Drake Maye's game was No. 1 of 13.7K this century. Your turn, Matthew Stafford
Maye's historic day wasn't quite enough to overtake Stafford as the MVP favorite entering the Rams' game at Atlanta on Monday.
(Editor’s note: This is excerpted from Mike Sando’s Pick Six of Dec. 29, 2025.)
2. First out of 13,687 seems pretty good for Drake Maye. Can Matthew Stafford tighten his grip on the MVP race Monday night?
Drake Maye’s statistical line in the Patriots’ 42-10 victory over the Jets ranks first on a list of 13,687 QB performances since 2000, counting playoffs.
Yes, it was against a horrendous Jets defense, but lots of quarterbacks have faced lots of horrendous defenses without reaching this level of efficiency.
With more touchdown passes (five) than incompletions (two), Maye averaged 1.28 EPA per pass play, the highest figure in TruMedia’s data set, which dates to 2000 and includes those 13,687 performances when QBs participated in at least 20 pass plays.
The outsized production reflected touchdown passes on fourth-and-goal from the 3 and on third-and-7, an 11-yard scramble on fourth-and-3, and only three plays producing negative EPA: an incompletion on second-and-6, another on first-and-10 and a 1-yard sack on second-and-7.
Your turn, Matthew Stafford.
Even with Maye's huge game Sunday, and even with some of Maye's superior statistics, Stafford remains the betting favorite to win MVP heading into his Rams' Monday night game against the Atlanta Falcons.
The Rams lost any shot at the NFC's No. 1 seed when Seattle and San Francisco won Sunday. But if they beat the Falcons, they have a shot at the fifth seed instead of the sixth, which is preferable because the No. 5 seed faces the NFC South champion (Tampa Bay or Carolina), which will be 9-8 or worse.
Beating the Falcons would also improve the 2026 first-round pick Atlanta traded to the Rams during the most recent draft. That pick is currently No. 11, with potential to reach No. 8.