It’s usually a mistake to blow up after one game. But the New England Patriots made that awfully difficult with a 13-10 loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Wednesday.
This was supposed to be the kind of night that tells you something real about a team. The Patriots had a chance to answer back after losing to this same Seattle group in last season’s Super Bowl.
It was a clean stage for Drake Maye and the revamped offense to show they belong back in the mix. It was also an ideal spot for the offensive line, which was rough in that Super Bowl, to show progress - and to a point, it did.
On top of that, Seattle turned to Drew Lock after the opening series, which should have made this a game New England found a way to close out.
Instead, none of it came together.
Maye turned in what was probably the worst outing of his NFL career so far: 178 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions, including one of the ugliest late-game decisions you’ll see. The Patriots also lost Brown to a high-ankle sprain, and he is expected to miss multiple weeks. Romeo Doubs had a rough night of his own, capped by a brutal fourth-quarter drop when he was all alone.
And yes, New England still lost to a Drew Lock-led team.
That’s the part that stings. There was plenty of optimism around this Patriots roster before the season, even with all the talk about last year’s schedule.
The team looked loaded on both sides of the ball, and Mike Vrabel gave them a coach with real credibility. A lot of people believed last season was supposed to be the beginning of something bigger, and that idea still isn’t dead.
But after this one, it’s a lot harder for Patriots fans to feel confident about where this season is headed.
Maye’s biggest issue as a decision-maker doesn’t look solved, and now he may be doing it without his top receiver for a stretch that includes the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Buffalo Bills. There’s even a real chance Brown doesn’t come back until the Patriots are sitting at 0-4.
Lock probably won’t face a weaker quarterback all year, and New England still couldn’t take advantage. He wasn’t the driver of Seattle’s win, but he did enough - 187 yards, a 72.7% completion rate and a touchdown - and even that was better than what Maye delivered.
One loss doesn’t erase Super Bowl hopes. But if you’re trying to imagine a worse opening-week outcome for New England, this one is pretty close to the bottom.
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Patriots Loss Just Put Mike Vrabel Under A Brutal Spotlight
A 10-0 lead and a season-opening win were both sitting there for the Patriots before the Seahawks dragged things back and left New England with a 13-10 loss in the Kickoff Game. For Mike Vrabel, it was the kind of opener that immediately puts a coach on the spot, especially after he pointed to trouble on both sides of the ball, from an ineffective running game to the inability to keep Seattle wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba in check.
The result does more than spoil an early lead on the schedule. It also turns the next stretch into a quick test of whether the Patriots can clean up the same issues before they pile up, with Pittsburgh waiting on September 20. Vrabel has work to do, and so does an offense that never settled in once the Seahawks started dictating the game. [Read more 🡒]