Patriots Failed to Help Drake Maye in Super Bowl Loss

In order for the New England Patriots' quarterback, Drake Maye, to be set up for success, he needs to be provided with certain tools to succeed.

And sure, the argument can be made that an elite quarterback who was only one vote away from the NFL's coveted MVP award certainly has enough tools to succeed on his own.

The argument becomes even more apparent when one realizes Maye previously played at an elite collegiate institution such as the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and now has an army of league offensive weapons at his disposal. However, when it comes to Super Box LX, this just wasn't the case for Drake Maye.

A young QB — Maye was in the midst of only his second year in the league at only 23 years old.

And since the Patriots' 29-13 loss in the NFL's 60th Super Bowl, social media is running rampant with blame for Maye.

"Tonight, I'd like to have [it] back," Maye said bluntly to the media postgame. "I'd like to go back to the beginning and redo it. There are so many plays that can decide and change the game ... There are numerous plays in the first half where I feel like I could have made a better throw or made a better decision. It really just comes down to who makes the plays and who doesn't. And they [the Seahawks] made plays tonight."

Patriots' O-Line Failed QB in Super Bowl LX

But here's the thing, Maye's offensive line did not allow him to reasonably succeed against Seattle.

Maye was sacked a total of six times against the Seahawks at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. His left tackle, Will Campbell, missed key blocks throughout the game that did not allow Maye the proper time to make the decisions he needed to make with the football.

As a result, the Seahawks were able to exploit key offensive flaws within New England while posting 141 rushing yards on top of 202 receiving yards — securing the 16-point victory.

While head coach Mike Vrabel was able to significantly turn the Pats franchise around and lead the Patriots to an incredible 14-3 record after they were 4-13 just the season prior, he still went into the Super Bowl LX sideline in the midst of coaching Maye for a single season.

Despite just becoming familiar with one another in their first year together, Maye said Vrabel is the core of the New England franchise.

"He was the heartbeat. No doubt about that. He was a big reason why we're here," Maye said of Vrabel postgame with emotion. "He was always the same and I'm looking forward to my relationship with him for a long time. He's a great person and a hell of a football coach."

To put it bluntly — Maye is a young quarterback with a first-year head coach. His offensive line simply did not allow him to succeed in his very first Super Bowl appearance. Had he been sacked a total of zero times while posting his 27 completions on 43 attempts, this would be a different story.

However, those are the cards he was dealt.

Patriots fans can only hope that Maye will learn from his first-ever experience in the ultimate championship game and that this will serve as a big learning lesson for the New England offensive line.

The Pats concluded the 2025-26 season by giving plenty of hope to their fanbase; the dust from the Super Bowl aftermath simply needs to settle for everyone to realize the truth.

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