I have never heard of a MAF sensor causing such an issue at freeway speeds. at idle is another story. My older Fords all have/had precalibrated default data inside it can fall back on, in the event a sensor failed. Newer stuff has so many sensors that often times they can guess what data they need regardless of a failed sensor.
Yes you’re right, MAFs are a problem at idle mostly, but I’m told can be a factor in stalling while accelerating or decelerating.
Here’s what a friend, who is a self-taught mechanic, and a very good one (he got frustrated with mechanic shops ripping everyone) found on my neighbor’s car, Kia Sedona 2009 I think. The car would start and sometimes not start. When it did start it would idle high, then it would stall when put in gear. After a while, the car would start at normal idle and run but would stall in traffic. Then it would not start. It might be a wait of 15 minutes to a few hours before starting again.
The neighbor had just about every sensor changed.
So my friend looks at it and checked fuel pressure, spark, coils, and used some starter fuel on one test. He also checked relays, fuses, and connections.
He disconnected the MAF electronic plug to the MAF body and the car started but caused a lot of noxious exhaust. He said this was normal as it was running rich. He let it run until it came up to normal temp and it continued running. He said the MAF needed to be replaced.
After that I lost track of what was done. I think the MAF replacement fixed it.
Maybe you have insight as to what else might be looked at.
In the process I learned (I was an engineer in an earlier stage of life) that auto engineers have had to jump through a lot of hoops to have their engine designs meet fuel and emission standards.
So the thing I understand is there are a lot of vehicles on the road with a lot of life in their engines, drive trains, transmissions, electrical. But a lot of these vehicles are breaking down from computer controls and sensors going out. The problems are not obvious. They could be several things.
I would hope that newer models have computers, controls and sensors that last longer than other essential parts. Because these control systems can shut a car down in a dangerous situation.
My sense is the electronic and computer controls of today’s vehicles have sacrificed safety for emission/fuel compliance. Or maybe the industry just hasn’t had sufficient time shaking out computer technologies on today’s vehicles?