Drake Maye’s first Super Bowl is one to forget

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Drake Maye’s first Super Bowl is one to forget

Karen Guregian · MassLive

Mon, Feb 9, 2026 ·

3 min read

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Karen Guregian’s football analysis is sponsored by Jeffrey Glassman Injury Lawyers , a Leading Boston Personal Injury Firm.

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Heading into the Super Bowl, playoff Drake Maye hadn’t truly resembled regular season Drake Maye .

The Patriots needed Maye to elevate his game to have a chance to finish off their improbable run with a win over the Seattle Seahawks .

And if he didn’t quite rediscover his MVP-caliber form, he needed to make a few elite-level throws like he did in taking down the Houston Texans .

It didn’t happen. Not by a long shot.

This was largely a nightmare for Maye and the offense, as the Patriots lost Super Bowl 60, 29-13, to the NFC champion Seahawks.

Facing yet another daunting defense on the heals of the LA Chargers , Texans and Denver Broncos , all top 5 groups, Maye couldn’t get anything going against Seattle. He was ineffective in large part because his offensive line was overmatched by the Seahawks defensive front.

And when Maye had time, receivers weren’t getting open. Or, he simply held the ball too long and paid the price.

It was early in the fourth quarter when Maye and the offense finally put together a scoring drive.

Maye hit Mack Hollins with his best pass of the day, a 24-yard completion to move the ball to the Seahawks 35. He then dropped back and hurled his second-best heave, a 35-yard bomb to Hollins in the left corner of the end zone.

That cut the score to 19-7.

Maye, however, threw a pick on the next possession with 8 minutes to play, and that was pretty much the ball game. It only got worse from there with a pick-six.

His final stat wasn’t pretty: 27 for 43, 295 yards, 2 touchdown passes, 2 picks, 6 sacks, 1 lost fumble.

The Patriots have played poor halves and rebounded. This wasn’t one of those games.

They punted 8 times. They converted just 5 of 14 third-down situations.

Maye & Co. padded their stats a bit with the game out of hand. But this was a poor outing overall at the worst time for the Patriots.

In the first half, the sum total of the offense was 48 yards passing and 34 yards rushing. They weren’t able to score any points, much less move the ball.

They only mustered three first downs in the half, so there was some improvement in the second. It was hardly enough.

In the opening half, Maye completed 6 of 11 passes. The Seahawks pass rush was a huge factor in the offensive malaise, sacking Maye three times in the first half, and doubling that by game’s end.

The Patriots’ offensive line was simply overmatched for much of the game.

Prior to the first fourth-quarter touchdown, the furthest the Patriots advanced was Seattle’s 43-yard line, thanks to a 21-yard completion to Kayshon Boutte . They proceeded to go backward from there.

It was one of the worst offensive halves by any team in Super Bowl history.

The second half was better, but not by much.

Maye will undoubtedly learn from the experience. It certainly doesn’t erase the remarkable season he had. The hope would be that it’ll make him hungrier to get back with an improved cast.

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