On Wednesday night, Drake Maye reminded us he’s far from a finished product. The third-year pro, who damn near won the MVP a season ago, unraveled in the final quarter of the season opener, throwing not one, not two but three interceptions. The last came in the final minute, with the Patriots threatening to snatch a win from the jaws of defeat, jaws that Maye had put them in to begin with.
“I mean, you can't throw three interceptions,” Mike Vrabel said in the postgame. “Drake knows that.”
He does, and Maye took to the podium a short time after, owning what had just happened.
“Lost patience and it cost us,” he said, matter-of-factly. “I think there were just decisions that cost us the game, you know, on my part and my end. And I balance myself to be better and realize it's a long season, but at the same time, you can't have those. You can't have those, and it's unacceptable.”
Unacceptable, and out of character from how Maye had played the first three quarters of the game. That player was the one we had seen all spring and summer long. Maye was in complete command, unruffled by the environment, the quality of the opponent, or the wizardry of that Mike Macdonald defense that humbled the Patriots back in February.
The 24-year-old displayed poise in the face of blitz packages that had stripped him bare on Super Bowl Sunday, either getting rid of the ball quickly or utilizing his athleticism on designed boots or rollouts to throw short or tuck it and run.
That all changed with the ill-advised decision to push the ball down the left sideline to Romeo Doubs. The throw was not well-placed, and inevitably intercepted. That was when the night turned.
“We were really good up to the point where I tried to put force one down the sideline to Romeo,” Maye said. “We were patient and dumping it off and moving the chains and avoided a lot of three-and-outs.”
The second interception was worse. He tried to go back shoulder on a ball down to the seam to his smallest receiver, Pop Douglas. Pop slipped, but it wouldn’t have mattered. He had no chance. The ensuing Seahawks drive broke the 10-10 tie, but with enough time left on the clock (just under 6 minutes remaining), Maye had a chance for redemption. He almost did it.
Maye overcame a Will Campbell penalty and a short sack (Alijah Vera-Tucker’s responsibility) to deliver a 19-yard dart to Mack Hollins, then, after a failed third-down throw, got outside the pocket on 4th down and scrambled for five yards to keep the drive alive.
Later, faced with a 3rd-and-19, Maye worked his magic again, first wisely taking Hunter Henry for 10 yards, then again converting on 4th down, this time to Hollins on a slant. That put the Pats at the Seattle 36-yard line. With Andy Borregales’ leg, they were in range, but there was still 1:30 remaining.
“We're trying to be aggressive and obviously win the football game, but not reckless,” Vrabel said of the approach in that spot, adding, “The offense did a great job of battling back with the fourth down conversion and putting ourselves in a position.”
The Pats were leaking a little in pass protection at this point and kept getting themselves into bad down-and-distance situations. Maye took a sack on a first-and-10 from the 21 but went back to Hollins to put them in a more manageable situation. Then the unthinkable happened: the third pick, when three points and overtime were all but guaranteed.
The play was designed to be a quick hitter. You can tell with Morgan Moses trying to cut his defender a split second after the snap. But something got screwed up, and Maye’s floater into the end zone ended up in the wrong hands. Shortly after, the Seahawks were taking a knee, and the quarterback trotted into the locker room with a pained, somewhat bewildered look on his face.
“We have nothing but the utmost confidence in him and everybody on this football team,” Vrabel made a point of saying. “He's going to make a lot of plays for us.”
“These guys are here for me,” Maye said, almost reminding himself of that fact. “I think they've done a great job supporting me and have my back. So I gotta, you know. earn their trust… and I know I have their trust, but I gotta keep on putting better football out there.”
There’s no question he’s capable - again, he could have easily won the MVP last year. However, in his first game to start the new year, Maye found himself back in that same place he was in February, trying hard to process a loss he didn’t see coming.