News Article
Published
Oct 22, 2026 at 02:01 PM EDT
Caleb Williams usually gets the credit for improvising, but Kirk Herbstreit believes Drake Maye’s athletic gifts deserve more attention than they get.
The analyst made that case ahead of the New England Patriots’ Week 7 visit to Soldier Field to face Williams and the Chicago Bears, pointing to Maye’s ability to extend plays.
Herbstreit said, “the one thing that I think sometimes gets overlooked with him is how he can create.” After nodding to the attention Williams gets for doing the same, he added that Maye “is a hell of an athlete.”
He tied it to Maye’s upbringing as the youngest brother, chasing older siblings in one sport after another. Herbstreit described him as “the youngest guys who’s trying to keep up.”
Bears coach Ben Johnson has noticed. He called Maye “a dangerous combination of a guy that’s an elite deep-ball thrower along with he can crush you with his legs.”
Williams, who has crossed paths with Maye at camps since childhood, kept his plan simple. “We’ve got to be able to bottle him up,” he said.
Maye’s recent numbers back up the concern. Across the Patriots’ three-game win streak, the 24-year-old has connected on 64.1% of his throws, with 878 yards, 10 touchdowns and one interception.
One more outing with three or more touchdown passes would make him the first Patriots passer to do it in four straight games since Tom Brady’s 2014 season.
Chicago used the first selection of the 2024 draft on Williams, and the Patriots landed Maye just two slots later.
Chicago’s linebackers also got a nod from Herbstreit. Beyond leader T.J. Edwards, the Bears rotate Devin Bush, Noah Sewell and D'Marco Jackson, and with Kyler Gordon back at nickel, Herbstreit said they “feel pretty good about that second level of this defense.”
Both teams enter at 4-2, with Chicago favored by 3. New England won the first meeting 19-3 in Chicago on Nov. 10, 2024, and the rematch kicks off at 8:15 p.m. ET on Oct. 22 on Prime Video.