The New England Patriots got another reminder Wednesday night that defenses may have found one way to make Drake Maye uncomfortable.
Seattle leaned heavily on split-safety coverages in its 13-10 season-opening win, and Patriots.com’s Evan Lazar came away from his film review believing the approach could become a recurring challenge for New England’s quarterback.
According to Lazar’s charting, Maye saw split-safety coverage on 57.1% of his drop-backs against the Seattle Seahawks. That followed a 51.3% two-high safety rate during New England’s 2025 playoff run.
The strategy largely worked because Maye initially accepted the shorter throws Seattle was conceding. His night unraveled when he began pushing the ball farther downfield.
“Maye will keep seeing this blueprint now that opponents are game-planning to take away his deep ball by putting an umbrella over the Patriots offense,” Lazar wrote in his Sept. 10 film review.
Maye finished 23-of-33 for 178 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions. All three picks came in the fourth quarter.
Seahawks Again Test Maye With Split-Safety Looks
The similarity to Super Bowl LX is difficult to overlook.
In February, Lazar’s film review found Seattle frequently used Cover 6 while also stressing New England with defensive back pressure. The Seahawks majored in Cover 6 on 22 snaps in their 29-13 Super Bowl victory and made life difficult for Maye with two-high safeties even when rushing four.
The Week 1 rematch brought various wrinkles, but Seattle again asked Maye to stay patient against an umbrella-style defense.
For three quarters, he largely did. Lazar charted eight “plus plays” against four negative throws or decisions over that stretch. In the fourth quarter, the ratio flipped to seven negatives and four positives.
Maye’s average depth of target also told the story. He averaged only 2.4 air yards per attempt through the first three quarters before jumping to 13.6 in the fourth.
Per NFL.com, Maye was 20-of-23 for 134 yards and a TD on throws under 10 air yards, with a +8.9% completion percentage over expected. On throws 10-plus yards downfield, he fell to 3-of-8 for 44 yards, three interceptions and a -12.7% CPOE (Completion Percentage Over Expected).
Even more striking: Maye was 0-of-4 with three interceptions on throws of 20-plus air yards. And in Cover 6, which was among the looks where he struggled last night, Maye ranked 32nd among 33 qualified quarterbacks in EPA per play in 2025.
Maye Admits He Lost Patience Late
Maye didn’t blame Seattle’s scheme after the loss. He put the fourth-quarter collapse on himself.
“I just stopped being patient,” Maye told reporters after the game. “We were patient and dumping it off and trying to move the chains … just stopped being patient and made decisions that ended up, like I said, cost us the game.”
Mike Vrabel struck a similar tone, saying New England wants its offense to be “aggressive and just not reckless.”
That balance could become one of the defining early tests of Maye’s third season.
The quarterback’s aggressiveness is part of what makes him dangerous. He finished second in MVP voting last season after throwing for 4,394 yards and 31 touchdowns while routinely creating explosive plays downfield.
Seattle’s formula is designed to make those opportunities harder to find. If defenses can entice Maye into forcing deep throws after a steady diet of checkdowns and shorter completions, New England may continue seeing variations of the same plan.
The first three quarters showed Maye can operate within that approach. The issues showed up when patience disappeared.
As for a quarterback coming off a breakout season, solving that coverage problem could be one of the next eminent steps.
Patriots’ Drake Maye Has Troubling Weakness Resurface in Seahawks Loss