The New England Patriots’ magical season ultimately came to an atrocious end with their 29-13 loss to the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl LX.
It’s somewhat surprising the way things unfolded, as the team who was supposed to have nothing to lose looked tight — whiffing on sacks, missing tackles in the open field, failing to get any sort of push at the line of scrimmage, and allowing simple stunts to confuse them and put the quarterback in harm’s way.
If they didn’t play that way, it probably still would have been much of the same…
Drake Maye faced immense pressure throughout the afternoon and into the evening, as he was sacked three times and completed just six passes during the first half — the majority of which were caught at or behind the line of scrimmage — while being sacked three more times and ultimately giving the game away with his three turnovers in the second half.
Will Campbell and Jared Wilson, the first rookie duo to start on the same offensive line in the Super Bowl, looked… well, like the first rookie duo to start on the same offensive line in the Super Bowl — allowing three total sacks between them. Austin Hooper and Rhamondre Stevenson essentially served as the sixth and seventh offensive linemen during the middle stages of the game, because anything else would have been malpractice.
Story continues below advertisement
If you can’t protect the quarterback, you aren’t going to win the game, and they just couldn’t figure out how to do it.
Seattle’s defense literally did whatever the hell it wanted to do on Sunday.
New England brought that classic “bend but don’t break” mentality to the table defensively, standing strong in the red zone and forcing five (successful) field goal attempts and allowing just one touchdown, but ultimately saw the little things keep it from performing to the level it needed to.
Story continues below advertisement
Sam Darnold wasn’t a game-changer by any means, but he avoided making disastrous plays and kept his unit on the field long enough to actually put points on the board routinely.
Kenneth Walker was superb, picking up 135 rushing yards and 26 receiving yards — serving as the only offensively player in the game who routinely provided his team with a spark. Jaxon Smith-Njigba missed the majority of the second half. Rashid Shaheed was a net-zero. Cooper Kupp was meh.
Story continues below advertisement
Walker was the man who made all the difference.
Craig Woodson, Christian Gonzalez and Milton Williams — three tackles for loss, three pass deflections, five pressures — put together tremendous individual performances, but nothing mattered considering what was happening on the other side of the ball.
It’s ultimately as disappointing an end as anyone could possibly have imagined, but taking a step back might help put this season in perspective.
Story continues below advertisement
Maye, despite playing his worst game on the biggest stage, is the guy. Gonzalez and Williams are foundational pieces on what can be a truly dominant defensive unit for years to come. Mike Vrabel established the right culture, and has a much shorter climb to the mountain top than we ever thought.
It’s not going to make anyone feel better right now, but perhaps in the coming days, weeks and months?
Story continues below advertisement
I’ve been one of the many who viewed this run as playing with house money — so the season as a whole can be considered a win in my book, if not one hell of a stepping stone toward the future. I’d imagine it will take some time for those with a rooting interest to come to that conclusion — if they ever do — but there’s no reason to view this season as a failure given its horrific end.
Disappointing? Yes.
Ugly. You bet.
Story continues below advertisement
Failure? Anything but.
I won’t lie to you, though — it was bad.
