Before I go any further, let's just lay this out right now; Drake Maye has been outstanding this year and better than about 31 other quarterbacks in the 2025 season. The Denver Broncos will have their hands full in this game no matter how you slice it, and it might be more likely that the Patriots find a way to win.
However, over Drake Maye's first two playoff games, there have been some forgettable moments. It's clear that Maye's ceiling in this league is very, very high, but the inexperience has shown up a bit. This doesn't mean that the Pats can't win or anything, but the Broncos defensive front should be able to take advantage of this matchup.
In fact, Drake Maye has definitely had a good bit of negative plays thus far, and the Denver Broncos being able to take advantage of those negative plays could be the deciding factor in a potential victory and trip to Super Bowl LX.
Drake Maye has not taken care of the football all that well in the Patriots first two playoff games
Drake Maye is going to make some big-time throws in this game, but the objective here should be to make Maye as uncomfortable as possible. This was kind of what Denver tried to do with Josh Allen - Allen was going to make some plays, but Denver was able to make him uncomfortable enough.
Anyway, here is what Maye has done in his two career playoff games thus far:
33/56 (58.9%)
447 yards
4 touchdowns
2 interceptions
93.4 rating
10 sacks
6 fumbles
3 lost fumbles
Maye has definitely held his own, but you can kind of see where the Broncos can get after him. Maye's already fumbled the ball six times, losing three of them. Ten sacks in two games is simply not sustainable, and he's thrown two interceptions to top it all off.
This, right here, is how the Denver Broncos win. The team will simply need some combination of sacks, fumbles, and interceptions to win this one. We saw what happened in the Divisional Round when you force turnovers, as the Buffalo Bills offense was otherwise very efficient outside of those costly TOs.
Pressuring Drake Maye and taking advantage of some poor offensive line play on the left side of their OL is a good place to start. Muddying the pocket will likely force Maye to take a sack or make an errant throw.