Drake Maye Takes Blame, Gives Honest Quote After Patriots' Win vs. Justin Herbert, Chargers

Despite a 16-3 win over the Los Angeles Chargers in Sunday night's AFC Wild Card game, New England Patriots star quarterback Drake Maye made it clear that he wasn't happy with himself in a blunt assessment of his performance.

"Wasn't pretty, that's for sure," Maye said after the victory, per ESPN's Mike Reiss. "But this defense was so fun to watch. They won the game for us. I didn't throw very well. Need to be better."

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Maye completed 17 of his 29 passes for 268 yards with one touchdown, one interception and one lost fumble in the victory, which marked the first playoff win of his young career. The second-year signal-caller also had a second fumble that was recovered by left guard Jared Wilson, and Reiss noted that his first-half completion percentage of 40 percent was his worst in a half this season. He went 11-of-14 for 173 yards and the touchdown in the second half, and he also finished as the team's leading rusher with 66 yards on the ground.

"Just got to be better, whether it's accuracy or ball placement or little things, making decisions faster," Maye added. "Held on to the ball a little bit. It wasn't my best, but that's why you have teammates. Those guys picked me up."

New England's defense showed up in a big way, limiting a Los Angeles team that averaged 333.8 yards per game in the regular season to just 207 yards. Chargers star quarterback Justin Herbert was sacked six times and also lost a fumble.

Still, it was Maye and the Patriots who stayed alive in the hunt for a Super Bowl title. New England will face the winner of Monday night's game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Houston Texans in the Divisional Round.

"I've got to give credit to Drake Maye," Chargers star safety Derwin James Jr. said. "Every time we got him, he got back up."