The story of the 2025 Patriots was an sudden, undisputed success.
Mike Vrabel and Drake Maye powered a franchise’s rebirth. A 14-win common season led right into a Tremendous Bowl run. The tip of this story, although, was a multi-layered failure.
The Patriots obtained out-coached, out-played and out-classed in Tremendous Bowl LX. Vrabel made a handful of curious selections, and his offensive employees repeatedly failed to regulate or stress an elite Seattle protection. Have been it not for a fourth quarter stuffed with empty-calorie counting stats, Drake Maye’s efficiency would have been considered one of many worst in Tremendous Bowl historical past.
Superior metrics put Maye there anyway.
However the Patriots’ issues didn’t begin, nor finish with him. The Seahawks instantly generated free rushers towards two of the Pats’ extra widespread protections, particularly with double-edge strain and overload blitzes via the “B” hole (area between the guard and sort out). Slot cornerback Devon Witherspoon blitzed seven occasions, recorded a sack, precipitated Maye’s late pick-six and hit him one other time.
Seattle adopted those self same rush paths time and again to succeed in Maye, limiting his influence as a scrambler and toying together with his inner clock as a passer. That’s on teaching. Rookie left sort out Will Campbell has since turn out to be the face of the Patriots’ safety woes within the Tremendous Bowl, and, sure, his team-high eight pressures deserve a heap of criticism. He was terrible.
However the Seahawks beat the Patriots schematically as badly as they did bodily, and each offensive lineman allowed a number of pressures, together with 4 who let up a sack.
Defensively, the Pats held their floor. They utilized adequate strain on Sam Darnold, who by no means broke below a cascade of inventive blitzes.
Right here’s what else the movie revealed in regards to the Pats’ Tremendous Bowl loss:
Drake Maye
27-of-43 for 295 yards, 2 TDs, 2 INTs, 6 sacks, 37 yards
Correct throw proportion: 65.4%
Underneath strain: 6-of-13 for 75 yards, TD, INT, 6 sacks, 38 speeding yards
Towards the blitz: 3-of-6 for 18 yards, INT, sack
Behind the road: 8-of-8 for 68 yards
0-9 yards downfield: 13-of-18 for 94 yards, TD
10-19 yards downfield: 3-of-8 for 48 yards, INT
20+ yards downfield: 3-of-7 for 85 yards, TD, INT
Notes: The best impediment between Maye and the clear, boring sport Darnold performed was his play below strain.
Each quarterbacks confronted excessive strain charges and posted an identical common snap-to-throw occasions, per Subsequent Gen Stats, however Maye took six sacks to Darnold’s one. His incapacity to transform a number of of these losses into throwaways set the Pats again on a number of drives, as did the Seahawks’ intelligent blitz techniques. Maye had three turnovers below duress (zero for Darnold), regarded down on the rush and slid the safety the mistaken means on his pick-six, one of many few occasions Seattle blitzed him within the second half.
Maye’s constant, bordering on predictable, cadence within the second half helped the Seahawks time a number of blitzes proper after he clapped for the snap. The Seahawks blitzed Maye initially with the thought of affecting his inner clock, simply because the Chargers and Broncos did early in prior playoff video games, and succeeded. Along with the blitz strain, their protection disguises rendered a few of Maye’s go-to indicators — like a defender following a motioned receiver throughout the formation as a man-to-man protection inform — ineffective. That’s good defensive teaching.
Drake Maye makes promise to Patriots fans after postseason struggles
Although Seahawks security Julian Love, who caught Maye’s second interception, was caught on a reside mic saying Maye hesitated barely on that play earlier than unloading an errant deep throw towards his supposed goal. Maye’s inaccuracy additionally unfold to third-down misses for DeMario Douglas and Kayshon Boutte within the third quarter and a nasty miss to Hunter Henry within the first half. Those self same pass-catchers authored an enormous chapter within the guide of Patriots’ offensive failures Sunday, most manifestly with poor separation, tough routes and minimal yards after the catch.
