The quarterback duel between Jordan Love and Drake Maye makes Sunday afternoon’s Packers-Patriots game look like one of the most exciting on the Week 9 slate. 

Since they play in opposite conferences, this game will mark the first time Love and Maye have faced off in their careers. Though Love was drafted in 2020, this will be the first time he starts against the Patriots because Aaron Rodgers was still the Packers’ starter the last time they faced New England in 2022, a game Green Bay won in overtime 27–24. 

What makes the game between Love and Maye particularly exciting beyond both of them being good quarterbacks is they each excel at throwing the deep ball. Ahead of their first matchup, here are four numbers that help break down and compare these two quarterbacks.

2,246 

Love’s passing yards this season, which leads the NFL. Maye, meanwhile, ranks sixth with 1,983 yards. Here’s an overall stats comparison of the two quarterbacks, who have both played eight games. 

Both Love and Maye had slow starts to the season, but found their groove again midway through the year. After he was under heavy duress early in the season and completed less than 56% of his passes through the first three weeks, Love has been sacked just once in his past two games and completed over 70% of passes in three of his past five games—including a season-high 80.7% against the Bears. Maye received criticism early in the year for his turnover woes, but has brushed aside any concerns from that tough start with his performance as of late. After throwing one touchdown through three weeks, he has thrown multiple in each of the past five games compared to just two total interceptions over that span. 

46

Love’s pass attempts of 20 or more air yards, by far the most in the NFL, per Next Gen Stats. Maye is second with 32. No quarterback is throwing deep more than Love or Maye. Love is 13-of-46 on these throws for 493 yards, four touchdowns, two picks and an EPA per dropback of +0.21 while Maye is 15-of-32 for 538 yards, six touchdowns, four picks and an EPA per dropback of +0.53. 

Love posted arguably the best deep passing game of the year against the Bears in Week 5, completing six-of-eight attempts of 20 or more air yards for 258 yards and two touchdowns, per Next Gen Stats.

In general, Love’s play this year has been particularly impressive because he is not in the best situation. The Packers’ offensive line has played better as of late, but struggled early in the year and allowed lots of pressure on Love. He has some great pass catchers to throw to in Christian Watson, Matthew Golden and Tucker Kraft, but they also drop more passes than any other team. Along with this, he has no support from the run game. The Packers have the league’s worst run game, averaging a paltry 60.6 rush yards per game. 

8.5

Maye’s yards per attempt this season, which is tied for second among qualified passers. This number also illustrates Maye’s penchant for throwing downfield. He has averaged 10 or more yards per attempt in three of his past four games. In each of those performances, he completed over 70% of his passes, once again demonstrating his impressive efficiency while passing downfield.

The Packers have notably limited opposing quarterbacks to 6.2 yards per attempt this season, tied with the Vikings for the third-best mark in the league. In Week 1 against the Seahawks, a defense that ranks first in YPA allowed (5.5), Maye notably averaged 5.4 yards per attempt. The Patriots will provide another test for how Maye performs against the best pass defenses. 

Beyond YPA, Maye also ranks fourth in air yards per attempt (9.3). Love, on the other hand, is tied with Dolphins quarterback Malik Willis for second in air yards per attempt (9.5). The Texans’ C.J. Stroud ranks first at 9.6. 

2.58 

Love’s time to throw this season, the fastest rate in the NFL. Not only is Love throwing the ball downfield a lot, he’s getting the ball out of his hand quickly this season. In contrast, Maye has averaged 3.14 seconds to throw. He is one of four quarterbacks averaging three or more seconds to throw and only Caleb Williams is averaging a longer time to throw at 3.24 seconds (the other two are Willis and Brock Purdy). Both Love and Maye might need to get the ball out quickly in this game. The Packers’ and Patriots’ defenses rank eighth with a time to pressure of 2.57 seconds. They are also tied for the sixth-most sacks on the season with 22.