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Triumph · Feb 9, 2026

Bottom line.

The Pats caught huge breaks in the post season. To deny or ignore that fact is simply deluding yourself.

WC round - A West coast team traveling East in January only to play outdoors rarely works out. Herbert is the great white hope always turning the corner this season. I pray the Drake Maye is not the next Herbert. IIRC, LAC had OL missing.

DIV round - Houston clearly had OL issues, Both OTs were out. No Nico Collins. Stroud was turnover waiting to happen.

CONF round - Nix hurt on the last play of the DIV game. Enter Stiddy. Then include Paytons blunders.

Maye did not play like himself in the post season, but he still made enough plays to win. Maybe it was because of the cold? It was still perceived that Maye had the Clutch Gene just like Brady. But I believe that everyone knew that Maye would have to bring his A game in the Superbowl. Well, that did not happen.

Maybe we will find out that Maye is injured. That would explain a lot.

mike_usagisan · Feb 9, 2026

Ross12 said:
That was Brady's key trait, but I don't know if he was that amazing at it in his first season starting. He was good, but he was raw.

Agreed. I don't really have an answer for the OP's question. But I think Brady (among others) shows where Maye's development needs to go. He was so good for a while at being efficient but then he was having success with the chunk plays during the season that he started only looking for chunk plays.

dannydyn · Feb 9, 2026

reflexblue said:
Thats a good question, the offensive scheme was different. From what i remember there was a lot of short dink and dunk passing going on back then. If he was there last night, with the same o-line and scheme i don't think so, not to the extent we would have won the game

Thank you

TB12TheGoat · Feb 9, 2026

KCSVEN said:
Probably would look the same as the Giants and 2nd Ram Super Bowls.
Eerily similar to Giants, 4-man pressure, guys can't get open though Brady was pressured it was not to the level of last night.
Of course, he had Welker and Moss. Welker was the guy that they couldn't cover short, that's the wr the Patriots needed last night. If Brady had Pop Douglas instead of Welker would they have even scored 14?

Brady keeps it closer because he doesn't turn it over as many times, but they lose.

JAX, SD, NYG had no answer for Welker or Faulk in the 2007 playoffs. this team desperately needs something like that and Maye has to be willing to check it down and throw it short to guys like that

DC Patriots · Feb 9, 2026

Comparisons to Tom are inherently unfair. No other athlete, including Jordan and Gretzky ever utterly dominated a sport the way he did. Drake’s not a failure if he doesn’t go to 10 Superbowls and win 7. It’s also hard to look at Tom and really remember what he looked like in 2001 without seeing what he became.

I think his style and strengths might have been a better matchup vs Seattle than Drake, but there’s no real way of knowing. Given the pressure from the Seattle defense and the lack of turnovers or big ST plays, I don’t think just subbing a different QB in makes for a Pats victory, even given how well the defense played

EddardSnow67 · Feb 9, 2026

mike_usagisan said:
I can't say, but I think with Brady, it's a completely different game. Brady was master of the short yardage, quick game. Maye looks for giant throws and holds it too long. Brady made bad O lines look better by getting it out quicker. Maye makes our average O line worse by holding the ball way too long. I think that's probably what McDaniels works with Maye on over the next year or so. It's a thing Josh Allen has had to learn and so many other great QBs. Stop trying to be Superman and be efficient.

This offensive line is not average, at least not the version we saw in the playoffs.

mike_usagisan · Feb 9, 2026

EddardSnow67 said:
This offensive line is not average, at least not the version we saw in the playoffs.

An average offensive line against the best defense in football tends to look bad. Add in a QB who holds the ball too long and it's not pretty.

EddardSnow67 · Feb 9, 2026

mike_usagisan said:
An average offensive line against the best defense in football tends to look bad. Add in a QB who holds the ball too long and it's not pretty.

I agree, but I still don't think it's an average OL. If Campbell wasn't still clearly hurting and Wilson was at center with a real guard at LG, then I'd call it average or maybe slightly above, but that's not how things went.

