been adept at deflecting any praise that has come his way during the Patriots’ run to their first AFC East title since 2019.

But after playing an integral role in steering New England to one of the best one-season turnarounds in league history following its 38-10 win over Miami, the second-year quarterback may soon be tagged with something that’ll be difficult to shrug off: being selected NFL MVP.

“He’s been everything that we’ve asked and he continues to get better. He’s not satisfied,” Patriots coach Mike Vrabel said. “So, I know that our success of where we are right now, today, has a lot to do with Drake Maye.”

Maye finished the regular season with a 72.0 completion percentage, the highest in team history and the sixth-best in NFL history. He bettered the mark of Tom Brady, who had a 68.9 completion percentage in 2007. That was also the last time a Patriots quarterback led the NFL in completion percentage.

The MVP that season? Brady.

While Maye listed his team’s 14 victories and 8-0 road record as accomplishments he takes pride in this season, he also referenced the ability to get multiple players involved in the offense. Though coaching and scheme certainly play a role, it is something that hinges heavily on the play of the quarterback.

“I think that’s one of the toughest things about ways to defend us,” Maye said. “So that’s probably what I’m most proud of.”

Maye has also inspired the teammates around him.

Even before he signed with the Patriots in the offseason, wide receiver Stefon Diggs noticed something from afar.

“I just knew that they had a good young quarterback. You can’t say he had a promising future, but it sure looked like it,” Diggs said. “We played them last year when I was in Houston and I was like, ‘That kid got some stuff in there.’ You never know when they’re super young.”

Now 23, Maye is in the mix to be the youngest league MVP since Lamar Jackson won it at 22 during the 2019 season.

“I’ve told everybody that has said some things in the locker room, ’It’s us. It’s not just me, it’s us in the locker room.’ It’s really a team deal, I think. They say ‘player,’ but I think wins help that,” Maye said. “Obviously, there’s been some great seasons around the league from a lot of players, and it’s an honor. But also at the same time, we’ve got work to do.”

The Patriots showed they can run the football this season. They finished third in the AFC, averaging 128.9 yards per game on the ground. Among AFC playoff teams, that ranks second behind only Buffalo (159.6).

What’s more, the Patriots enter the playoffs with two productive options in running backs Rhamondre Stevenson and rookie TreVeyon Henderson. Stevenson missed three games with a toe injury, but finished with seven rushing and two receiving touchdowns. It's the fourth time in his five seasons with at least five rushing TDs.

Henderson ranked fifth in the AFC, averaging 5.1 yards per carry with nine touchdowns. Four of his TD runs were over 50 yards, underscoring his ability to impact games at any moment.

New England’s defense started strong before being pushed around in a second quarter during which the Dolphins scored 10 points and pulled within 17-10 at halftime in what Vrabel called a “lull.” The good news is the defense had an interception to end the Dolphins’ opening drive of the second half and forced five consecutive punts to end the game.

With a 34-yard catch at the end of the third quarter, Diggs eclipsed 1,000 receiving yards (1,013) for the seventh time in his career. It’s the first 1,000-yard season by a Patriots receiver since 2019, when Julian Edelman had 1,117 yards receiving.

Special teams. Andy Borregales had a 38-yard field goal attempt blocked by Dolphins defensive tackle Zach Sieler late in second quarter. It set up a 52-yard field goal by Miami’s Riley Patterson that helped pull the Dolphins within 14-10.

LB Harold Landry III (knee) missed his second straight game. ... LB Robert Spillane (ankle) has missed the past four games. ... LG Jared Wilson (concussion protocol) missed his second straight game. ... DL Khyiris Tonga also sat as he continues to deal with a foot issue.

3 – Vrabel joined George Seifert (1989 with San Francisco) and Jim Caldwell (2009 with Indianapolis) as the only coaches to win 14 games in their first season with a team. Seifert’s 49ers defeated the Denver Broncos in the Super Bowl that season. Caldwell’s Colts lost in the Super Bowl to New Orleans.

