Drake Maye would have been comfortable making a Hail Mary attempt vs. Colts
FOXBORO -- New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye has shown off his big arm throughout his rookie season. So many fans and NFL followers were surprised Sunday when Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo opted for a 68-yard field goal attempt instead of letting Maye air it out at the end of the team's 25-24 loss to the Indianapolis Colts.
The Patriots were down by one point with only one second on the clock Sunday afternoon, and Mayo believes that long field goal attempt -- which no kicker in NFL history as connected on -- by Joey Slye gave his team a better shot at winning than a Hail Mary.
Slye's attempt came up a few yards short of making history and lifting the Patriots to a win, but Maye backed his coach's decision at the podium Sunday afternoon. He continued to do so on Monday, but the rookie also sounded like he wanted a shot at the end zone to close out the game.
Drake Maye would have been comfortable with Hail Mary attempt
Had the Patriots put Maye and company back out on the field for that final play, the quarterback would have had to throw it a little more than 50 yards to reach the end zone. During his Monday afternoon interview on WEEI's Afternoon Show, Maye expressed confidence that he would have been able to make that deep throw.
"Yeah, I think any time you're on the 50, you know, midfield -- if you can't make that throw in the NFL, I'm not sure you should be in the NFL," said Maye. "We had a chance at a Hail Mary, but Joey felt like, and special teams coordinator [Jeremy Springer] and coach Mayo -- I was ready for whatever was the team's decision.
"But yeah, if you can't make a Hail Mary from 50 yards, I think maybe you're playing the wrong sport," Maye repeated.
Maye's longest completion of the season was a 40-yard touchdown pass to Kayshon Boutte in Week 6, which traveled roughly 50 yards in the air. No one is really questioning whether or not Maye has the arm to make a Hail Mary throw, but there is some serious doubt about his receivers being able to come down with the pass. That likely played into Mayo's decision on Sunday.
Slye also has a knack for making long kicks, as we saw back in Week 4 when he connected on a 63-yard field goal in San Francisco.
While he would have liked a shot at orchestrating a miraculous win, Maye was happy that Slye's kick nearly connected.
"It looked like it had a chance. It's always tough when you're watching a game-winning field goal or a game-losing field goal on either side of it. Thought it had a chance. Ended up coming just short," he said.
"I think it was pretty impressive in that cold weather probably affected it a little bit. I'm not sure what the wind was; it was pretty windy at times," he added. "I think it ended up helping the point of at least making it close and not being 10 yards short. That would've been more of a bad look."
Maye had one of the best games of his young career on Sunday, passing for 238 yards and a touchdown while completing a career-best 80 percent of his passes (24-of-30). He and the Patriots are now on their bye week, with New England's next game a Week 15 tilt against the Cardinals in Arizona on Dec. 15.
