Drake Maye's Three Fourth-Quarter Interceptions Sink Patriots in Seahawks Rematch
A quarterback with a real chance to steal a signature win instead threw it away three times in the fourth quarter alone.
The Seahawks beat the Patriots 13-10 in a Super Bowl LX rematch Wednesday night at Lumen Field, with New England quarterback Drake Maye throwing three interceptions in the fourth quarter — the first three-interception game of his career — including a needless final throw into the end zone that sealed the loss with 26 seconds left.
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Maye, 23, finished 178 yards passing with one touchdown to go with the three picks, all of them drive-ending. On the last one, facing third-and-5 from Seattle's 16-yard line with a chance to at least tie the game with a field goal, Maye lofted a pass toward Mack Hollins in double coverage instead — Seahawks cornerback Josh Jobe, 27, stepped in front of it and got both feet down in the end zone to end it. The collapse was especially jarring given how the game started: New England actually built a 10-0 lead early in the third quarter before the wheels came off on three straight possessions, and the Patriots became the first NFL team in roughly 30 years to throw three or more interceptions, take three or more sacks, and commit three or more penalties while scoring zero points in a single quarter.
"Drake Maye Got Crowned Too Quickly," "Deserves to Get Slandered" — the online pile-on was immediate and brutal, with fans posting that he was "awful," that backup Drew Lock was "outplaying" him, and that he "just cost his team the game."— NFL fan reaction, via Pro Football Network
"I don’t see Patrick Mahomes, with the ACL recovery, carrying his team like he normally does" — a different Week 1 quarterback, a similar strain of skepticism: Maye’s own bust-talk was already building before this game, and Hall of Famer Kurt Warner’s defense of him — that he’s "shown enough that the guys believe he’s going to make plays for them" — will be tested hard after this one.— Kurt Warner, Pro Football Hall of Famer
Our take: one bad half doesn't erase a real breakout season, but the manner of this loss is exactly what feeds a bust narrative — a young quarterback with a golden opportunity against a backup-QB-led defense, forcing a throw he never needed to make. New England's front office bet big on Maye being the long-term answer — trading for A.J. Brown, spending real draft capital, building the whole offense around him — and Wednesday night gave his loudest doubters real fuel, not just noise. A Week 2 home game against Pittsburgh is the fastest possible chance to change the conversation before it hardens into something harder to shake. Maye himself didn't dodge blame afterward, saying, "Thought we had a good plan to start chipping away and be patient and lost patience and it cost us," and calling his own performance "unacceptable" — a genuinely direct admission that, if anything, works in his favor with a fan base that reacts far worse to deflection than to a quarterback who owns a bad night outright. What's also worth remembering: all three interceptions came on deep throws of 20-plus air yards, and Maye completed just three of eight attempts on those same deep looks for only 44 total yards, a real accuracy problem specific to one part of his game rather than a full-performance collapse.
What's Next: Patriots Host Pittsburgh in Week 2
Drake Maye throws three fourth-quarter interceptions, the first three-INT game of his career.
Maye's end-zone throw to Mack Hollins is picked off by Josh Jobe, sealing a 13-10 Seahawks win.
Patriots host Pittsburgh at Gillette Stadium in Week 2, a real chance to answer questions fast.
A real opportunity, squandered in the fourth quarter — New England now has to answer the Drake Maye question again, one week sooner than it wanted to.
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Sources: NBC Sports, Pro Football Network, NBC News