Between that, the poor move safety and subpar teaching, Maye was at a drawback all night time. His group let him down. However unbiased of his environment, Maye didn’t play properly sufficient to win. And because the quarterback, that is usually all that issues.
Essential areas
Turnovers: Patriots 3, Seahawks 0
Explosive play price: Patriots 7.5%, Seahawks 7.1%
Success price: Patriots 41%, Seahawks 33%
Crimson-zone effectivity: Patriots 1-1, Seahawks 1-4
Defensive strain price: Patriots 40%, Seahawks 43.4%
Offense
Recreation plan
Personnel breakdown: 80% of snaps in 11 personnel, 10% of snaps in 12 personnel, 1.5% of snaps in 21F personnel, 1.5% of snaps in 21H personnel, 7% of snaps in 22 personnel.***
Personnel manufacturing: 41.5% success price in 11 personnel, 0% success price in 12 personnel, 100% success price in 21F personnel, 100% success price in 21H personnel, 50% success price in 22 personnel.
First-down down play-calls: 65.5% move (40% success price), 34.5% run (20% success price)
Play-action price: 11.3%
You virtually puzzled if Josh McDaniels and Co. began game-planning a pair nights earlier than kickoff.
The Pats executed an easy plan with the aforementioned safety points, getting pantsed early by a five-down entrance, the place Seattle dropped its defensive tackles and despatched blitzers off every edge right into a backfield the place Rhamondre Stevenson had to decide on between them. Later, the Seahawks repeatedly fired two blitzers via the identical B hole, out-numbering the weakside of the O-line the place heart Garrett Bradbury usually turned away from, and once more overwhelmed Stevenson 2-to-1 within the backfield.
That led to some sacks and a number of other pressures, most manifestly within the first and fourth quarters. Safety apart, McDaniels’ bland plan did not do sufficient to assist his gamers, most of whom had been overmatched in 1-on-1s towards an uber proficient Seattle protection. The Pats largely labored from 11 personnel (what Seattle desires), referred to as one snap of jumbo personnel (six offensive linemen), gained 21 yards on that snap and by no means returned to it. They by no means labored from empty formations, a minor weak spot for the Seahawks. No trick performs. No quarterback possibility runs.
McDaniels correctly tried to spark his run sport with performs Seattle had been weakest towards, attracts and duo, however predictably, the Seahawks had been in a position to comprise one of many league’s most inconsistent speeding assaults. He additionally had a number of well-timed calls to interrupt the Seahawks’ two-high coverages and bracket protection of the slot receivers. However finally, the Pats wanted extra performs in area for gamers like TreVeyon Henderson and DeMario Douglas, or simply extra explosive gamers like them. As a result of enjoying these Seahawks straight up was a nasty thought.
Participant stats
Damaged tackles: WR DeMario Douglas 3, RB Rhamondre Stevenson 2, RB TreVeyon Henderson, TE Hunter Henry
Strain allowed: LT Will Campbell 8 (sack, QB hit, 6 hurries), RT Morgan Moses 4 (sack, 3 hurries), Staff 4 (sack, QB hit, 2 hurries), RG Mike Onwenu (3 hurries), LG Jared Wilson (2 sacks), C Garrett Bradbury 2 (sack, hurry)
Run stuffs allowed: Staff 2, RT Morgan Moses
Drops: N/A
‘It sucks’: Patriots OT Will Campbell opens up about Super Bowl play, criticism
Notes
- Rookie left sort out Will Campbell obtained powered into the backfield on the opening snap. He gave up simply two extra pressures via the top of the third quarter, so of the harm he allowed was when the sport was out of hand, but it surely’s value noting most playoff opponents efficiently bull-rushed him early to arrange different rushers.
- Does Campbell want to vary positions? That query is wildly untimely from this view, however there is no query there are wrinkles to be ironed out in his sport, together with how he anchors towards energy.
