NFL Playoffs Thread

The NFL is king. Feel free to pay your respects.
For what it's worth I was originally on Maye, then I saw the tape and went with JD. I won't lie, right now with the injury concern if I had my choice I'd chose Drake Maye to be my quarterback. He was really good in the regular season, alas against a very easy schedule. And he is playing in the Super Bowl.

With all that said I totally understand the pushback against the "Drake Maye led the Pats to the Super Bowl" narrative which is all over the place now. He was not the reason they are playing on Sunday, he has played poorly throughout the playoffs so that argument to me has merit. He hasn't proven he can win big games against good teams without a lot of help. But it's also his 2nd season.
 
Ashburn Dave said:
We need JD to have a great year next year otherwise most of us are going to go insane with the shoulda taken Maye talk.

I'll bet I wanted Maye more than anyone else here, but I've moved on regardless of NE being in the SB. JD is my guy now and I can deal with that.
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Yeah I preferred Maye during the leadup to the draft as well. I liked JD, but had concerns about his durability and whether his system (and being surrounded by elite talent) would translate into the NFL. The former concern is still valid and up in the air, and he pretty much nullified concerns about the latter, which is great.

JD's rookie season was fantastic and pleasantly surprised me (not that I expected him to be terrible, just didn't think he'd be that good right out of the gate), but I also always maintained that Maye would end up being a top NFL QB. However, he also surprised me in just how fast his ascension was - I figured it would take him 2 seasons before getting to that level, but he did an insane turnaround after one season.

One interesting thing that seemed to have carried over from his college play (and that I really liked about him before the draft) is his tight window throw numbers and completion percentage. He was #1 in the NFL in 2025 in tight window throw percentage at 72% on 492 attempts.

And yeah, I get the comments about him playing worse in the playoffs (though he hasn't been dreadful outside of the Denver game). I'm curious to see if or how that improves over time, because playing big in big games and situations is what JD has a leg up on most QBs on.
 
In college Maye performed well vs against cupcakes in his early season opponents and poorly at the end of seasons against (mighty 😉) ACC teams. Much like this season, though to be fair there are no true cupcakes in the NFL.

I think he will do well in the future because he is surrounded by talent and top-notch coaching, more than he just needed time to showcase his talents. He does look good in a uniform though.
 
Chris said:
In college Maye performed well vs cupcakes against his seasons early opponents and poorly at the end of seasons against (mighty 😉) ACC teams. Much like this season, though to be fair there are no true cupcakes in the NFL.

I think he will do well in the future because he is surrounded by talent and top-notch coaching, more than he just needed time to showcase his talents. He does look good in a uniform though.
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Maye's supporting cast certainly improved, but it's hardly anything special. The area they upgraded the best was their OL, which went from dead last in the NFL in 2024 (per PFF and others) to about middle of the pack or a bit better in 2025. Not a great line, but not dreadful. He also had one of the worst skill position casts in the NFL last season. They upgraded a bit by adding Diggs, who has lost a step or two but is still good, but beyond that it's mostly nobodies. That receiving corps isn't as bad as last season, but they're likely in the bottom 3rd in the NFL, maybe bottom half on a good day.

As far as schedule in college, Maye and JD may be pretty close to a wash. Why? Because Maye played easier teams, but he had a dreadful supporting cast after losing a bunch of people after the 2022 season. JD played better teams, but he also had a great OL and two dominant wide receivers who are currently NFL stars.
 
mistertim said:
Yeah I preferred Maye during the leadup to the draft as well. I liked JD, but had concerns about his durability and whether his system (and being surrounded by elite talent) would translate into the NFL. The former concern is still valid and up in the air, and he pretty much nullified concerns about the latter, which is great.

JD's rookie season was fantastic and pleasantly surprised me (not that I expected him to be terrible, just didn't think he'd be that good right out of the gate), but I also always maintained that Maye would end up being a top NFL QB. However, he also surprised me in just how fast his ascension was - I figured it would take him 2 seasons before getting to that level, but he did an insane turnaround after one season.

