Drake Maye’s night against the Seattle Seahawks went off the rails fast, and by the end of it, the criticism from Boston was just as brutal as the stat line.
The New England Patriots quarterback had trouble pushing the ball deep, and the fourth quarter turned into a nightmare. New England also couldn’t finish off a 10-point second-half lead against a Seahawks team playing without starting quarterback Sam Darnold.
Maye’s final sequence was especially damaging: with the Patriots in field goal range, managing the clock and looking set to force overtime, he floated a pass to the front of the end zone that landed in a spot only a Seahawks defender could reach. It was picked off, and that was that.
That interception was part of a stretch that put Maye in a very rough place statistically. According to analytics guru Ryan Paganetti, he became only the second quarterback in 30 years to throw an interception on three straight drives in the fourth quarter with his team leading, tied, or trailing by no more than three points before each one.
The reaction in Boston was immediate, and one radio show in particular did not hold back. On Patriots Postgame on 98.5 The Sports Hub, host Mark Dondero said the Patriots tried to "hide" Maye all night with "high school plays."
Dondero went even further, saying Maye made one "NFL throw" but made "high school plays all night long." He also called the last interception in the end zone "incomprehensible and disgusting," and described it as "befuddling."
The numbers on his downfield passing only made the night look worse. Pro Football Focus noted that on throws of 20-plus yards, Maye finished 0-of-4 with three interceptions.
It was a rough opening to the 2026 NFL season, and Maye will need a much better Week 2 against the Pittsburgh Steelers. After last year’s playoffs and this opener, there’s already concern about where his play stands, and the next game will show whether he can steady things quickly.
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