Robert Griffin III Gets Thrashed for Defending Drake Maye Over “Easy Schedule Narrative” Following AFC Championship Win

Drake Maye and the Patriots defeated the Broncos in the AFC title game to qualify for the Super Bowl in San Francisco in February.

Robert Griffin III Gets Thrashed for Defending Drake Maye Over “Easy Schedule Narrative” Following AFC Championship Win

Drake Maye and Robert Griffin III inside the circle (Image via IMAGO)

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It was bound to happen. After the New England Patriots defeated the Denver Broncos in the AFC Championship game, fans took to social media calling for an asterisk to be placed next to their victory. Why? The same old narrative: the Patriots not only played the easiest schedule in the regular season but also avoided facing the bigwigs, Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, and Lamar Jackson.

Let’s address the elephant in the room first. None of them, except Allen, qualified for the playoffs, Lamar came the closest. That being said, New England rode the coattails of their opponents nearly every game and beat them handsomely.

When a team pulls off an eight-game winning streak on the road, calling it luck misses the point, it only happens when there’s a strong foundation behind it. To top it off, they brought in Mike Vrabel, who had a similar impact with the Titans before the owner in Tennessee made a power move.

Vrabel and OC Josh McDaniels programmed Drake Maye to play in a certain way that minimized his weaker areas. Unlike in the divisional game, when the Texans pressured him into four fumbles, a lost possession, and a turnover, Maye managed the situation much better in Denver, especially in freezing conditions.

Vrabel’s methods worked. Even though Maye threw for fewer than 100 yards (86) on 21 passing attempts, he still found ways to edge the Broncos’ top 3 defense. He ran the ball more. The Broncos brought him down 5 times, but they also allowed the second-year signal caller to gain 65 yards and one touchdown on 10 carries.

It was a low-scoring game, ending 10-7 at the final whistle, the lowest since the Patriots defeated the Rams 13-3 in Super Bowl LII. However, a win is still a win. The Patriots scored three more points than their opponents and are back in the Super Bowl once again.

Fans rip Robert Griffin III for defending Drake Maye and Patriots

Occasionally, fans can get a bit carried away with their opinions about football. It happens when either their favorite teams take the L or a team they hate wins something substantial. When that happens, all hell breaks loose.

Robert Griffin III Gets Thrashed for Defending Drake Maye Over "Easy Schedule Narrative" Following AFC Championship Win
Drake Maye (Image via IMAGO)

Robert Griffin III, Heisman winner/former NFL quarterback/football critic, found himself in the trenches, bombarded with comments just for praising Maye and the Patriots’ Super Bowl run. RG3 masterfully pointed out that New England took down three of the best defenses in football to reach the promised land.

But that didn’t sit well with fans. They flooded the comment section with row after row of the same argument: the Patriots had the easiest schedule in the NFL.

Their assessment of Maye isn’t false. He struggled to handle the blitz, scrambling around and turning the ball over multiple times during the three playoff games. On top of that, his accuracy dropped to a shockingly below 55%, despite leading the league with a 72% completion rate in the regular season.

Then there’s also the whole Bo Nix scenario. Many fans believe Nix could have won the game if he had played instead of Jarrett Stidham, who threw his first pass in over two years on Sunday. Nix was in the building, watched the game from the VIP stands as Stidham tried to play hero ball, and conceded a late interception.

Two things can be true at the same time. Sure, the Patriots had an easier stretch of games compared to the other three, the Broncos, Rams, and Seahawks, but let’s not take away the fact that they still won those games. New England beat Buffalo, their biggest divisional adversary, in the regular season; otherwise, they wouldn’t have finished as the second seed or played home games in the playoffs.

The criticism is fair but not justified. He passed for 4,394 yards, racked up 35 total touchdowns, led the league with a 113.5 passer rating, and threw only 8 interceptions over 17 games. Maye is the first quarterback since Tom Brady to throw for over 4000 yards, the first Patriots QB since Brady to play and win the conference title, and the first since Brady to lead the Patriots to a Super Bowl.

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