One interesting thing that seemed to have carried over from his college play (and that I really liked about him before the draft) is his tight window throw numbers and completion percentage. He was #1 in the NFL in 2025 in tight window throw percentage at 72% on 492 attempts.

And yeah, I get the comments about him playing worse in the playoffs (though he hasn't been dreadful outside of the Denver game). I'm curious to see if or how that improves over time, because playing big in big games and situations is what JD has a leg up
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I felt JD was the better QB over Maye but I didn't want to deal with JD's frailty. There were too many 'big hits' videos showing JD being thrown around like a rag doll that I wanted no part of.

As I've gotten older, I've grown to appreciate Ben Roethlisberger big body more and more. You can't win the race if you can't finish the race.

We need to protect JD more than what KK was doing and hope that he can hold up for his career.
 
It's amazing what competent coaching can do for QB development and success. Both Darnold and Maye are prime examples. JD5 came in on fire, and let's hope Blough will get him back on a sustained positive trajectory. Something seemed off with JD5 before he even got injured, and I'm not convinced it was just a chemistry issue with backup receivers.
 
The game isn’t great either. Darnold hasn’t looked good and a few of the passes he has completed, they looked like they could have been picks. Maye looks like the moment is too big for him right now.

Still 33 minutes to play in the game, but a very slow start for everyone on offense for both teams outside of Ken Walker.
 
The Guy commercial would have been better if I didn’t loath Guy.

The game is so meh.

Neither QB is able to handle the pressure.

The best unit is by far the Seattle defense.

And that one guy who pushed the LG back into Mayr’s lap and sacked both of them should get the MVP just for that play. I don’t see who it was.
 
Maye looked extremely tight before the game. He is holding onto the ball and taking unnecessary sacks which is killing any chances for the Patriots. If the Pats defense wasn’t playing well this would get ugly quick. And it might in the 2nd half. Only chance Pats have is to force some turnovers.
 
Kel Varnsen said:
The game isn’t great either. Darnold hasn’t looked good and a few of the passes he has completed, they looked like they could have been picks. Maye looks like the moment is too big for him right now.

Still 33 minutes to play in the game, but a very slow start for everyone on offense for both teams outside of Ken Walker.
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Remember when last year there was this whole thing about the way Walker stood behind center and they forced him to put his hands on his knees and it totally screwed him up? And this year they just said “stand how you want to stand” and he’s much much better?
 
SkinsFTW said:
Worst Super Bowl Commercials EVER..
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I've been muting the commercials.
They dont even try to make them funny anymore its just more of the same from the regular season and even more of them.
I hit mute and go online until the commercials are over.
 
Boone said:
Maye looked extremely tight before the game. He is holding onto the ball and taking unnecessary sacks which is killing any chances for the Patriots. If the Pats defense wasn’t playing well this would get ugly quick. And it might in the 2nd half. Only chance Pats have is to force some turnovers.
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They need Darnold to turn into Jets Darnold
 
So why didn’t we pick Christian Gonzales over Forbes?
 
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I think the SB passing record is not in jeopardy
 
It's weird how the team that played the weakest schedule in NFL history isn't scoring against a Super Bowl team.

Oh well, at least the Patriots have an MVP runner up leading the team. I'm sure he will will them to victory. Wish we had a QB who could do that.
 
Boone said:
Maye looked extremely tight before the game. He is holding onto the ball and taking unnecessary sacks which is killing any chances for the Patriots. If the Pats defense wasn’t playing well this would get ugly quick. And it might in the 2nd half. Only chance Pats have is to force some turnovers.
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I thought the same thing during his pregame sideline interview. I said to my wife that he’s mean mugging Melissa Stark during his interview. He just didn’t look relaxed out there in the first half.
 
Based on the first half, Drake Maye is no Jayden Daniels.
 
Scrub QB Super Bowl. We have to get one of these once a decade or so. Seems like we haven't had one since Dilfer vs Collins tho.
 
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