The Patriots host the Los Angeles Chargers in the wild-card round Sunday night. It'll be New England’s first home playoff game since a 20-13 loss to the Vrabel-coached Tennessee Titans in the wild-card round in the 2019 season.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

New England Patriots wide receiver Stefon Diggs warms up before an NFL football game against the Miami Dolphins in Foxborough, Mass., Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

New England Patriots running back Rhamondre Stevenson runs for a touchdown during the second half of an NFL football game against the Miami Dolphins in Foxborough, Mass., Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel, right, greets quarterback Drake Maye during the second half of an NFL football game against the Miami Dolphins in Foxborough, Mass., Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye celebrates after a touchdown scored by running back TreVeyon Henderson during the second half of an NFL football game against the Miami Dolphins in Foxborough, Mass., Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

PARIS (AP) — Brigitte Bardot's funeral will be held Wednesday with a private service in Saint-Tropez and a public homage at the French Riviera resort where she lived for more than half a century after retiring from movie stardom at the height of her fame.

The animal rights activist and far-right supporter died Dec. 28 at age 91 at her home in southern France.

Once one of the world’s most photographed women and a defining screen siren of the 1960s, the ceremony will take place at the Notre-Dame-de-l’Assomption Catholic Church in the presence of guests invited by the family and the Brigitte Bardot Foundation for the protection of animals.

The service is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m., according to the foundation.

Local authorities said the ceremony will be broadcast live on large screens set up at the port and two plazas in the small town, allowing residents and admirers to follow the farewell.

After the church service, Bardot is to be buried “in the strictest privacy” at a cemetery overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, according to the Saint-Tropez town hall.

She had long called Saint-Tropez her refuge from the celebrity that once made her a household name.

A public homage will take place at a nearby site for admirers of the woman whose image once symbolized France’s postwar liberation and sensuality.

“Brigitte Bardot will forever be associated with Saint-Tropez, of which she was the most dazzling ambassador,” the town hall said last week. “Through her presence, personality and aura, she marked the history of our town.”

Bardot settled decades ago in her seaside villa, La Madrague, and retired from filmmaking in 1973 at age 39, during an international career that spanned more than two dozen films.

She later emerged as an animal rights activist, founding and sustaining a foundation devoted to the protection of animals.

While she withdrew from the film industry, she remained a highly visible and often controversial public figure through decades of militant animal rights activism and links with far-right politics.

She will be buried in the so-called marine cemetery, where her parents are also interred.

The cemetery, overlooking the Mediterranean sea, is also the final resting place of several cultural figures, including filmmaker Roger Vadim, Bardot’s first husband, who directed her breakout film “And God Created Woman,” a role that made her a worldwide star.

People walk in. Street leading to Notre-Dame de l'Assomption church before Brigitte Bardot's funeral ceremony, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026 in Saint-Tropez, southern France. (AP Photo/Philippe Magoni)

A police officer signs the condolence book outside Notre-Dame de l'Assomption church before Brigitte Bardot's funeral ceremony, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026 in Saint-Tropez, southern France. (AP Photo/Philippe Magoni)

A woman carries a bouquet of flowers reading" BB, memory of an eternal animals lover" outside Notre-Dame de l'Assomption church before Brigitte Bardot's funeral ceremony, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026 in Saint-Tropez, southern France. (AP Photo/Philippe Magoni)

Flowers lay at actor Brigitte Bardot's home in Saint-Tropez, southern France, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025 after the French 1960s sex symbol who became one of the greatest screen sirens of the 20th century and later a militant animal rights activist and far-right supporter, has died. She was 91. (AP Photo/Philippe Magoni)

A woman lays flowers at actor Brigitte Bardot's home in Saint-Tropez, southern France, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025 after the French 1960s sex symbol who became one of the greatest screen sirens of the 20th century and later a militant animal rights activist and far-right supporter, has died. She was 91. (AP Photo/Philippe Magoni)

FILE - Former French film star and animal right activist Brigitte Bardot acknowledges applause prior to a press conference, Sept. 28, 2006 in Paris. (AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere, File)

FILE - French actress Brigitte Bardot poses with a huge sombrero she brought back from Mexico, as she arrives at Orly Airport in Paris, France, on May 27, 1965. (AP Photo/File)