Quarterback A completed 64.3 per cent of his pass attempts for 266.3 passing yards and 1.94 touchdown passes per game, with a 97.2 career passer rating and 3.4 rushing yards per game.
Quarterback B completed 68.7 per cent of his pass attempts for 225.9 passing yards and 1.58 touchdown passes per game, with a 101.3 career passer rating and 29.3 rushing yards per game.
One of those quarterbacks is Drake Maye.
The other is seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady.
The rushing yards should give away the reveal, and the Super Bowl rings were omitted for obvious reasons, but it’s a blind comparison that is worth revisiting with the New England Patriots set to visit the Chicago Bears on Thursday Night Football.
Maye has put up better numbers through his first 36 career games than a long list of Hall of Fame QBs, and while potential and capacity are two different things, there’s every reason to believe he is special.
Sure, Maye turned the ball over at a higher rate than the Patriots could afford long term in Weeks 1 through 3.
Still, Maye’s 0.69 career interceptions per game mark isn’t much higher than Brady’s (0.63), and it’s lower than Josh Allen (0.73) or Peyton Manning’s (0.94) career rates.
Brady’s 335 career games is a much bigger sample size than Maye’s 36 career games, but it’s also important to acknowledge Brady’s numbers weren’t this good this early on in his NFL career.
Maye has a better completion rate, passer rating, yards per attempts, and far better rushing stats than Brady registered over the course of his Hall of Fame career.
The comparison is notable based on the negative sentiment surrounding Maye early on this season.
Maye shattered all expectations in his second NFL season, leading New England to a Super Bowl as a 23-year-old.
While early turnovers weighed heavily on the small sample size that makes up his NFL career stats, Maye has flipped a switch and produced some of the best numbers of any quarterback in the league the past three weeks.
Maye leads the NFL in passer rating (119.3), TD passes per game (3.33), adjusted net yards per attempt (9.74), and doesn’t have a single turnover-worthy throw in his last three starts, per Fantasy Points Data 2.0.
He also leads the NFL with four deep touchdown passes on an NFL-best eight deep completions over that span.
The rumours of Maye’s sudden demise have been greatly exaggerated by talking heads that don’t really care to pay attention to football beyond trending hot takes.
Now the focus shifts to Thursday Night Football and a showdown between two of the top three picks in the 2024 NFL Draft in Maye and Caleb Williams.
Williams was the first overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Maye was selected third overall by New England.
Which third-year QB gives his team the bigger edge on Thursday Night Football?
Let’s set the stage and lock in a FanDuel Best Bet for Thursday Night Football in this Morning Coffee column for Thursday October 22nd, 2026.
Will Drake Maye Deliver Another MVP Performance On Thursday Night Football?
Maye led the NFL in QBR (77.2), EPA/play (0.27), passer rating (113.5), and CPOE (+9.1%) in his second season.
Still, the Patriots identified Maye’s pass-catching options and protection as two key roster weaknesses that needed to be upgraded in the offseason.
New England signed Romeo Doubs to a massive free agent contract, traded first and fifth round picks for A.J. Brown, then nabbed tight end Eli Raridon in the third round of the 2026 NFL Draft.
The Patriots also drafted tackle Caleb Lomu in the first round signed veteran guard Alijah Vera-Tucker in free agency.
The combination of a tough early season schedule and some key injuries have extended the transition window for a New England offence that is still a work in progress.
Despite the injuries, Maye has turned things around with some remarkable numbers in wins over the Buffalo Bills, Las Vegas Raiders, and the New York Jets.
Maye has thrown for 767 yards, 10 touchdowns, and zero interceptions over his last 10 quarters.
In Weeks 4 and 5, Mack Hollins, Efton Chism, Kyle Williams, and Hunter Henry accounted for 67 per cent of team’s receiving yards in wins over the Bills and Raiders.
In Week 6, DeMario Douglas exploded for 86 yards on seven receptions and accounted for 36.6 per cent of the team’s receiving yards in a win over the Jets.
Brown led the Patriots with nine targets but finished with only three catches for 27 yards in his return.
He led the entire NFL with four drops in Week 6.
Brown has been held to exactly three catches in each of his past three NFL starts dating back to last season.
