PostGame Thread 2025 OFFICIAL POSTGAME THREAD: Patriots fall 29-13 to the Seahawks

[turkeyneck]

Let's be honest, Maye had receivers open for quick completions that didn't put himself in harms way but he was looking for throws down the field. The most disappointing part about last night aside from Will putting on probably the worst OL performance in SB history, was the low IQ plays by Drake.

Drake has expressed a rather immature point of view re the short game ("Checkdown Charlie"). He needs to get that schooled out of him so that he realizes that that short game is where success lives. That's the key thing I'll be looking for from him next season.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Steve Young was just on Rich Eisen.

Young implied that Maye is injured.

He is. Got is arm shot up w/ most likely Toradol.

Not sure how reliable but Butch Sterns said this am that he would not be surprised to learn he needed shoulder surgery.

 

[TomPatriot]

Steve Young was just on Rich Eisen.

Young implied that Maye is injured.

That is what it looked like. Plus, he took the needle. He seems to have sucked it up and done the best he could.

 

[sb1]

He is. Got is arm shot up w/ most likely Toradol.

Not sure how reliable but Butch Sterns said this am that he would not be surprised to learn he needed shoulder surgery.

If the next step is Dr Andrews then we know.

 

[lancerman]

Let's be honest, Maye had receivers open for quick completions that didn't put himself in harms way but he was looking for throws down the field. The most disappointing part about last night aside from Will putting on probably the worst OL performance in SB history, was the low IQ plays by Drake.

This is where Brady was a huge asset. He could carve you up in some quick throws to keep the defense offense. Maye goes for the bomb and frankly, whenever he needs to catch a receiver quick in stride on something like a screen, ball placement starts to become an issue that impacts the play

 

[dliverey44]

If he struggles at LT to start the first few games in 2026, he will probably be moved to guard or benched. He will be healthy by that point and the schedule is too tough to try and satisfy one guy.

And Vrabel is too loyal to guys. That was a criticism of him in Tennessee. And it happened last night by keeping Campbell in.

This is a very reasonable take, thank you. I am willing to give Campbell next season at LT because he still has technique issues that hopefully will be corrected. I mean the kid has basically has been playing football for a year straight, between the college season, combine/pro day prep and then right into rookie training camp/training camp. I believe the rookie wall is a thing and then on top of playing injured all came to a head in the playoffs. Same can be said for Wilson

Vrabel is loyal to a fault at times, but I am really hoping that his time away from HCing last year will have an impact on him making team decisions. Maybe I am just being to optimistic.

I think McD did not have a very good play calling night, but I also think he was hamstrung by the offense. Maye missed some reads and then missed some throws when he put the ball to the right read.

Vrabel and crew made huge strides on the defense personnel last offseason and hopefully he can do the same on the offensive side of the ball this offseason. We are a talent deficient team and were fighting way above our weight class (huge props to the coaching staff) but coaching can only take a team so far.

 

[Vindicate]

Jekyll and Hyde maybe. Like a more talented Joe Flacco?

You hope he isn't a Brett Favre where any pass could go 60 yards for a TD or 30 the other way for a pick six.

I don't think it's him, per se, I think that's the gamble with this type of offense. If your personnel are firing on all cylinders, it's a gamble you win more often than not. When it's not working, it's rough. Look at Joe Burrow. Has amazing receivers but looks pedestrian when his OL isn't giving him time.

 

[Vindicate]

I think McD did not have a very good play calling night, but I also think he was hamstrung by the offense. Maye missed some reads and then missed some throws when he put the ball to the right read.

I'm asking this legitimately because I keep hearing it, but not seeing an explanation: what do people mean by this?

Receivers were schemed to have opportunities, Maye had a hard time seeing them - or muffed them. That INT in the 4th with 8:43 is a great example - Williams had passed his defender, he could've ran for the TD. Maybe I'm blind but I have NO IDEA what Maye was thinking there. We get the TD here and the defense would've been fired TF up to get the ball back. The run showed signs of life but when it's the only life you got, it's much easier for a defense to adjust and stomp that out if the QB doesn't have time to find players/isn't seeing them.

The OL played terribly, particularly in pass-pro.

If there's any criticism to be needed of McDaniels, it's that he did not coach his QB up enough to see those opportunities. But I'm struggling to see what else could've been done from a game- planning perspective.

 

[sb1]

Gonna be fun when the league steals draft picks from the Pats for listing Maye as full participant with a more than minor shoulder injury if he has one. It would be right on brand for the league.

 

[NFL Mystique]

Gonna be fun when the league steals draft picks from the Pats for listing Maye as full participant with a more than minor shoulder injury if he has one. It would be right on brand for the league.

If he gets shoulder surgery in the offseason could the league investigate?

 

[50-yard-line]

Posted this in another thread:

Look at this stat line:
Pass/Com.......Yards..Yds per...TD....Int......Sacks.......QBR.....Rating...Rushing
....26-49.............243.......5.5.............0........2........3-27.......42.2.......52.3.........5-33

That's Mahomes against Tampa in the Superbowl. If the OL can't hold up against 4, you're in trouble.