- Left guard Jared Wilson had the worst snap of the day towards an influence rush, getting bulldozed by Rylie Mills whereas Mills reached round for a sack of Maye. Wilson’s growth arguably bears watching as a lot as Maye’s, given how Seattle efficiently picked on each of them.
- Proper sort out Morgan Moses pass-protected as poorly as Campbell did till late within the sport. His future, coming into his age-35 season, bears watching.
- Out vast, Kayshon Boutte put forth his worst sport of the season. He caught one among 5 targets, and Seattle cornerback Josh Jobe bodied him out of bounds on a third-down goal within the third quarter. Boutte represented one of many Pats’ few paths to explosive performs, and the Seahawks shut him down.
- The Patriots appeared to focus on Jobe usually, however none of their receivers had been as much as the duty of profitable persistently versus single protection other than Mack Hollins. Stefon Diggs drew some additional consideration, however by no means significantly threatened Seattle.
- A quiet sport for Hunter Henry, and downright unhealthy night time for No. 2 tight finish Austin Hooper, a pending free agent. The Pats could be sensible to take a position on this place this offseason.
- Credit score to Rhamondre Stevenson for operating onerous right into a brick wall. His imaginative and prescient and blitz pickup continued to separate him from TreVeyon Henderson, although each averaged two-plus yards per carry after contact. Stevenson additionally did properly as a pass-catcher and completed with extra postseason receiving yards than Diggs.
Protection
Recreation plan
Personnel breakdown: 46.5% three-corner nickel, 36.5% base, 8.5 goal-line, 8.5% dime****
Protection breakdown: 63% zone, 37% man
Blitz price: 54%
Blitz efficacy: 43.5% offensive success price and 5.7 yards per play allowed
Defensive play-caller Zak Kuhr cycled via quite a lot of coverages, pressures and disguises to idiot Sam Darnold, however there have been a number of primary tenets beneath all of the window dressing of the Patriots’ final sport plan.
They labored to cease the run via base personnel and/or a five-down entrance that gapped out Seattle’s most well-liked exterior zone scheme. In protection, Kuhr barely favored single-high defenses so as to add an additional physique into the field, whereas Christian Gonzalez additionally usually shadowed star Seahawks receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba. And the Pats blitzed Darnold on greater than half of his dropbacks to pressure the one-time turnover machine right into a fumble or interception.
Whoops.
Darnold’s mobility (learn: sack avoidance) was a significant component in nullifying the Pats’ excessive strain price, one thing Maye may study from in time. However what harm the Patriots most was their top-ranked play-action move protection cracking towards what gave the impression to be the identical exterior zone run play they’d efficiently contained all season and that night time towards Seattle. As an alternative, at his 16-yard line within the fourth quarter, linebacker Jack GIbbens misplaced tight finish AJ Barner after Barner had motioned over to what gave the impression to be a strongside exterior zone run, which the Seahawks had beforehand checked to a number of occasions. Barner then zipped proper by him for a straightforward end-zone seize.
This was a serious battleground on this sport, contemplating what number of explosive performs and touchdowns Seattle’s offense derived from play-action passing and the way properly the Patriots had stopped it many of the 12 months. Two different issues for the Pats: Seattle efficiently threw towards their goal-line personnel grouping with simply three defensive backs breaking out of halftime, when Seattle marched over a 69-yard discipline aim drive. The Patriots additionally generated a single strain within the second half with out blitzing.
Barner’s landing was Seattle’s solely end-zone journey, nonetheless, thanks largely to Gonzalez’s work on Smith-Njigba. Kuhr correctly put his No. 1 nook on the league’s main receiver, however didn’t process him with primary man-to-man all through the sport, which might have turn out to be a easy protection inform. Even when the Patriots did play man, their defensive backs would typically “bump” assignments to move Smith-Njigba off each time he would go in movement to keep up their leverage. Seattle had a tough time establishing a rhythm for his or her No. 1 receiver, who completed with one catch at Gonzalez’s expense.
