Drake Maye had a record-setting day against the New York Jets on Sunday afternoon. Maye became the first player in the history of the NFL to complete over 90% of his passes while throwing for at least 250 yards and five touchdowns in a game. He did this almost entirely in one half, throwing only two passes after halftime.
However, this game was not one of the best in DYAR history. It wasn’t even the best game of the year so far by DYAR. The reason why? Opponent adjustments.
The New York Jets have the worst pass defense in the NFL in 2025 with 43.9% DVOA. If the season ended right now, this would be the fifth-worst pass defense DVOA ever measured, going back to 1978. So we have a giant opponent adjustment for Maye. His 279 YAR without adjustment would be the best quarterback game of the year. That becomes 229 DYAR after the adjustment, the No. 4 quarterback game of the year. The best is still Matthew Stafford against the Seahawks a week ago at 266 DYAR.
Maye also doesn’t rank as high because of volume, because he barely played in the second half. His DVOA ranks better than his DYAR, because it measures value per play. However, even VOA without opponent adjustments is adjusted for era, and we’re in a heavy-passing era. Maye’s passing VOA of 150.2% ranks 16th for a quarterback game since 1978. The best game was Brian Sipe way back for the 1978 Browns, getting 182.1% VOA for 15-of-22, 309 yards, and four touchdowns in Week 12. A more recent game with higher VOA than Maye against the Jets was Lamar Jackson against Miami in Week 17 of 2023, a 56-19 win.
Here’s a look at all the quarterbacks from Week 17 and the best and worst DYAR at other positions as well.
