“Worst Football in Super Bowl History” – Drake Maye, Patriots Face Immense Backlash Following Their Humiliating Super Bowl Loss Against Seahawks

Drake Maye finished his first Super Bowl with 295 yards, 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions while taking 6 sacks.

“Worst Football in Super Bowl History” – Drake Maye, Patriots Face Immense Backlash Following Their Humiliating Super Bowl Loss Against Seahawks

Drake Maye (Image via IMAGO)

There’s never a bad time to make a Super Bowl debut, but in the case of Drake Maye and the New England Patriots, it would have been better if they had faced a lesser opponent. Then again, every team goes all out when the Lombardi Trophy is on the line, and the Patriots were battle-tested. They had won 14 games in the regular season and three in the playoffs to qualify for the grandest stage of all.

Mike Vrabel led the Patriots to adopt a free-flowing style of football, shifting away from his predecessor’s philosophy of winning games in the trenches. Vrabel surrounded his second-year signal caller with a combination of experienced and young linemen, giving him time to find the receivers.

However, Maye struggled when the guys in front of him were put under pressure by the opposing coach. The Chargers were the first to expose that O-line, and in every game since, the Patriots have given up at least five sacks.

Taking sacks is acceptable until the quarterback is good at pass protection. In three playoff appearances before the Super Bowl, Maye fumbled the ball six times and lost possession on three of those occasions.

The blueprint was there for the Seahawks to capitalize on, and they didn’t disappoint.

Drake Maye and the Patriots fell apart under the Seahawks’ relentless pressure

The usual buzz around the Super Bowl was missing in the buildup, as most fans and critics didn’t see the Patriots as strong enough to compete for the championship. Rolling over teams with a below. 500 records failed to convince that New England was ready.

"Worst Football in Super Bowl History" - Drake Maye, Patriots Face Immense Backlash Following Their Humiliating Super Bowl Loss Against Seahawks
Drake Maye (Image via IMAGO)

Meanwhile, Seattle boasted a top-3 defense. Mike Macdonald‘s Seahawks allowed 292 points throughout the 2025 regular season, the fewest of any team in the NFL, and if that wasn’t intimidating enough, they are also hurrying up opposing quarterbacks at a 10.6% rate, the third-highest rate in 2025. They had justified the title “The Dark Side.”

Honestly, the writing was on the wall. According to ESPN Insights, in the last 10 Super Bowl appearances, the Patriots scored just 3 combined points in the first quarter. They were outscored 28-3 during that time. It got worse on Sunday. Not only did Vrabel’s team fail to score any points in the first two quarters, but their first scoring opportunity didn’t come until deep into the final quarter. Maye found Mack Hollins for a touchdown.

It’s easy to draw parallels with the Patriots’ famous comeback against the Falcons in Super Bowl LI. The Patriots won despite trailing by 25 points in the third quarter. Maye proved he’s got a smooth, deep ball, racking up 67 completions of 20-plus yards this year, the second most of any quarterback in the NFL. However, Maye isn’t Brady; Brady had over 15 years of experience to rely on at that point.

Brady drove his team to win. Maye couldn’t. He started slipping up as he tried to speed up the game. He had already conceded an interception early on, and a second turnover killed the momentum. To top it off, a strip sack jarred the ball loose, and Seahawks’ Uchenna Nwosu scooped it up for a defensive touchdown.

Maye used his legs to extend plays. Right before the two-minute warning, Maye managed to avoid the blitz and flip the ball over to running back Rhamondre Stevenson for a 7-yard touchdown. It was too little, too late.

In his first Super Bowl appearance, Maye endured 19 pressures (tied for the third most), gave up two interceptions, threw 10 off-target passes, was sacked six times, and committed a career-high three turnovers.

It was the Patriots’ fourth loss in the Super Bowl since 2000. That said, Maye will only turn 24 in August, so there’s plenty of time to get back into another one in the future.

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