Drake Maye weathered a gauntlet of defenses through the Patriots’ playoff run, but when it came time to beat the final boss in the Seattle Seahawks, the second-year wunderkind did not rise to the occasion.
The Patriots posted just 13 points in their first Super Bowl appearance under Mike Vrabel, with Maye at the helm. New England’s young players, including Maye, left tackle Will Campbell, and left guard Jared Wilson, looked like a group of tots thrown in the deep end without water wings. Seattle’s defensive front overwhelmed the line in front of Maye quickly, and often. A particularly dark omen showed itself early in the game when Wilson was walked back into his own quarterback for one of seven sacks Maye took.
But the young linemen on the left side weren’t alone in their struggles. The oldest Patriot on the roster – Morgan Moses – was an occasional liability as well.
The offensive line will be an easy punching bag for fans wondering what went wrong in the big game. They definitely had a bad day, but they weren't alone. Maye did little to help himself - let alone the rest of the team.
He looked hesitant to start, settling for uncharacteristic check downs that were quickly sniffed out by Seattle’s whip-smart defense. He largely avoided using his legs. And Seattle has his internal clock on the fritz: other than spare connections with Kayshon Boutte and DeMario Douglas, he looked fully incapable of putting the ball on his pass catchers and unaware of where, or who, brought pressure against him. The Patriots offense had just 51 net yards when Bad Bunny took the turf at halftime, (the Seahawks had 183).
After the game, Maye said that although the right shoulder injury he suffered in the AFC Championship didn't limit him in practice, "they shot it up" before the Super Bowl.
While the offense stalled out, the defense looked ready to march down the warpath they’ve blazed through the postseason. The unit looked shaky out of the gate but locked down in the red zone on their opening drive, forcing the Seahawks to settle for a field goal. They would stick to that recipe until the fourth quarter, when a 16-yard touchdown pass from Sam Darnold to AJ Barner put victory out of New England’s wildest dreams.
It’s deeply unfortunate the Patriots’ offense couldn’t do enough to keep their team in the game earlier than the final 13 minutes of playtime, especially considering signature Super Bowl performances from cornerback Christian Gonzalez, who broke up three passes, and young safety Craig Woodson, who finished the night with ten assisted and individual tackles, combined. New England’s offense didn’t even manage to get within field goal range before the start of the fourth quarter. They also committed the unforgivable sin of a Super Bowl strip sack turnover, even before Barner’s touchdown. The crowd at Levi's Stadium would be treated to not just that one, but two such plays. The defense surrendered 29 points on the night but kept the game within reach for three quarters.
Plus…it’s hard to even begin to discuss the bad ball Maye gifted safety Julian Love.
Credit him with a gutsy drive after the mess of the first three quarters, one which he capped off with a 35-yard touchdown pass to Mack Hollins. Maye is typically steel wool when it comes to scrubbing out his own errors. But his play for the majority of the game was bad enough to haunt his otherwise supreme sophomore year, and the doubt will follow him through the offseason. He's well aware that as much as he wore the glory during the regular season, he'll shoulder the blame for some time to come.
His other subpar playoff showings could be chalked up to nasty weather conditions, (his ball security was dreadful against Houston as snow ramped up, and a near-whiteout made it nearly impossible to do anything but run the ball in Denver). The obvious reason for how poorly he played tonight is that the Seattle defense was simply far more talented than the most important pieces of the New England offense, (in addition to - sorry to nerd out here - a fabulous punter who made field position a nightmare), but an outcome like this one brings everything under scrutiny. How serious was Maye's shoulder injury? Why did it look like Seattle knew everything Josh McDaniels was going to roll out on the field, as soon as his unit lined up? (The Patriots might have benefitted from one of those cute trick plays, by the way). Do the Patriots need to focus even further on the offensive line in the upcoming draft? Was this trip to Santa Clara simply a bit early for Maye and Vrabel?
Can they learn from this loss?
"It's only valuable if we understand what it takes to improve, and if we don't do that then it won't have been very valuable," Vrabel said. "We had a really, really, good year, and one that I'm really proud of. But, this game, I don't think is a reflection of our year. We were beat, we were outcoached and outplayed. Give them credit."
The Super Bowl 60 beatdown will cast a shadow over the duo’s debut season, but it’s not a reason to dismiss all the success they had this year. If this team's core practices what they preach, they’ll use this night, and all the criticism that follows, as fuel to get back here – because they’re going to hear about it until they do.