But I'm really just being picky here... Average, slightly below, slightly above... The point is it wasn't good enough.

sb1 · Feb 9, 2026

dannydyn said:
Morning fellas,

Season is over and we’re onto 2026, but before we flip the page I have one lingering thought on my mind as I try to decide what to make of Drake Maye regular season performance vs. his post season. Granted, the caliber of teams we faced in the playoffs was better, we did face some decent defenses throughout the regular season as well and seemed to handle them just fine.

I’m curious to know how much of the loss yesterday was on Drake Maye vs. the abysmal o-line play and/or receivers. The roster has been largely intact personnel wise throughout the season, especially in the o-line (outside Campbell’s injury which I think he hasn’t looked the same since….).

So humor me on this one: Replay last night’s game in your head for a moment - same EXACT teams but you swap out Maye for a 2nd year Tom Brady…. What do you think the outcome of the game would have been? Still a loss? Closer loss? Worse loss? Again – not veteran Brady but a 2nd year one. Would a 2nd year Brady fared better last night? And before some of you say “Brady DID win a Superbowl his second year”… The 2001 Rams and the 2025 Seahawks are not the same teams. Rams had a great offense, and Pats showed up with awesome defense. Granted Brady played as good as he possibly could have in that Superbowl, but I think the challenge in that game was more about stopping the “Greatest Show on Turf”. Last night however, Seattle was a more complete team. So I’m wondering if all that bashing (especially outside this region) of Drake Maye is really justified? Could he have done a better job last night? Is it all on the o-line? Is it on both? Would a 2nd year Brady (same exact play calls, same o-line, same receivers) have fared better against that Seattle defense?

Just curious to hear your thoughts.

I believe 2nd year Brady would win last night. But that's fine, Maye will never come out on the right end of that comparison. Ever.

Last night was a total offensive letdown in all phases, including QB.

Jangles · Feb 9, 2026

I think Brady could have done at least as well. Maye didnt do anything Brady couldn’t have. Maybe a few runs, but I think Brady does better getting the ball out, not eating sacks after standing there for 5 seconds, and would see the Blitz better

brdmaverick · Feb 9, 2026

I don't think you'll learn much from this thread........even if the overwhelming majority of people say Tom Brady could have won that game.

The reality is that only Tom Brady is TOM FRICKING BRADY!

He's regarded as the GOAT for a reason.

It would be tough to expect anyone to be up to his standard.

Let's put this way. Tom Brady, even in his early years, was a great game manager and situational player. He had some woes his second year but that was because of a poor defense. THIS DEFENSE was legit. He'd be able to win this game.

Wozzy · Feb 9, 2026

2nd year Brady had Charlie Weis…

2nd year Drake had Josh McDaniels…

Two good coaches, but only one great coordinator… and it ain’t Josh.

sb1 · Feb 9, 2026

brdmaverick said:
I don't think you'll learn much from this thread........even if the overwhelming majority of people say Tom Brady could have won that game.

The reality is that only Tom Brady is TOM FRICKING BRADY!

He's regarded as the GOAT for a reason.

It would be tough to expect anyone to be up to his standard.

Let's put this way. Tom Brady, even in his early years, was a great game manager and situational player. He had some woes his second year but that was because of a poor defense. THIS DEFENSE was legit. He'd be able to win this game.

Brady also played a first place schedule in 02 against some very good teams and hje still ended up leading the league in TD passes.

PatsFan2 · Feb 9, 2026

KCSVEN said:
Probably would look the same as the Giants and 2nd Ram Super Bowls.
Eerily similar to Giants, 4-man pressure, guys can't get open though Brady was pressured it was not to the level of last night.
Of course, he had Welker and Moss. Welker was the guy that they couldn't cover short, that's the wr the Patriots needed last night. If Brady had Pop Douglas instead of Welker would they have even scored 14?

