With little concern for his personal safety, Maye ran the ball eight times for 95 yards, avoiding the safety slide most of the time and coming within 5 yards of becoming the first Patriot quarterback in 48 years to rush for 100 ( Steve Grogan, 1976).

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He completed 29 of 41 passes for 206 yards and orchestrated two second-half touchdown drives.

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He fumbled twice (lost one) and was intercepted twice.

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Most memorably, Maye scrambled nearly 12 seconds into the final play of regulation and found Rhamondre Stevenson in the end zone for a touchdown pass that sent the Pats into overtime.

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It was an unforgettable moment in Maye’s young career, and had this game been on NESN, Dave O’Brien and Tom Caron would have taken the opportunity to inform the audience that the Pats were making a crucial run for the third wild card .

Unfortunately, the Patriots didn’t win and there will be no postseason for your 2-7 football team. Tennessee won it in overtime, 20-17, sealing things when Maye went over his skis and attempted a long bomb on first-and-10 from his own 41 and was intercepted for a second time by Amani (Not So Fair) Hooker .

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“I made some bad decisions, especially the one at the end,” Maye, 22, said. “I have to be better.”

“He’ll learn from his mistakes and be better for it,” New England rookie coach Jerod Mayo said.

Half of Patriot Nation descended on this truly red state to see Maye take the ball and throw it down the court. The New England kid QB was hit in the head by Jets linebacker Jamien Sherwood in the first quarter last week and wasn’t around to see Jacoby Brissett lead the Pats to a game-winning touchdown in Foxborough.

Maye couldn’t put a touchdown on the board in the first half. Early in the second quarter, he was picked off by Hooker when he repeated a pass over the middle while under pressure.

Trailing 7-3 at halftime, Maye came out of the locker room completing 6-of-6 passes and running when he had to on a 70-yard touchdown drive with 7:21 left. New England took its first lead of the day when Stevenson converted from the 1.

With the game tied, 10-10, and seven minutes remaining, disaster struck. Maye leaned back, looked to the left, and there was nothing. As he looked and ran to his right, Titans linebacker Arden Key came from behind and hit the ball out of Maye’s right hand. The bouncing football was scooped up by Tennessee running back Jeffrey Simmons on the New England 26.

About 2:26 later, Mason Rudolph connected with Nick Westbrook-Ikhine on a 6-yard TD pass in the left corner of the end zone and the Pats trailed, 17-10.

Maye would be the goat. . .

But after a punt exchange, he moved the Patriots 50 yards in 11 plays, ending regulation with the Music City Miracle’s scramble and TD pass to make it 17-16.

This set the stage for a big decision by Mayo.

Do you go for an extra point to force overtime, or do you go for 2 and settle all family business right then and there?

Mayo disappeared and went for the kick.

“At the time, I thought it was the right call,” the coach said.

“I was trying to catch my breath,” Maye admitted.

When Patriot Nation looks back on this day and remembers the Titans game in 2024, they won’t be talking about the ill-conceived desperation of Maye falling into Hooker’s arms to end the overtime. They’ll gush about Maye’s madcap fight to keep the last game of regulation alive nearly eight seconds after the clock struck zero.

“That shows his mental toughness and ability to make plays with his feet,” Mayo said. “It gave us a chance to win the game.”

Indeed. Maye seems to be the real deal. The Patriots had to get it right when they earned the no. 3 in the draft last spring. Looks like they got it right.

Two titans who piled on Maye for Tennessee’s critical fourth-quarter layup were impressed by the new guy from New England.

“It’s faster than it looks,” Key said.

“I told him after the game he’s going to be a heck of a player,” Simmons said.

Maye takes his skills to Chicago next week, where he will face the top pick in the 2024 draft: Bears QB Caleb Williams.

If Bob Kraft has any imagination, he’ll have his team stay at The Drake, Chicago’s 104-year-old royal hotel overlooking Lake Michigan.

Everyone loves Drake.

Dan Shaughnessy is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at [email protected]. Follow L @dan_shaughnessy.