Drake Maye reached the Seahawks’ 16-yard line with under 30 seconds left, the Patriots down three, and a field goal sitting there like the easiest path to overtime. Then he threw it. Off his back foot. Underthrown. Josh Jobe toe-tapped the interception on the sideline and walked off with the football while New England’s season opener died at 13-10.
Three fourth-quarter interceptions. Three Patriots drives. Zero points after halftime that mattered. I sat through every one of them, and the pattern was identical: lead intact, backup quarterback across the line, and Maye deciding the moment required hero ball instead of the patient offense that had built the cushion.
Sam Darnold lasted five plays before a hip injury ended his night. Drew Lock stepped in and went 16-of-22 for 187 yards with a touchdown and zero turnovers. Seattle committed nearly 100 yards of penalties and still won. That math only works when the other quarterback hands you the ball three times in the final frame.
Maye’s full line looked ordinary on the surface: 23 of 33, 178 yards, one touchdown, three picks, 54.9 rating, 47 rushing yards. Split it by quarter and the numbers stop being ordinary. Through three he completed 77 percent, threw a touchdown with no interceptions, and posted a 105.7 rating. The fourth quarter dropped him to 55 percent, zero scores, three picks, three sacks, and a 27.3 rating. Throwing the ball into the dirt repeatedly grades out higher than that.
The Patience He Named and Then Abandoned
Maye owned it the second the microphones found him. “I thought we had the game under control. We had a good plan to start chipping away and be patient, and I lost patience and it cost us. Just decisions that cost us the game on my part, on my end.” He said it again: “I stopped being patient. That was the big thing. We were really good up until the point I tried to force one down the side to Romeo.” And once more for the people in the back: “Can’t have those. It’s unacceptable.”
I believe him. The first three quarters proved he understood the plan. Dump-offs. Chain movers. Legs when the pocket collapsed. Then Nehemiah Pritchett came down with the tip-drill interception on a jump ball intended for Romeo Doubs, and Lock immediately hit Jaxon Smith-Njigba for the tying score. One play later Maye floated a ball late and behind that Julian Love turned into the setup for Jason Myers’ go-ahead kick. The final drive converted multiple fourth downs to reach field-goal range, and Maye still forced the end-zone throw to Mack Hollins. “Didn’t put enough on it,” he said. “We have a chance to send it to overtime at the worst, and the only thing you can’t do is turn the ball over.”
Mike Vrabel kept it shorter. “You can’t throw three interceptions. Drake knows that.” Correct. He also became the first quarterback to throw three interceptions in the fourth quarter of a one-score game since Tua Tagovailoa in 2022. First three-pick game of his professional or college career. More deep-ball interceptions in one night than he recorded across the entire 2025 season.
A.J. Brown’s ankle injury in the third quarter removed a safety valve. Doubs dropped a perfect ball one play before the second pick. None of that explains forcing throws into coverage when the clock and the scoreboard both screamed for the safe play. Top-tier defenses punish exactly that impulse, and Seattle’s secondary did it three times in a row.
The Super Bowl Echo Nobody Wanted
This was the Super Bowl LX rematch. Seattle raised the banner. New England flew west with a chance to prove the previous meeting was a one-off. Instead Maye replicated the late-game turnovers that already lived in the highlight packages. Julian Love’s pick felt familiar for a reason. The difference this time was the scoreboard still offered an escape hatch on the final drive, and Maye slammed it shut himself.
I keep coming back to the structure of the collapse. The Patriots held a 10-0 lead. They out-possessed Seattle. Maye ran for first downs when needed. Then the fourth quarter arrived and the decision-making flipped from managing the game to hunting it. Lock, playing his first meaningful snaps in two seasons, took one sack and protected the ball. Brian Fleury’s play-action answers gave him easy outs. Maye had the better supporting cast for most of the night and still produced the only three turnovers of the game.
The Steelers come to Foxborough next. That defense will not gift free yards either. Maye can process this as a long-season blip or as the same late-game leak that already cost him a title. His own words draw the line: lost patience, decisions that cost the game, unacceptable. The tape will not soften those sentences. Three interceptions in one quarter against a backup quarterback is the kind of night that rewrites the early narrative around a franchise quarterback whether anyone wants it to or not.
The red-zone throw with 20-odd seconds left remains the one that will loop longest. Field goal range. Overtime available. Jobe waiting on the sideline. Maye chose the hero throw again. Seattle walked out 1-0. New England left with the receipt.
