Roughly seven months have passed since the Seattle Seahawks defeated the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX. The Seahawks’ defense made life challenging for Drake Maye in that game.
While Maye threw for 295 passing yards and two touchdowns, the Seattle defense sacked the Patriots QB six times and picked him off twice. Byron Murphy II and Derick Hall recorded two sacks each in that game.
Now, the Patriots and Seahawks will open up the 2026 NFL season on Sept. 9, and ahead of this Week 1 game, Maye was asked whether he’s now better prepared to face the Seattle defense.
“You’d like to think you are, but it’s really when you’re out there and you have to react,” Maye told reporters on Sept. 5 about facing the Seahawks defense a few months later. “You have some urgency, and we have to get ready to play at their place. It’s going to be a tough environment.
“They’re well-coached. They have great players, and we have a good team. I’m looking forward to seeing what we have. We’ve been practicing, like everybody in the league has, and we feel like we want to play a game. This is when it matters, and I’m looking forward to getting out there for a tough challenge. I’m excited to see us go out there and play, and we have to play well to win.”
What Makes Seahawks’ Defense So Challenging
Moreover, Maye recalled the Super Bowl LX matchup and shared what makes the Seahawks defense so challenging to face. While Seattle did lose players this past offseason in free agency, such as Riq Woolen, Boye Mafe, and Coby Bryant, the two players who sacked him twice each are still there, as are other key players.
“They’re good at all three levels,” Maye added. “I think that’s the biggest thing. They play hard. They play the right way. They’re physical, and you can tell that in that defensive room, defensive unit meeting, they got an identity, and you can see it on tape. They fly around. They do the little things right, and they hit you, and they go after the ball, and they push into the pocket, and they got good rushers, and they change it up and can give you different looks.
“But at the same time, it’s pretty tough when they can play you in a split-safety shell and stop the run. So we got to find ways to be able to keep the chains moving. I know that there’s some plays I wish I had back, and I know that you can’t get those plays back looking back at the Super Bowl. You’ve got to execute them when they happen. And I think that’s kind of their motto, and I think they’re really well coached.”
A.J. Brown Will Prove to Be Major X-Factor
When the Patriots take the field in Week 1 against the Seahawks, Maye will have one weapon he didn’t have in Super Bowl LX: A.J. Brown. Ahead of the Week 1 opener, ESPN NFL analyst Mina Kimes believes that the Patriots could use Brown to exploit the Seahawks’ secondary.
“I am so excited to see A.J. Brown in this offense, and I know that sounds like it would be an obvious X factor for any Patriots game, but I would say it’s uniquely important in the Seahawks game because the Seahawks corner who I think you would have had on A.J. Brown last year, the only one on the team who had the size and the length to keep up with A.J. Brown, well, Riq Woolen’s a Philadelphia Eagle now,” Kimes said during a Sept. 4 appearance on “SportsCenter.”
“So I’m not sure how Seattle’s going to handle him. I’m sure they’re going to take a group approach. This is an injured secondary going into this game and A.J. Brown is likely to be a big factor.”
Patriots’ Drake Maye Gets Candid About Seahawks Defense Before Week 1