NFL Week 3 Winners and Losers: What has happened to Drake Maye and the Patriots? 'My concern level is very high for this football team'

It has been a long, long time since we've seen Drake Maye play well. It's hard to believe a 24-year-old quarterback who nearly won MVP in his second season could be so bad the following season that critics are having concerns about whether he still ranks as a top-10 quarterback, or maybe even top half of the league. But here we are.

After yet another bad game from the New England Patriots ' quarterback to extend a slump that dates back to last postseason, it's time to start wondering what's going on with Maye and how it's fixable.

He's missing throws. He is making mistakes that he rarely made last season. He's playing like a quarterback whose confidence is plummeting.

The Patriots were poor again on offense in a startling 35-6 road loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars , who have a good but not stellar defense. Afterward, Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel went so far as to say, "My concern level is very high for this football team."

At halftime, Maye had 88 passing yards and the Patriots had three points, which isn't nearly good enough. Maye made a huge mistake late in the first half that any NFL quarterback can't make, and epitomized the slump he has been in. On third-and-goal, Maye rolled out and was under some pressure. He threw back to the middle of the end zone, where he had nobody open. The blind pass looked like it was intended for Jaguars cornerback Travis Hunter, who had an easy catch . Hunter made his first career interception and the Patriots' offensive issues continued.

If that was an isolated mistake from Maye, it might be a little easier to live with. But he had two awful interceptions against the Seahawks in the opener, including one into the end zone when the Patriots were in position to at least tie the game with a field goal. Maye didn't play great against the Steelers in Week 2 either, with no touchdowns and an interception. Then he struggled again against the Jaguars.

In the third quarter, trailing 14-3, Maye missed a third-down throw to Romeo Doubs , the Patriots missed a field goal and the Jaguars took the next possession in for a touchdown. At 21-3, it was practically over. A wayward pass that was easily picked off by Jaguars cornerback Jarrian Jones on New England 's next drive set up another Jacksonville touchdown and provided more misery for Maye. After that, CBS cameras found Vrabel with his arms on Maye's shoulders, giving him a pep talk. He needed it.

The excuses for Maye's bad stretch are valid. He has faced a brutal stretch of defenses, though those on the other side of the debate will point out how easy the Patriots' schedule was last season when he had a great season. Losing wideout A.J. Brown in the first game of the season to a high ankle sprain is a clear setback. The Patriots don't have many offensive playmakers to make up for his absence. But great quarterbacks are supposed to play well against great defenses and make up for the loss of star teammates, and Maye isn't doing that.

Maye was fine up until the end of last regular season. Then his passer rating dropped from a league-leading 113.5 in the regular season to 82.2 in the playoffs. That included a very quiet game in a Super Bowl blowout loss. This season, he has just one touchdown and led the NFL with four interceptions entering Week 3. Sunday against the Jaguars wasn't an easy assignment, but Maye shouldn't have struggled as he did. Maye was mercifully pulled from the blowout with a little more than eight minutes left, leaving Tommy DeVito to finish up. Maye finished 14 of 25 for 198 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions.

The Patriots should have been incredibly excited about their future after last season, even with the bad loss in the Super Bowl. They won the AFC and their quarterback was an instant star. And Maye should still be very good. But there are way more questions about that than anyone would have figured, just seven months after he came one vote from winning MVP.

Here are the rest of the winners and losers from Week 3 of the NFL season:

Jahmyr Gibbs : He is one of the best talents in the NFL, and on Sunday he had a touchdown run that would have made Marcus Allen proud. Or Barry Sanders.

The Detroit Lions running back took a toss to the right, was immediately hemmed in, so he reversed field and outran the New York Jets for a 17-yard score. It's the type of run that not many backs in the history of the league could even attempt, much less make it look as pretty as Gibbs did.

When the Jets came back to tie the game 24-24, Gibbs punched back. His 11-yard touchdown gave the Lions the lead again, and they went on to win, 31-24.

Gibbs had 99 yards rushing with two touchdowns, and 65 yards receiving and another score on seven catches.

Gibbs has gone from sharing time with David Montgomery to having the Lions' backfield to himself, and we're seeing him become an even bigger star.

Gibbs was fantastic again against the Jets. He signed a three-year, $67.5 million extension before this season began. It might be the biggest bargain in the NFL.

Aaron Rodgers : The veteran QB is continuing to do things at age 42 that only Tom Brady has done in the NFL.

Rodgers and the Pittsburgh Steelers ' offense were shaky through two weeks, but in Week 3 they got a big divisional win over the Cincinnati Bengals . Rodgers threw for 292 yards and three touchdowns, and the defense forced a fumble on a sack of Joe Burrow in the final minute to clinch a 30-27 win. Jaylen Warren also starred, with 127 rushing yards and 49 more receiving.

On the game-winning drive, two big pass plays from Rodgers set up a go-ahead field goal. He hit DK Metcalf for a 14-yard gain on first-and-11 after a holding penalty on Metcalf brought back a long run by Warren. Then Rodgers hit massive tight end Darnell Washington for 47 yards on a long run after catch, which got the Steelers into field-goal range. Rodgers played well in the second half despite getting banged up right before the end of the first half, when he went down on a passing attempt and Bengals defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence II hit him as he was moving. Rodgers gingerly walked off the field, but stayed in to help the Steelers get the win.

