SANTA CLARA, Calif. – It was just too good to be true, wasn’t it?
After a 14-win season and a postseason run powered by the strength of their defense, the Patriots played their worst offensive game of the season, losing to the Seahawks 29-13 in Super Bowl 60 at Levi’s Stadium.
Drake Maye looked out of sorts all night.
Late decision-making. Hesitant to make plays with his legs. Short-arming throws he’s made all season. Missing guys on plays that were go-tos all season. Holding the football too long.
Flat out, it was his worst game of the season.
The shoulder injury he sustained in the second half against the Broncos in the AFC Championship Game might have kept him off the injury report leading into Sunday’s game, but his effort against Seattle suggests the 23-year-old may not have been playing with a clean bill of health.
Add in the fact that his offensive line allowed Seattle’s front seven to completely control the line of scrimmage, and it was a recipe for disaster for the Patriots’ offense all game long.
Their MVP runner-up at quarterback had one of his most pedestrian stretches of football as a pro across three and a half quarters, starting the game 8 for 18 as a passer for just 61 yards, good for a passer rating of 53.2, while being sacked 5 times for a loss of 39 yards and a fumble.
That fumble with 16 seconds left in the third quarter was the game’s first turnover, giving Seattle the football on New England’s 37-yard line. Five plays later, and a 16-yard touchdown pass from Sam Darnold to AJ Barner gave Seattle a 19-0 lead with 13:24 to go in the ballgame.
That next possession, two lofty balls from Maye resulted in big gains for Mack Hollins - a 24-yard pass to set up a 1st and 10 from the 35, and a 35-yard touchdown pass to make it a 19-7 ballgame.
The Patriots forced Seattle to punt on their next possession. And if you’re a glass-half-full type of fan, you probably started doing the math on how this thing could remain competitive if New England punched one in quick. Sure they were starting from their own 4-yard line, but crazier things have happened.
Seven plays later, that dream died.
On yet another lofty ball from Maye, it was Seahawks safety Julian Love coming down with an interception. He returned the pick 35 yards, all the way to the Patriots 38-yard line.
Six plays later, kicker Jason Myers was kicking his fifth field goal of the night to give his team a 22-7 lead with 5:35 remaining.
Shortly after that field goal went through the uprights, the in-stadium production team started playing “Sweet Caroline” for the Seattle crowd to enjoy. Seahawks fans were swaying back and forth, dancing on the grave of a team that had ripped a Lombardi away from them in the waning moments of Super Bowl 49 11 years ago.
It was as if that moment sucked whatever life was remaining out of the New England sidelines.
Four plays into their next possession, Maye was sacked for the sixth time, and fumbled in the process. That forced fumble by Devon Witherspoon was scooped up by Uchenna Nwosu, and he returned it 44 yards to the house to deliver the true nail in the coffin of the 2025 Patriots.
The official score-keeper eventually ruled that play a pick-six, but it really doesn’t matter.
29-7 with 4:27 to go.
Ballgame.
The garbage time touchdown for Rhamondre Stevenson to make it a 29-13 game was irrelevant.
As the clock moved to 00:00, Cinderella had already turned into a pumpkin long ago.
The upstart Patriots had taken this thing as far as they could.
The better, more complete football team won the game on Sunday, and the New England Patriots lost their sixth Super Bowl in franchise history - breaking a tie with the Broncos for most Super Bowl losses in the 60-year history of the game.
There’s no guarantee this group will ever be back. But when you have a quarterback playing MVP-level ball in his second season, and a head coach winning Coach of the Year in his first season wearing the headset at Gillette Stadium, you’re in a really good position to make it back to football’s biggest stage sooner rather than later.
Young players contributed up and down the roster. There’s plenty of cap space for this franchise to add this offseason. Talented players around the league are going to want to play with Maye and for Vrabel.
Sunday night might hurt, but the Patriots have a lot to look forward to.
Get Maye healthy this offseason, get that offensive line some help, and New England should remain in the mix at the top of the AFC for the foreseeable future.