The New England Patriots snatched defeat from the jaws of victory in their Week 1 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. One of the biggest culprits was star quarterback Drake Maye.
In the final three drives of the game, Maye threw three-straight interceptions. The last of which was a duck into the endzone, which never had a chance of being caught. The Patriots were in field goal range at that point, and would likely have tied the game to force overtime. Instead, they took an ugly loss.
Maye’s first interception was on a deep ball to Romeo Doubs, which ended up being a bad decision into double coverage. The second was behind DeMario Douglas, who fell down on the play.
In the end, Maye was just 23 for 33 passing. He had 178 yards, 1 touchdown, and 3 interceptions. He also rushed for 47 yards. It wasn’t the campaign he was looking for if he wanted to win his own MVP.
New England Patriots QB Drake Maye Reacts to Interceptions
After the game, Drake Maye took the blame for the interceptions himself. In particular, for how he lost patience trying to make plays.
“I just stopped being patient,” Maye said. “I think that’s the big thing. We were really good up to the point where I forced one up the sideline to Romeo. When we were patient and dumping it off, and trying to move the chains, avoided a lot of three-and-outs.”
In 2025, Maye threw 8 interceptions over the course of the entire regular season. That ability to protect the ball was a major reason why the Patriots won the AFC East. In particular, when they were able to combine it with the explosive plays that Maye was trying to force in the loss to the Seahawks.
“That was something — we just try to earn more plays and the explosives come. So, just stopped being patient and made decisions that cost us the game,” Maye said.
Turnovers have been an issue for Maye against Seattle. In the Super Bowl, he had three major turnovers, including two interceptions and a fumble. On Wednesday, he had another three major turnovers. The Patriots can’t let that become a trend against other teams.
Patriots Players Back Drake Maye Amid Struggles
If there was any doubt that the Patriots are still confident in Drake Maye, then the team made sure to put that to rest following the game. Multiple players would publicly back him up amid those struggles.
“All the confidence in the world in Drake,” defensive back Carlton Davis said. “He’s our guy. We’re gonna stick together right now. We move forward.”
At the end of the 2026 run, left tackle Will Campbell was being widely criticized. He had internal support, though, and played a much better game in Week 1 than he did in the Super Bowl. Now, he wanted to make it clear that he’s also backing up his quarterback.
“Man, I told him we’re riding with him any day of the week and twice on Sunday,” Campbell said.
That doesn’t mean the Patriots don’t need more out of Maye. They do. For now, though, it’s just one game and one game is something that both the team and Maye can bounce back from. After all, this same team opened 2025 with a loss to the Las Vegas Raiders. So, it’s worth remembering that Week 1 is just one game.
Patriots QB Drake Maye Reacts to Disastrous Interceptions in Seahawks Loss