Drake Maye and the New England Patriots offense dialed up the deep ball and found the end zone on their first drive of Sunday's 25-19 win over the New Orleans Saints in Week 6. It was only the beginning of another big game for the Patriots quarterback.

The Patriots' offense had to respond after the Saints hit the defense for a 53-yard completion on the first play from scrimmage, which set up a 35-yard field goal to give New Orleans an early 3-0 lead. Maye answered with the longest touchdown pass of his young career.

It was the start to another spectacular Sunday for Maye, who finished the win with 261 passing yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions. The second-year quarterback is on quite the run for New England, which has now won three straight and is sitting pretty at 4-2 on the season.

Through six games, Maye is now up to 1,522 yards, 10 touchdowns, and just two interceptions. He's now put up five straight games with a 100-plus passer rating, after he had a passer rating of 140.1 on Sunday.

Maye, Douglas connect on 53-yard touchdown vs. Saints

Maye and the New England offense were facing a third-and-9 at their own 36-yard line, when the quarterback went deep and hit on a 53-yard pass of his own. Maye faked a handoff to Rhamondre Stevenson, and then launched a pass downfield to a wide open DeMario Douglas.

Douglas brought in the pass, made a move at the New Orleans 9-yard line to completely undress a Saints safety, and then waltzed into the end zone to give the Patriots a 7-3 lead.

Douglas has been doing a lot of blocking for the New England offense, but had only five receptions over the last four weeks. Sunday's first-quarter score was his second touchdown of the season, after he brought in a touchdown in Week 1 against the Las Vegas Raiders.

The reception is a new career-long for Douglas, topping his 42-yard reception against the Dallas Cowboys during the 2023 season. 

As for Maye, the 53-yard bomb to Douglas was the longest touchdown of the quarterback's career. His previous career-high was the 40-yard scoring strike he had to Kayshon Boutte last season against the Houston Texans.

Maye and Douglas had an even longer touchdown strike later in the first quarter -- a 61-yarder on a third-and-2 -- but the play was nullified by a controversial offensive pass interference call on Stefon Diggs. Maye hit Kayshon Boutte for a 25-yard touchdown a few plays later.

Another strong Sunday from Drake Maye

Maye was nearly perfect in the first half for the Patriots, as he completed 11 of his 13 passes for 185 yards and three touchdowns. He threw a third first-half touchdown to Boutte with 31 seconds left in the half, a beautiful 29-yard strike that showed off the QB's howitzer again. 

And to cap it all off, Maye took in the two-point conversion himself to give the Patriots a 22-16 lead at the break.

It was a little tougher in the second half when he went 7-for-13 for just 76 yards, but he made plays when the Pats needed them to seal the win.

Early in the fourth quarter with the Patriots facing a third-and-11 from their own 19-yard line, Maye bought some time as the pocket collapsed and then hit Mack Hollings for a 16-yard connection and a fresh set of downs. The Patriots eventually had to punt after getting flagged on three straight plays, but that connection to Hollins was huge given where New England was set up. 

Maye then had another huge downfield strike on another third-and-11 from the Saints 30, this time with 2:40 on the clock and the Patriots clinching to their 25-19 lead. Maye went down the left sideline for Boutte, who made a great contested catch for a 21-yard reception and a fresh set of downs.

The next time Maye took the field, it was in the victory formation as the Patriots let the rest of the clock tick down and left New Orleans with a third straight win.