SEATTLE — If Drake Maye intends to put Super Bowl LX behind him — to look forward to a new season, new challenges, new adventures — the New England Patriots’ 2026 opener against the Seattle Seahawks on Wednesday night was a huge success.
After all – after the intervention of the third game of May The Seahawks’ 13-10 win over the Patriots At Lumen Field – Who in their right mind would want to talk about New England’s third-year quarterback in anything other than the present? In the here and now, using this Super Bowl game only as a barometer, it’s not fair to wonder if Maye is on track to take the “next step” normally assigned to young athletes coming off promising seasons.
All three of May’s interceptions came in the fourth quarter. Last, but not the only New England Week 2 kickoff against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sept. 20 at Gillette Stadium that will be replayed, rehashed and undone by Pats fans. It was the decision-making process that was the problem, and Maye’s judgment here suggests that he was sick of the day when he taught the game the importance of not taking reckless chances. before Your team has a chance to score a field goal that could send the game into overtime.
The Seahawks beat the Patriots to start the 2026 NFL season
So on third-and-5 from Seattle’s 16 with 26 seconds left, Maye looked to his right and threw a pass intended for Mack Hollins. Seattle’s Josh Jobe intercepted. Unless the pass met the legal definition of one, it had a Hail Mary clue. Not with Patriots kicker Andy Borregales all warmed up and ready to attempt the field goal that would have everyone watching as the NFL’s much talked about “kickoff game” was decided in overtime.
It wasn’t just May’s terrible pass attempt. Earlier in the game, he threw a low ball to new Pats receiver AJ Brown, and Seattle cornerback Nehemiah Pritchett’s right knee landed on Brown’s right ankle. Brown left the game and did not return.. Of course, that’s beside the point, Brown’s extended absence from the Patriots on May 7, 2010. Yes, the pass that sent Pritchett’s 190-pounder into Brown’s ankle was a poorly thrown ball, as Maye himself said: “I threw one low. I should have hit him in the chest. Even though the play drew a pass interference call, Maye threw Brown on the snap. (Maye scored a two-yard touchdown pass to rookie tight end Eli Raridon on the next play.) touch it.)
There are bad passes… and then trying to win the game on a walk-off TD waiting to kick the next game’s field goal. In this case, a quarterback should have only two targets: the middle of the designated receiver or the front of the fan in the fifth row of the end zone seats.
Anything in between isn’t just a bad pass. It’s a really, really, really bad idea.
“I was impatient and it cost us. There were decisions on my part that cost us the game,” Maye said.
Athletics LIVE reaction to Drake Maye’s third interception against Seattle
Daniel Popper
In that response, May was talking about a chaotic fourth quarter in which New England blew a 10-3 lead. Maye hit the trifecta with those interceptions. In the first, the Seahawks responded with a five-play drive, including a short pass from Drew Lock (Submission to the injured Sam Darnold) to Jaxon Smith-Njigba on a 45-yard touchdown conversion. On second down, the Seahawks moved the ball to the New England 8, where Jason Myers kicked a 26-yard field goal to give Seattle the lead.
And then there was that third interception, which sent thousands of overjoyed Seahawks fans flooding the streets of Seattle.
“It was something where we had some protection and we were cutting, and I was trying to avoid it, realize that Mack was back,” Maye said. “And I didn’t put enough into it to get it out, and it was unacceptable.
Drake Maye’s carelessness with the football cost the Patriots in Week 1. (Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
Last year’s Patriots were drawn to a soft schedule for the Guardian Saints. But every season has teams with soft schedules, and most of them don’t make it to the Super Bowl. This means the Patriots don’t have to be penalized as long as the 25 Patriots go. But take that criticism and then it’s easy to make the leap that Maye and the Patriots weren’t ready to play in the Super Bowl from Seattle and wanted to make a statement Wednesday night. If that’s their goal, and especially if it’s Maye’s goal, then good for everyone. Billboard material will always have a place in competitive sports.
But May made the announcement in extra time. Instead, he threw a ball that not only hit the center of the receiver, but the fan in the fifth row.
Maye had seven months to get that Super Bowl loss to Seattle out of his head, if he ever had to. This time, he has just 11 days to get Seattle — and that pass — out of his head. His development as an elite NFL quarterback depends on it.
