Maye ‘didn’t throw very well,’ pins win on defense

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye wasn’t thrilled with his performance in Sunday’s 16-3 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers in the wild-card round of the AFC playoffs.

«Wasn’t pretty, that’s for sure,» he said. «But this defense was so fun to watch. They won the game for us. I didn’t throw very well. Need to be better.»

Maye finished 17-of-29 for 268 yards with one touchdown, one interception and one lost fumble. He had another fumble that was recovered by left guard Jared Wilson. His first half, when he was 6-of-15, marked his worst completion percentage (40%) in a half this season.

«Just got to be better, whether it’s accuracy or ball placement or little things, making decisions faster,» he said. «Held on to the ball a little bit. It wasn’t my best, but that’s why you have teammates. Those guys picked me up.»

Pittsburgh Steelers and fifth-seeded Houston Texans on Sunday (either 3 p.m. ET or 6:30 p.m.).

Maye, who added that he never lost confidence against the stingy Chargers defense, delivered arguably his best throw in the clutch when he found tight end Hunter Henry on a 28-yard touchdown just over the outstretched arm of safety Derwin James Jr. The score gave the Patriots a 16-3 lead with 9:52 to play, finally creating some breathing room in what had been a game of jockeying for field position and both teams making stops in the red zone.

Patriots coach Mike Vrabel called it an «elite» throw. In the second half, Maye was more efficient, going 11-of-14 for 173 yards and the touchdown.

Before that, he was most effective as a rusher, which included a 37-yard jaunt late in the second quarter to set up an Andy Borregales field goal to give New England a 6-3 lead at halftime. Maye finished as the Patriots’ leading rusher, totaling 66 yards on 10 carries, which marked the first time in a New England playoff game that a quarterback was the team’s top rusher.

«I’ve got to give credit to Drake Maye. Every time we got him, he got back up. Every time he needed a play, he used his legs,» said James, the Chargers’ safety.

Meanwhile, the Chargers finished with 207 yards of total offense, which Maye cited as the difference. The Patriots’ six sacks tied their second most in a playoff game in franchise history. It was just the fifth time in Patriots history that they won a playoff game scoring fewer than 20 points.

That helped Maye join Tom Brady as the only Patriots quarterbacks in the past 35 years to win their first career playoff start.