The Patriots offensive line is under the microscope again this week, with a new report connecting line performance directly to how quarterback Drake Maye held up in the Super Bowl loss to Seattle. The Patriots and Seattle are set to play again Wednesday night, and the report frames that next meeting as a test of whether anything has actually changed.
The Game At The Center Of The Story
The source is built around one question: can the Patriots offensive line protect Maye better than it did the last time these teams met. The Patriots lost the Super Bowl to Seattle, and the report walks through exactly how that protection broke down.
The Opening Drive That Started It
The article walks through the Super Bowl’s opening drive in detail. After two first downs built on Rhamondre Stevenson’s running and receiving, play caller Josh McDaniels tried to keep using outside receivers on long throws down the field while Hunter Henry and Pop Douglas worked the short parts of the field. That plan broke down fast.
- Jared Wilson’s extra help meant to protect Will Campbell instead freed Campbell’s assigned defender, Derick Hall, who brought Maye down for a loss.
- On the very next play, Maye left a clear pocket, missing an open Stefon Diggs down the middle of the field and open looks close by from both TreVeyon Henderson and Hunter Henry.
- On third down, Seattle head coach and play caller Mike Macdonald sent extra pressure at Maye through defender Devon Witherspoon — the Patriots let Campbell and Wilson both take the same man, leaving Witherspoon free to reach Maye, who ran right and threw the ball away.
Maye had faced constant pressure for the entirety of the playoffs before that drive, according to the report, and this sequence was a sign of things to come for Maye and the Patriots that day.
Witherspoon’s Explanation
Witherspoon offered his own account of why it worked, according to comments given after the game. He said Seattle had a tell on the Patriots’ guards and the men on the outside, based on how they liked to set. He said the Patriots would set too far on certain rushes, and that they would fall for certain moves as a result.
That is a small detail. But it is doing a lot of work in the current Patriots reporting.
What The Patriots Are Saying Now
The Patriots have not publicly admitted that those tells existed, even months later. Morgan Moses declined to engage with the question this week. Line coach Doug Marrone also avoided confirming it directly on Sunday.
Marrone said it is something the team watches closely on its own, and that the goal is to make everything look as steady as possible. He said there are situations in games where a team falls behind and has to throw the football, and in those moments almost any team would do the same. He added that in the final two minutes with no timeout left, the same is true — what a team does not want to do is give away its plan in situations where either call is possible.
McDaniels Takes The Blame
McDaniels, by contrast, did not avoid the question when asked how Seattle had tested the protection plan. He said the fault was his own, and that Seattle had beaten the Patriots at nearly every part of the game. He credited Seattle’s rush ideas and its choices about when to send extra pressure and when to hold back.
That is a striking admission from the man calling the plays.
Looking Ahead To Wednesday Night
McDaniels said the team has taken lessons from that game into this one. He said there is a lot the team learned. But he said this will be a different game and a new year, with some different players on both sides.
He said Seattle found real opportunities last year, and said he trusted the team had done a good job trying to limit those chances again Wednesday night. Marrone’s careful answers and McDaniels’ open admission point to two different ways the same team is handling one hard truth: Seattle read them once, and Wednesday night will show whether that reading still works.
Source: bostonsportsjournal.com