Courtesy of Caleb Woods
Drake Maye was just sacked again. If you tuned into the Super Bowl on Sunday night this was a recurring theme of the big game. The Patriots played in their first Super Bowl since 2019 and first Super Bowl without Hall of Fame Quarterback Tom Brady and legendary Head Coach Bill Belichick. They faced off against the Seattle Seahawks, a former foe in a rematch of Super Bowl 49. While their previous faceoff dramatically went New England’s way with a late goalline interception to seal the game for the Patriots, this matchup went much differently.
The Patriots were dominated from start to finish in what ended up being a frustrating night for many local Conn students watching with their friends. The final score of 29-13 in favor of Seattle reflected this domination. Seahawks Quarterback, Sam Darnold, threw for 202 passing yards and one touchdown. The main proponent for the Seahawks success offensively was 4th year running back, and Super Bowl MVP, Kenneth Walker III. Walker rushed for 135 yards on 27 carries in a slow day for both offenses. When Seattle was struggling to move the ball early in the game, Walker always seemed to be there to jump start the offense. The Seahawks offense, however, was flawed and largely unsuccessful throughout—the main supporter of their success was their defense. They were able to sack Patriots’ Quarterback, Drake Maye, six times just one short of tying the record for most team sacks in the Super Bowl. Maye was also intercepted twice, both in the second half and fumbled once. New England was shutout in the first half and both of their touchdowns seemed to come when it was too little too late.
Coming into the big game, a lot of people were expecting a high-scoring affair with AFC Most Valuable Player (MVP) runner-up Maye leading the charge, but it obviously did not pan out that way. Just three days before the game, Maye came in second for NFL MVP but ultimately lost out by just one vote to Los Angeles Rams star Quarterback Matthew Stafford. Maye, unfortunately, looked a shell of his former self against Seattle and was unable to prove that he deserved the MVP in the biggest game of the year. Despite his stellar performances this season, Maye came into the game with many still doubting his abilities. While earning an impressive 14-3 record in the regular season, detractors pointed to his opponents citing a historically weak schedule for the Patriots this season with just a .391 strength of schedule score, which is an average of all New England’s opponents winning percentage this season. This was the worst strength of schedule in the NFL in the 21st century and the third worst in the last 50 years.
They then had, what many argued, was a very weak path to the Super Bowl capped off by playing the Denver Broncos and their backup quarterback, Jarrett Stidham, in the game to reach the Super Bowl which New England won 10-7. The Super Bowl was Maye’s chance to prove the doubters wrong and win against an elite Seattle Seahawks team but he was unable to find any solutions for the Seahawks drowning defense looking helpless all night long.
For Seattle, it was a glorious day for their franchise, winning their first Super Bowl in 12 years and doing so in dominating fashion. Leading the charge was their quarterback, Sam Darnold, who has overcome tremendous adversity to get to this moment. Darnold was drafted third overall in the 2018 NFL Draft by the New York Jets and struggled all throughout his time there. He was eventually released by New York and bounced around the league from Carolina to San Francisco, ultimately landing a spot as a temporary solution at quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings. To most people’s surprise, Darnold played exceptionally well for Minnesota, leading them to a 14-3 record, but after playing poorly in the first round of the playoffs and losing to the Rams, Minnesota decided not to lock him down as a long-term starter. Seattle, seeing his ability, pounced on the opportunity to sign the Journeyman and the rest was history. He led them to become Super Bowl champions in his first season at the helm.
His journey to the pinnacle of the sport shows outstanding perseverance and optimism in the face of adversity. For New England, they will feel disappointed by the result but also happy about a great season. They appear to have their franchise quarterback to lead them into the future and have all the pieces around him to compete for a Super Bowl in the coming years. You will no doubt hear people around campus saying “We will be back.” That being said, you can’t help but view this as a missed opportunity. Many great young players and great young teams have reached the Super Bowl—even winning it all—and the prevailing narrative has been, “We will be back.” But oftentimes they never are. Look at Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers, or Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints. Two all-time great quarterbacks who won Super Bowls early in their careers with young teams but were never able to make it back to the big game. As bright as the future looks for the New England Patriots you never know when your next opportunity will come.
