Drake Maye’s 3-interception night has Patriots fans worried about one word

| Getty Images After the New England Patriots made a dream run to Super Bowl LX, New England Patriots fans entered the 2026 season hoping for something even bigger in the year ahead. With the acquisition of A.J. Brown, as well as additions along the offensive line and elsewhere, there were hopes that the team could take a step forward, and prove that last season was not a fluke. But there was one word in the back of every Patriots fan’s mind, one that might give them a little pause before the season began. And that word might be at the front of their minds right now. Regression. Certainly there was fear that the team could take a step back, given that instead of facing a schedule with a winning percentage of .391 — the lowest a team faced while advancing to a Super Bowl — but specifically from quarterback Drake Maye. Against that schedule a season ago, Maye played himself into MVP consideration, thanks to a combination of success when pushing the ball downfield, and an ability to avoid costly mistakes. Maye led the NFL in several statistical categories, including Yards per Attempt (8.9), Adjusted Yards per Attempt (9.5), QBR (77.5), Net Yards Per Attempt (7.8), and Adjusted Yards per Attempt (8.3). He did that while throwing just eight interceptions all year. But on opening night in Seattle, he threw three, including one that he called “unacceptable,” a turnover that ended any chance of a New England win. The first was a classic example of a quarterback trying to do too much. New England had a 10-3 lead early in the fourth quarter and faced 2nd and 9 at the Seattle 45-yard line. Working off of play-action, Maye has a deep curl route from Mack Hollins and a vertical route from Romeo Doubs to choose from. He tries to hit the vertical route, forcing a throw — an underthrown one at that — into coverage that is tipped and intercepted: What a way to start the day … — Mark Schofield (@markschofield.bsky.social) 2026-09-10T11:10:15.968Z Speaking after the game, Maye called this play an example of not being “patient” as a quarterback: Oh, definitely. I just stopped being patient. I think that’s the big thing. We were really good up to the point where I tried to force one down the sideline to Romeo [Doubs], where we were patient and dumping it off and trying to move the chains. And we avoided a lot of 3-and-outs, and that was something we try to just earn more plays in the explosive. So, just stopped being patient and made decisions that ended up, like I said, that cost us the game. (Transcript provided by PatsFans.com). Seattle tied the game on their ensuing possession, and the Patriots did not help themselves on their next drive, as an illegal block penalty on the kickoff saw New England start the drive on their own 10-yard line. While they picked up a first down, they faced 3rd-and-14 on their own 22-yard line a few plays later. Enter interception number two: Stared this one down a bit … — Mark Schofield (@markschofield.bsky.social) 2026-09-10T11:20:49.212Z The Patriots dial up a vertical concept, with go routes to the outside from Mack Hollins and Doubs, with another vertical route from Pop Douglas in the slot. Seattle drops into a Cover 6 look here, with the Cover 2 side over the combination of Douglas and Doubs, and the Cover 4 side to Hollins. While Douglas and Maye do not seem on the same page, the bigger problem might be Maye’s eyes. As you can see from the end zone angle, he gives the route to Douglas a long look, leading safety Julian Love right to the football. Despite those two mistakes, the Patriots still had a chance to salvage the night with a win. Following this second interception, New England’s defense held Seattle to a field goal to make it a 13-10 game, and the Patriots had just under six minutes to retake the lead, or at least force overtime. New England moved right into field goal range, converting a 4th-and-2 at one point on a bootleg from Maye to extend the drive. After a Rhamondre Stevenson run picked up eight yards and moved New England down to the Seattle 28-yard line, the Seahawks burned their final timeout, giving New England full control of the clock. But with just 26 seconds remaining, and the Patriots facing 3rd-and-5 at the Seattle 16-yard line, this happened: Inexplicable decision, but watch the athleticism from Lawrence on the edge. New England had been using cut blocks on the edges last night, but he hurdles the attempt, keeps Maye in the pocket, and pressures him into a … decision — Mark Schofield (@markschofield.bsky.social) 2026-09-10T11:32:37.339Z We’ll get to Maye’s decision in a moment, but full credit to Dexter Lawrence on the edge. New England was asking tackles Will Campbell and Morgan Moses to cut block on the edges often, as a way of slowing down the Seattle pass rush. Lawrence hurdles Moses and then stays in perfect position, keeping Maye in the pocket and pressuring him into making a decision. A poor one at that. Maye said as much after the loss: Yeah, I think we had the game under control. I thought we had a good plan to try to start chipping away and be patient. And I lost patience, and it cost us. I think it’s just decisions that cost us the game, on my part and my end. And I vowed to myself to be better and realize it’s a long season, but at the same time, you can’t have those. You can’t have those. And it’s unacceptable. And I know that I’ve got to get back to work because that wasn’t how I play football and how I want to represent my game and playing quarterback for the Patriots. Maye then discussed the final play: Yeah, it was something where we had a certain protection on where we were cutting, and I was trying to get rid of it and realized we were – Mack was back there in the back and didn’t put enough on it to get it out. And it was just unacceptable. We had a chance to send it to overtime at the worst. And the only thing you can do is turn the ball over. And that’s what I did. With the third interception, Maye finished the night having completed 23-of-33 passes for 178 yards, a touchdown, and three interceptions. While it was not all bad — he made some big plays with his legs and, until the fourth quarter at least, seemed to have answers for Seattle’s defense — those three interceptions are the headline. One Week 1 loss does not make a season, and the Patriots know this as well as anyone. Last year began with an underwhelming 20-13 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders, a team that went on to secure the first-overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. But the Patriots have games against three AFC playoff hopefuls over the next three weeks: The Pittsburgh Steelers, the Jacksonville Jaguars, and the Buffalo Bills. And the version of Maye we saw Wednesday night in Seattle, the impatient version, could struggle against those teams as well. One game does not a season make, but Wednesday night’s loss does have Patriots fans thinking about that one word. Regression.

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