Drake Maye and the New England Patriots undeniably deserve a ton of credit for reaching Super Bowl LX. They pulled off arguably the greatest year-over-year turnaround in NFL history, going from 4-13 in 2024 to one win away from a title in 2025.
Alas, the lights may have been a little too bright for the 23-year-old Maye. He struggled mightily and had zero answers for the Seattle Seahawks' hellacious defense. The electrifying young quarterback's shortcomings were a recurring theme throughout New England's improbable playoff run, though they were magnified on football's grandest stage.
However, we may have just seen Maye hit a new low in the Patriots' crushing 29-13 Super Bowl loss to the Seahawks. Or at least, by the sound of it, that's what former Green Bay Packers passer Kurt Benkert seems to think.
Former NFL QB Kurt Benkert delivers harsh assessment of Drake Maye's performance in Patriots' Super Bowl LX loss
Benkert took to social media to share his thoughts on Maye's disastrous performance against the Seahawks. The former didn't mince words, saying that the box score and broadcast don't properly illustrate the latter's efforts, or lack thereof, but the All-22 does.
"This Drake Maye tape is worse than I thought," Benkert wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter). "There were wide open guys everywhere even when he had time he just wasn't seeing it. It was the definition of seeing ghosts game."
The Seahawks did a remarkable job of making Maye uncomfortable early and often. Nevertheless, there were "opportunities everywhere" to make them pay for their aggressiveness that he failed to capitalize on, as Benkert highlighted with a photo thread.
Maye missed a checkdown that likely would've put the Patriots in field goal range early in the first quarter. He tried extending a play instead of tossing the ball away on their next possession but took a negative 10-yard sack and went three-and-out. His temptation to make the big throw led to him being brought down behind the line of scrimmage repeatedly.
New England lived and died by the sword that is Maye's playmaking ability and improvisational skills all season. The results were amazing -- until they weren't. He guided the Patriots to an AFC title and earned a well-deserved MVP runner-up finish, but his youth and inexperience were exposed.