The Patriots Seahawks Super Bowl rematch ended with Seattle beating New England 13-10 after the Patriots blew a 10-0 lead. Somehow that score barely explains how annoying this loss should be for Patriots fans.
Seattle raised its Super Bowl banner before the game after beating New England 29-13 in February. Then Sam Darnold hurt his hip on Seattle’s opening possession, Drew Lock had to come in, and the Patriots spent most of the night looking like they were finally about to get a little revenge. New England was up 10-0 against Drew Lock. You could not have drawn up a cleaner opportunity to walk into Seattle, ruin the banner night and spend the next week convincing yourself the Super Bowl was old news.
Then the fourth quarter started and apparently somebody hit “load previous save.”
Seattle won 13-10. Drake Maye threw interceptions on New England’s final three possessions, including the game-ending pick in the end zone with 21 seconds left. Maye finished 23-of-33 for 178 yards, one touchdown and the first three-interception game of his NFL career. That is BAD.. and somehow Josh McDaniels managed to make the entire offensive experience feel even worse.
Patriots Seahawks Super Bowl Rematch Became the Same Nightmare
Seven months ago, Seattle spent Super Bowl LX making Maye look completely uncomfortable. The Seahawks won 29-13, held New England scoreless through three quarters and forced three turnovers. Maye threw two interceptions that night after not having a single multi-interception game during the regular season.
So what happened when New England got another shot at this defense? Three more interceptions in ONE QUARTER. At some point Seattle is no longer the weird matchup that caught you on a bad night. They’re in your walls.
The frustrating part is that New England actually did a lot of the difficult work. Seattle’s offense barely moved for three quarters. The Patriots defense handled its business. Darnold was gone. Maye and the offense did not need 35 points. They needed to protect a 10-point lead and finish a couple drives.
Instead the whole offense slowly turned into somebody trying to assemble IKEA furniture without the instructions. There were stretches where Maye appeared to be standing around waiting on the play call, and all I could picture was McDaniels on the other end of the headset going, “hehe.. I don’t know.” Maybe farting into it. Either one honestly fits what this offense looked like.
Drake Maye Was Bad. Josh McDaniels Was Worse.
Maye absolutely deserves the heat here. Three interceptions in the fourth quarter cannot be explained away by play calling, Seattle’s defense or Mercury being in retrograde. The first came with New England still leading 10-3, and Seattle immediately turned that possession into the tying touchdown. Maye threw another one on the very next Patriots possession, then Seattle kicked the go-ahead field goal.
New England somehow got one final chance anyway. Maye converted two fourth downs, moved the Patriots into the red zone and had an opportunity to at least send the game to overtime. Josh Jobe picked him off in the end zone. Game over.
Maye even owned it afterward, saying he stopped being patient and that his decisions cost New England the game. Mike Vrabel was even simpler: “You can’t throw three interceptions.” Correct! Hard to argue with the advanced analytics there.
But this is also where McDaniels cannot disappear behind his quarterback’s interceptions. New England spent huge portions of this game looking slow, uncomfortable and completely unable to create any rhythm against the exact defense that wrecked the offense in the Super Bowl. You had seven months to see Seattle again, and then the football gods removed Seattle’s starting quarterback on the first drive, handed you a 10-0 lead and basically said, “Okay Patriots.. try this again.”
And New England STILL found a way to lose the same kind of game.
Seattle Owns This Matchup Until New England Proves Otherwise
This does not mean Maye suddenly sucks. He was the MVP runner-up last season for a reason, and one horrific quarter does not erase what he has already shown. But Seattle has now created a very specific problem for him.
The Seahawks made him miserable in the Super Bowl. Then they watched him come back seven months later with another offseason in McDaniels’ system, a revamped offense and a chance to change the ending.. and took the ball away three more times when the game mattered most. That is the part New England has to figure out.
Losing the Super Bowl to an elite defense is painful. Getting a rematch, watching Seattle lose its quarterback immediately, building a 10-0 lead and STILL leaving the field after another fourth-quarter Seattle defensive takeover? That one is going to sit there for a while.