Brady keeps it closer because he doesn't turn it over as many times, but they lose.

Brady was Never Indecisive and would not miss that many throw FACTS!

EddardSnow67 · Feb 9, 2026

Jared Wilson getting destroyed and pretty much picked up by Rylie Mills - who's not much more than a JAG - and driven back into Maye was a microcosm of the OL play last night.

In a word, they were soft.

KCSVEN · Feb 9, 2026

PatsFan2 said:
Brady was Never Indecisive and would not miss that many throw FACTS!

Never said otherwise, just saying it would have been a closer game, but they lose because the wr's were having trouble getting open, and the pressure was quick and there are multiple playoff games where Brady couldn't function at his normal high level and those were the reasons in those games.

Wozzy · Feb 9, 2026

Brady’s highest sack, sack percentage, interception, interception percentage and fumble totals came in his first handful of seasons… including 2002 when he led the NFL in passing TD’s.

This reimagining that he was some perfect player is simply that… revisionist history. He threw one TD in the entire 2001 postseason. Charlie Weis still coaxed winning football out of him despite his errors and turnovers.

Charlie understood situational football, he understood the system he inherited, he was an artist on short downs and in creating rhythm on offense.

Josh calls plays… biggest difference between 2001 and yesterday.

203Pat · Feb 9, 2026

I think the offense was basically a complete failure last night. The two rookie linemen got absolutely dominated, and the handful of snaps the line wasn't crumbling, no one was getting open. By no means did Drake play a good game, but at least he took the sacks in the first half instead of trying to be a hero. As the second half rolled, he was a little less conscious in the pocket, but some of that may be due to the fact we needed points.

All in all, this was a dream season, but it is something we need to build on and not be some flash in the pan. I think Campbell gets one more season to prove he can play left tackle in the league (HOF candidate Willie Anderson had some good insight below). Wilson may get a shorter leash before getting pushed inside to center, so either way, I think this team needs to make an investment in a guard. Whether Diggs is back or not, we need to find a way to get a true number one receiver on the outside. This receiver core is solid, but every one of them could benefit from a true #1 guy that would open things up for the rest of them. It will be interesting to see what they prioritize personnel-wise.

Triumph · Feb 9, 2026

brdmaverick said:
I don't think you'll learn much from this thread........even if the overwhelming majority of people say Tom Brady could have won that game.

The reality is that only Tom Brady is TOM FRICKING BRADY!

He's regarded as the GOAT for a reason.

It would be tough to expect anyone to be up to his standard.

Let's put this way. Tom Brady, even in his early years, was a great game manager and situational player. He had some woes his second year but that was because of a poor defense. THIS DEFENSE was legit. He'd be able to win this game.

Brady struggled year 2 because Marty Schottenhiemer studied film in the pre season and noticed that Brady was less accurate if you pressured him off his spot. Post 2002 Chargers game every team tried to copy the SD game plan vs Brady.

Brady adjusted year 3.

Maye will always be compared to Brady or Bledsoe.

ahmed · Feb 9, 2026

Maye has much better skill players than Brady did in 2001 while defendes could get away with a lot worse. Brady had a much better pocket presence (Maye has a lot of work to do there), a faster release, quicker decision making and just much tougher mentally. He was also a master at short throws. The strip/pick 6 was exhibit 101 in terms of processing speed and decision making. Maye saw that rush all the way or should have and still tried to throw deep.

People here either don't see it or are in denial. Maye has clearly struggled in the clutch and basically anytime he faced pressure going back to last year. I have been saying this from last year in a lot of GDTs.

That said, this is all a very useless excercise though. It won't help Maye if we keep comparing him to Brady anytime he comes up short. Brady is the literal best ever. A very unfair comparison.

Is he a very good QB? Yes. Will he get better? Yes. But he needs to deal with whatever demons he has that hold him back when the kitchen gets hot. He has done a poor job of that his entire Pats tenure. I will say he improved on that this year and so plenty of time to get even better.

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