Participant stats
Strain: DL Milton Williams 5 (sack, 3 hurries), OLB Ok’Lavon Chaisson (QB hit, hurry), OLB Harold Landry 2 (QB hit, hurry), S Jaylinn Hawkins 2 (QB hit, hurry), LB Robert Spillane (QB hit), LB Christian Elliss (QB hit), OLB Anfernee Jennings (QB hit), S Craig Woodson (hurry)
Run stuffs: Staff 4, Woodson 2, Chaisson
Go deflections: CB Christian Gonzalez 3, Woodson 2, Williams, Jennings
Missed tackles: Williams 4, Chaisson 2, Hawkins 2, Woodson, Elliss, Spillane, Jennings, S Dell Pettus, DL Christian Barmore, LB Jack Gibbens, DL Cory Durden, CB Marcus Jones, LB Jahlani Tavai
Notes
- Christian Gonzalez saved this from turning into a Tremendous blowout. His two Sistine chapel, fingertip-extension deflections had been shows of elite cornerback play and freaky athleticism.
- Gonzalez’s second deflection in entrance of Jaxon Smith-Njigba close to the aim line simply earlier than halftime would have been a landing as an alternative with an ideal throw, however credit score to Gonzalez for catching up.
- Milton Williams was the Patriots’ solely common move rusher who generated constant strain. He beat Seahawks proper guard Anthony Bradford on his sack, one of many extra lopsided matchups on this sport.
- So the place was Christian Barmore? Bouncing across the entrance, because the Patriots blended their fronts and coverages. However zero strain from one among their highest-paid defenders harm quite a bit. He additionally misplaced comprise on a key Darnold scramble that helped energy a discipline aim drive.
- Extra harm: a season-high 18 missed tackles. Veteran security Jaylinn Hawkins whiffed on a sack and Kenneth Walker’s 30-yard run within the second quarter, one among two explosive runs on that sequence that led to a discipline aim.
- Walker reached the sting on an out of doors run play that complemented Seattle’s base exterior zone: G-lead, the place the playside guard pulls forward of the operating again and, on this case, crunched Ok’Lavon Chaisson as the closest edge defender. The Pats wanted extra from Chaisson there and as a move rusher (two pressures).
- In any other case, the run protection was largely terrific. Coordinated, violent but controled. Seattle had a 25% speeding success price, and broke out for a number of runs due to Walker’s imaginative and prescient and pace.
- Rookie security Craig Woodson was spectacular with 10 tackles, three TFLs and two move breakups. He was precisely who the Patriots wanted versus a run-heavy offense that attempted to use the center of the sphere on crossers, save for the aforementioned 30-yard run the place he obtained caught in site visitors.
- Seattle picked on Marcus Jones and inside linebacker Robert Spillane in protection. Jones was an apparent goal who misplaced a number of key battles with Cooper Kupp that led to first downs.
- In his return from harm, Harold Landry cut up his 14 snaps virtually evenly between run and move protection. He gave the Pats a pleasant jolt on the sting.
- Talking of the sting, Anfernee Jennings had one strain, a move deflection and powerful run protection after Seattle’s opening 10-yard pickup. Jennings actually grew to become an underrated pressure late within the 12 months.
- Powerful outings for defensive tackles Khyiris Tonga and Cory Durden.
- Dell in dime: Dell Pettus, the Patriots’ third security, changed linebacker Christian Elliss greater than he has this season on apparent passing downs. He even coated Smith-Njigba for a snap when the receiver aligned within the backfield.
*Explosive performs are outlined as runs of 12-plus yards and passes of 20-plus yards.
**Success price is an effectivity metric measuring how usually an offense stays on schedule. A play is profitable when it produces optimistic EPA (Anticipated Factors Added).
***11 personnel = one operating again, one tight finish; 12 personnel = one operating again, two tight ends; 13 personnel = one again, three tight ends; 21 personnel = two backs, one tight finish; 21H = two halfbacks, one tight finish; jumbo personnel = two backs, two tight ends, six offensive linemen.
****Base protection = 4 defensive backs; nickel = 5; dime = six, greenback = seven.
