Buffalo Bills star Josh Allen has been the best quarterback in the AFC East, and arguably the best in the NFL, for half a decade. For a brief moment last season, New England Patriots QB Drake Maye convinced fans and analysts otherwise, nearly winning his first MVP.
It didn't take long in 2026 to reestablish the division's QB hierarchy. Maye struggled in the season opener against the Seattle Seahawks on Wednesday night, playing one of his worst games as a professional.
It's time to put the arguments about who the best quarterback in the division is to rest. Allen isn't leaving his spot at the top of the AFC East.
Bills' Josh Allen is still the best QB in the AFC East after brutal Drake Maye performance
Maye and the Patriots should have been able to sleepwalk their way to a victory in Week 1. Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold went down with a hip injury on the first possession of the game, bringing in Drew Lock for the remainder of the contest. Seattle's offense only managed 13 points on the night.
New England still couldn't pull out a win, and Maye's inconsistency was the main thing holding them back. The third-year quarterback threw three interceptions in the 13-10 loss. He had one touchdown and just 178 passing yards.
Pro Football Focus didn't credit Maye with any "big time throws," and he had a final passer rating of just 54.9 on the day. Outside of a few nice scrambles, he wasn't able to consistently move the ball down the field. He only attempted four passes of 20 or more yards, and three of them were picked off.
In Maye's first two seasons, it was easy to point out that he didn't have a high-quality group of receivers. But now that A.J. Brown and Romeo Doubs have stepped in as his top targets, it doesn't seem to have made a difference.
Of course, the Seahawks' defense is one of the best in the league. It's not surprising to see an offense struggle against Mike MacDonald's unit. But that level of ineptitude in a primetime game just goes to show that there is still a large gap between Maye and Allen.
We can't pretend that Allen doesn't have a forgettable game every once in a while, but he's a much more developed player than what Maye showed himself to be on Wednesday night. The debate about who the best quarterback in the AFC East is can take a rest for a while.
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