I've been thinking a lot about what went wrong. First, Seattle is as advertised - there are few weaknesses on that team. But here's a thing we all noticed in the last offseason, and even mid-year in the trade deadline: The Pats did not expect to be in the Superbowl this year. The only older guys they brought in were to fill obvious holes and at low contracts - like Morgan Moses.

Seattle knew they were ready for a run, so they went and got Lawrence and Shaheed. Steelers, Houston, etc., did the same. The Pats were building a base like they were two years, three years, out from serious contention. So, no over-the-top stars to bring it home. Now they know where they are and they still have lots of $. And the rumors are that players like Garrett, Brown, Crosby are interested in playing for Vrabel.

There are areas to improve. I just hope that next year, the future is now.

No complaints from me, though. I was hoping they'd be in a Wild Card fight in December and maybe get a playoff game under their belts. Way ahead of schedule.

 

[sb1]

Posted this in another thread:

Look at this stat line:
Pass/Com.......Yards..Yds per...TD....Int......Sacks.......QBR.....Rating...Rushing
....26-49.............243.......5.5.............0........2........3-27.......42.2.......52.3.........5-33

That's Mahomes against Tampa in the Superbowl. If the OL can't hold up against 4, you're in trouble.

I've been thinking a lot about what went wrong. First, Seattle is as advertised - there are few weaknesses on that team. But here's a thing we all noticed in the last offseason, and even mid-year in the trade deadline: The pats did not expect to be in the Superbowl this year. The noly older guys they brought in were to fill obvious holes and at low contracts - like Morgan Moses.

Seattle knew they were ready for a run, so they went and got Lawrence and Shaheed. Steelers, Houston, etc., did the same. The Pats were building a base like they were two years, three years out from serious contention. So, no over-the-top stars to bring it home. Now they know where they are and they still have lots of $. And the rumors are that players like Garrett, Brown, Crosby are interested in playing for Vrabel.

There are areas to improve. I just hope that next year, the future is now.

No complaints from me, though. I was hoping they'd be in a Wild Card fight in December and maybe get a playoff game under their belts. Way ahead of schedule.

Great points.

And with Drake on the rise this is now a place where FA's might want to sign which certainly hasn't been the case since Brady left. They should plan accordingly. The window is starting to open now.

 

[QuantumMechanic]

PatsFans remember that play the ball had nothing on it he wasn't even hit. He was disingenuous about his shoulder Maybe that's why held on to the football so much. Regular Season Maye zipped that one in there: the WR was open.

Agreed. That was the play where I knew for sure the shoulder injury was worse than everyone was letting on.

I'm just curious if it actually happened in the Denver game or if it was earlier than that and the Denver game only aggravated it.

 

[QuantumMechanic]

It worked: they took the points all night. We were down by 9 but it felt like 60.

Once they got the lead to 12 (i.e. need 2 TDs) I more than half-seriously felt that Seattle could win the game without throwing another pass the rest of the way.

 

[203Pat]

Felt like the game plan was to wait for Darnold to implode. Instead it was Maye.

 

[Ring 6]

You just can't handle the truth: I'm over it dude. Our Offense was very Disappointing: a Defense was sending 4 and got there every time. I don't who was worse Bad Bunny or the Patriots Offense?? Misery loves company.

“Handling the truth” means having a measured adult response and not overreacting or being emotional.
That’s what I am doing you are being emotional.
We lost the SB it is what it is. That doesn’t take away from everything that got us there. That doesn’t mean 20 other games were fake.
It means adults understand how to handle disappointments and children throw temper tantrums and overreact.

 

[SVN]

Felt like the game plan was to wait for Darnold to implode. Instead it was Maye.

Yup. how many sacks did he escape!!?

 

[Ring 6]

Let's be honest, Maye had receivers open for quick completions that didn't put himself in harms way but he was looking for throws down the field. The most disappointing part about last night aside from Will putting on probably the worst OL performance in SB history, was the low IQ plays by Drake.

Do you really think we would win games by throwing that 1 yard out?

 

[Ring 6]

Drake has expressed a rather immature point of view re the short game ("Checkdown Charlie"). He needs to get that schooled out of him so that he realizes that that short game is where success lives. That's the key thing I'll be looking for from him next season.

100% disagree. Trying to turn him into a dink and dunk qb would be the worst thing you can do. He is Dan Fouts with mobility not Chad Pennington.

Think of all the big plays he made this year throwing the ball downfield replace them with 2 yard outs and tell me what our season would have been.

 

[203Pat]

Yup. how many sacks did he escape!!?

We were dogs chasing cars for most of the night. Multiple guys have him dead to rights and he slipped out. A few milliseconds earlier on even one of those plays could've force the mistake the coaching staff was likely waiting for. Credit to Darnold though for not making it.