The good news is that he is healthy and should be in line for another massive target share against an opponent he has dominated throughout his NFL career.
The bad news is that the Bears have been the NFL’s best team at limiting the opportunities that opposing offences get with the football so far this season.
Chicago has allowed 6.0 yards per play – the second-worst mark in the league this season.
However, the Bears lead the NFL in average time of possession (36:01), which has kept its defence from being exposed in its four victories.
Chicago has averaged 73.2 offensive snaps per game – the highest mark in the NFL since the 2012 Patriots.
Whether or not Williams and the Bears offence can move the football methodically and control the clock tonight will have a massive impact on the outcome of this game.
Fortunately for Chicago, the New England defence has been hit hard by injuries on a short week.
The Patriots have already ruled out cornerbacks Carlton Davis III, Karon Prunty, and Channing Canada tonight.
Safeties Kevin Byard III and Craig Woodson are both banged up and listed as questionable to play.
Linebackers Dre’Mont Jones and Christian Elliss are both on the injury report, but Jones is expected to play.
Facing an offence that can beat you in several ways, on the road, on a short week will be that much more difficult for New England with all those injuries.
It will also put more pressure on the shoulders of the Patriots quarterback when he gets his opportunities.
For my FanDuel Best Bet, I’ll lock in D’Andre Swift over 19.5 receiving yards.
Kyle Monangai is out again tonight with a pair of injuries, which means D’Andre Swift gets the nod as the featured back once again on Thursday Night Football.
Over the first four weeks, Swift and Monangai combined to average 158.8 rushing yards per game.
With Monangai sidelined the past two weeks, Swift and Roschon Johnson have combined to average 72.0 rushing yards per game.
Swift has dealt with nagging injuries of his own and while he’s averaged just 43.5 rushing yards in his last two games, his involvement in the pass game has ticked up.
Swift averaged 2.5 receptions for 21.0 yards on 2.8 targets over the first four weeks, accounting for 8.3 per cent of his team’s overall target share.
He’s up to 4.0 receptions for 28.0 yards on 5.0 targets per game over the past two weeks, accounting for a 13.2 per cent target share.
The Patriots defence has allowed an average of 36.0 running back receiving yards this season – the eighth-highest rate in the NFL.
That number climbed to 53.5 running back receiving yards per allowed per game in wins over the Raiders and Jets, with Ashton Jeanty and Braelon Allen clearing 26+ receiving yards in back-to-back weeks.
I’ll bank on Swift to be involved in the passing game again with over 19.5 receiving yards as the FanDuel Best Bet.
For the Patriots, Brown finished with a 28.1 per cent target share in his return in Week 6 and while he had four drops, he should be in line for a high target rate again.
Chism, Williams, and even Raridon have all flashed their potential in recent weeks, but with Brown, Douglas, and Henry accounting for a combined 68.7 per cent target share in Week 6, the opportunities could be limited.
Douglas has been the most consistent option during Maye’s turnaround, averaging 4.3 receptions and 55.3 receiving yards on 5.3 targets per game, including 7-86 in Sunday’s win over the Jets.
The Bears have allowed the third-most receiving yards to opposing wide receivers (222.0 per game) and the 10th-most receiving yards to opposing tight ends (65.0 per game), so Maye should be in position to make the most of his opportunities tonight.
Brown has led New England with 12 first-read throws in his two games this season.
Douglas isn’t far behind him with 10 in those two games and he’s been the far more productive of the two.
Maybe tonight’s the night we get the A.J. Brown breakout game for the Patriots.
However, Douglas has averaged 75.5 receiving yards in his last two games and you can still find his receiving yards prop for tonight as low as 35.5.
FanDuel has Brown’s receiving yards line at 69.5.
Both can happen, but Douglas has been key to Maye’s turnaround in recent weeks and I’m willing to bet that continues with a favourable matchup in Chicago.
I’ll add DeMario Douglas over 35.5 receiving yards as a best bet for Thursday Night Football.
Hopefully, we can stay hot with the primetime best bets.
Make sure to give me a follow @Domenic_Padula on X for the longshot Same Game Parlay for TNF.
Have a great day, everyone!