Rodgers has said this will be his final NFL season. If it is, he had at least one more vintage game in him. With maybe more to come.

Daniel Jones : The QB hasn't been great in his return from a torn Achilles. But when the Indianapolis Colts needed him Sunday, he came through.

The Houston Texans took a late 17-16 lead, and Jones had to move the Colts against a very tough defense. Jones hit Laquon Treadwell for 20 yards and Keenan Allen for 5 more, which was enough for Spencer Shrader to hit a 53-yard field goal for a 19-17 win. It was a rough loss for the Texans, who fell to 0-3, and a big one for the Colts. They started 0-2, including an overtime loss to the Chiefs last week that could have lingered. Blowing a lead to the Texans at home might have been devastating. But Jones had just enough to get Indianapolis over the finish line.

Marcus Mariota : The backup Commanders QB didn't have an easy assignment in his first start this season, replacing an injured Jayden Daniels . He had to face a Seattle Seahawks defense that won a Super Bowl last season and had allowed 17 points in two games this season.

Mariota and Washington put up 33 points on Seattle. Mariota threw three touchdowns and his 9-yard run with less than two minutes left sealed a 33-31 win.

Mariota gave it his all; he needed to get an IV in the fourth quarter.

"My workload hasn't been like this in a while," Mariota said, via Nicki Jhabvala of The Athletic .

Mariota never took off to be a superstar, which was the hope for the Heisman Trophy winner when the Tennessee Titans made him the second pick of the 2015 NFL Draft. But he has settled in to be one of the best backup QBs in the NFL. The Commanders can count on him, as he showed against perhaps the NFL's best defense Sunday.

Cam Ward and the Titans: The weather was bad in New Jersey on Sunday. Still, the Tennessee Titans' offense shouldn't be this bad.

It was one step forward and two more back for the Titans. They played well against the Eagles in Week 2, though QB Cam Ward wasn't prolific and Philadelphia won in the final seconds. On Sunday, against a Giants team that was without Jaxson Dart and allowed 481 yards to the Rams last week, the Titans' offense was poor. But Tennessee still had a chance — when Ward made a horrible mistake.

On first-and-goal, trailing 12-7 in the final seconds, Ward was moving to his left. He had room to run and two timeouts. Instead, he threw to the end zone, right to safety Jevon Holland for a loss-clinching interception.

It was a terrible play from Ward. The Giants won 12-7 without scoring a touchdown.

It's three games into a new regime working with Ward and the results are the same as last season, when Ward struggled as a rookie. He threw for 140 yards in the opener and, although he played better last week against a good defense, it was just 183 yards. Ward had just 181 yards in Week 3 and made the mistake that ultimately ended his team's chance to win.

It has not been a good start for Ward in Year 2.

Jeff Hafley: Hafley, who is in his first NFL head coaching job, might already be wondering how long it'll take for him to get his first win.

On Sunday, the Dolphins played hard. QB Malik Willis was reasonable. The defense battled against Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. And still, the Dolphins didn't really get close to a win. The Dolphins lost 24-10, falling to 0-3. The Chiefs put together a drive in the latter half of the fourth quarter to put away the game. Travis Kelce 's touchdown catch gave the Chiefs a 14-point lead with 2:55 to play.

The Dolphins lost their first game by 14 and their second game by 22. In a game they played reasonably well against Kansas City, they lost by 14. They also lost running back De'Von Achane , their best player, to a knee injury. The roster is incredibly thin on both sides of the ball. Miami 's schedule isn't easy. It's not going to be a fun season in Miami.

The Chargers are a sloppy team, and even though the Bills were giving the ball away, the Chargers couldn't take advantage in a 24-16 loss. A missed field goal by Cameron Dicker in the first half cost Los Angeles momentum when they were up 10-0. Justin Herbert threw a bad interception in the fourth quarter. A bad drop by Quentin Johnston on third-and-10 was costly. Ultimately, Josh Allen did enough to get his team the win, even though he and the Bills weren't at their best.

The Chargers needed a win. Their 0-2 start against the Cardinals and Raiders put them in a huge hole, with a tough schedule coming up. They had a double-digit lead and the defense was making big plays. And it still wasn't enough to win.

Panthers defense: This unit was a problem in a Week 1 loss, allowing 59 points. It couldn't close the door on Sunday either.

Carolina's offense didn't do much against the Cleveland Browns , but the Panthers scored in the fourth quarter to provide an 18-13 lead. All the Panthers had to do was keep Deshaun Watson and the Browns out of the end zone. Watson hadn't done much to that point. But the beleaguered quarterback had a highlight for the second straight week, driving the Browns 65 yards and hitting Harold Fannin Jr. for the tight end's second touchdown of the game to give the Browns a 21-18 lead.

Watson was helped when his interception was wiped off the board due to a questionable roughing the passer penalty on linebacker Bobby Okereke , but Carolina had other chances and couldn't get a stop. The Panthers couldn't answer on offense and Cleveland had the win. They're 2-1.

The Panthers won the NFC South last season but are 1-2 to start this season. The defense was without linebacker Devin Lloyd on Sunday, but it will still look at the late loss as a missed opportunity.