Perry: Pats ‘got the better guy’ with Drake Maye over Caleb Williams originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
The first meeting between the No. 1 overall pick and the No. 3 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft did not go as expected, to say the least.
Caleb Williams’ Chicago Bears entered Sunday’s game against Drake Maye’s New England Patriots as heavy favorites, but fell flat in a disastrous 19-3 loss. Williams completed just 16 of 30 passes for 120 yards with no touchdowns and was sacked a season high nine times, as Maye racked up 208 total yards (184 passing, 24 rushing) with a touchdown pass and an interception to help lead the Patriots to victory.
Beyond the stats, however, our Phil Perry saw a quarterback who showed mental toughness and another whose body language matched his poor play. That prompted Perry to make a bold statement Patriots Postgame Live.
“The first takeaway from this game is the Patriots have the better guy,” Perry said, as seen in the video above. “Drake Maye shows poise and some resilience, and as far as Caleb Williams is concerned, just not enough for a No. 1 overall pick who has some talent with his weapons around him in that offensive group.
“Some really unforced errors on his part,” Perry added of Williams. “Holding on to the football contributes to nine sacks for the New England Patriots, and only a few wild misses — completely inexcusable, honestly, when it comes to a quarterback at this level; he just misses open receivers without there really is someone around him.”
Williams has had bright moments this season, including a four-touchdown performance in a win over the Jacksonville Jaguars and a 304-yard, two-score performance in a win over the Carolina Panthers. However, he has not thrown a touchdown pass in three straight games and appeared to show his distaste for Bears offensive coordinator Shane Waldron on the sideline Sunday amid his latest rough game.
Maye, on the other hand, showed impressive leadership this past week in leading the Patriots offense after being dissatisfied with its performance in practice. So while Williams may be the more gifted QB with the higher ceiling, Maye appears to have the better temperament early in his NFL career, which could bode well for the Patriots turning things around under the North Carolina product .
Former Patriots linebacker Ted Johnson also sided with Perry, saying he would prefer Maye over Williams at this point.
“A lot of it is just his overall character,” Johnson said of Williams Patriots Postgame Live. “Just the way he handles things, the way he talks about his teammates, the way he speaks to the media, his body language on the sideline – you can deal with that if you’re a teammate of Drake Maye.
“You look on the other side and you see Caleb Williams with kind of a bitter beer face and a little bit of a joke. It’s a completely different vibe.”
Maye and Williams both still have a long way to go. Sunday’s win was Maye’s first as an NFL starter when he played a full game, and he has to cut back on turnovers (five interceptions in five starts). But there’s reason for New England fans to feel good about their future franchise quarterback after his win. first game with Williams.
