Drake Maye cites key road win as initial moment that Patriots could be a Super Bowl threat

SAN FRANCISCO -- The New England Patriots are on the doorstep of kicking off Super Bowl LX, where they'll play the Seattle Seahawks for the chance to hoist the Lombardi Trophy. Even with the organization on the precipice of playing for a championship, it's still mind-boggling that they're in this position so early in their rebuild. After all, New England entered the 2025 regular season with 80-1 odds to win the Super Bowl after enduring back-to-back 4-13 seasons. 

While the thought of them reaching the NFL's final plateau may have felt near-impossible at the start of the year, it didn't take long for them to start flexing their Super Bowl potential. In fact, Drake Maye noted on Thursday the team's victory in Week 5 against the Bills in Buffalo as one of the early indicators of their Super Bowl ceiling. 

"I know probably the win on the road at Buffalo was huge for us," Maye said from the podium outside the Patriots team hotel. "I think just finding a way to win that game against a tough opponent on the road, a team that's been historically great in playoffs, had a home game win streak, and being able to win there."

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Buffalo had been riding a 14-game home winning streak coming into that matchup and had just wrapped up the opening month of the regular season with a perfect 4-0 record. Meanwhile, New England was .500 out of the gate at 2-2, but that victory in what was essentially a playoff-like atmosphere in Orchard Park did feel like an inflection point.

It ultimately helped change the balance of power in the AFC East for the rest of the season and it also proved to be one of the origins of their road "Warriors" mantra they've been using throughout this playoff run.

"But really, other than that, I think just the continued success on the road has been huge for us," Maye added. "Continued success on the road and trying to find a way to do it one more time here."

The Patriots come into this Super Bowl after posting a 9-0 record (including playoffs) on the road, a feat that had never been accomplished before in league history. While this Super Bowl will technically be a neutral-site game, they'll look to hold on to that magic of winning outside Foxborough, just as they did in that game back in early October, on Sunday.