Drake Maye ran for a touchdown in the first half and delivered a first down to end the AFC Championship Game on Sunday in Denver, when he played co-star to New England’s knockout defense.
“Dominate up front,” Patriots defensive tackle Milton Williams said of the game plan. “And we did that.”
Maye becomes the second-youngest quarterback to start the Super Bowl at age 23, trailing only Dan Marino. The Patriots are in the Super Bowl for the 12th time.
Maye led a critical field-goal drive in the third quarter that included a fourth-down conversion and chewed up more than nine minutes of clock. Those three points and the 10-7 lead held up the rest of the way.
“That boy is a dog,” Williams said.
Coach Mike Vrabel’s children are all older than Maye, a first-round pick he inherited when the Patriots brought him back at the top of the organization one year ago. On Sunday afternoon, his final instructions to Maye were that he had to be the “conductor” and control the environment to “make as many positive plays” as he could find.
New England became the first team to beat three teams in the playoffs with defenses that finished the regular season in the top five in total defense. Maye was sacked 12 times during the three-game run through the AFC — defeating the Chargers (No. 5), Texans (No. 1), and Broncos (No. 2) — but he kept finding ways to make plays.
He had the Patriots’ two longest running plays — highlighted by a 28-yarder — and ran 10 times for 65 yards. Of his 10 completions, only one went more than 11 yards in the air, a 31-yard connection with Mack Hollins on a flea-flicker, totaling 86 passing yards.
Stefon Diggs, playing in his third conference championship game, is set for his first Super Bowl and gave all the credit to Maye.
“That’s a soldier, man. That’s a MVP, man,” Diggs said on the field after the game. “That’s a man that stands 10 toes, battles through adversity.”
Maye ran for a 6-yard touchdown to tie the game at 7 in the first half. That came after the Broncos, who scored first on Jarrett Stidham’s 6-yard pass to Courtland Sutton, bypassed a 32-yard field goal attempt and a potential 10-0 lead to go for a fourth-down pass, which was incomplete at the 9:22 mark in the second quarter. Wil Lutz missed a 54-yard field goal in the second quarter.
On the crucial third down after the two-minute warning, Maye took the snap under center. A naked bootleg to his left sent Maye into a footrace to the sticks with Broncos linebacker Jonah Elliss. Maye needed six yards to reach the marker at the Broncos’ 49. He got that and one more, securing win No. 17 this season for New England.
Vrabel won three Super Bowls as a player with the Patriots and has a chance to become the second person to win the Lombardi Trophy with the same franchise both as a player and as a head coach. Gary Kubiak (Broncos) was a backup quarterback to John Elway during their Super Bowl victory and led Peyton Manning and Denver to a win the last time the game was held in Santa Clara 10 years ago.
Vrabel, a linebacker before his coaching career, has built a rugged defense playing with swagger. Williams said the Patriots were again motivated by praise for the opponent’s defense. In three playoff games, the Patriots have allowed only 26 total points.
With a 7-0 lead, the Broncos opted not to kick a field goal and went for a first down but failed, further fueling New England’s “no respect” narrative.
“We got a lot of guys that’s been counted out. Nobody really believed in us and what we could do,” Williams said. “They’re probably gonna say it’s just how they played (today), we ain’t do nothing, it’s what they did. We got one more game to go out there and take care of business and see if we get some credit then.”
“There’s always regrets,” Broncos coach Sean Payton said of going for it on fourth down. “It’s also a call you make based on the team you’re playing and what you’re watching on the other side of the ball. Yeah, there’s always going to be second thoughts.”
Cornerback Christian Gonzalez intercepted Stidham with 2:11 remaining to help secure the win. The Patriots also jumped on a backyard pass from Stidham earlier.
“Our defense is going to hold it down. If we don’t turn the ball over, we’re going to do our part,” Gonzalez said. “As a corner, you don’t get too many chances. You just want to make the plays when it comes your way. I just saw the ball in the air. I was playing off. Doesn’t happen very often, I’m always in press. At that point it was like I’m playing receiver again. Go up and get it at its highest point and bring it down.”
