Drake Maye Patriots Seahawks Credit: Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images
By Matt Yoder on

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These days you never want to be the main character on social media because it usually means something very, very bad has happened. And after the 2026 season opener between the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks, Drake Maye is that main character.

Everything was set for the Patriots to win the game and reverse the result of Super Bowl LX. The Pats had a 10-0 second-half lead, and Seattle could do nothing with backup quarterback Drew Lock replacing Sam Darnold. All Maye had to do was protect the ball and ride out a comfortable, conservative victory.

Instead, he inexplicably threw three fourth-quarter interceptions, including one in the end zone in the final 30 seconds to cost his team a chance at the win or a game-tying field goal. Seattle won the unlikelist of victories by a 13-10 final score. Maye finished 23/33 for 178 yards, one TD, and those three fourth-quarter INTs.

And on Thursday morning, one of the NFL’s best young quarterbacks transformed into the scapegoat for the Patriots’ loss.

Two prominent diehard New England fans, Dave Portnoy and Bill Simmons, both regretfully called out Maye for his performance.

“He looked healthy in this game. That’s the thing. There’s no excuses this time. He was scrambling around. He looked like the Drake Maye from the first four months of last season. There were 3rd-and-1s, controlled draw sweeps for him. That’s what they did last year. And he still sucked,” Simmons said.

“Only the first game of the season, but that was tough to watch. Horrible game from Drake. That last throw, disgusting,” Portnoy said in the midst of criticizing everyone and everything else on the Patriots. “The game was right there for the taking, obviously. It’s only Week 1, but that was a sh*tty way to start the season. Got to be a lot better than that. That was F- sh*t.”

On ESPN’s Get Up, Dan Orlovsky called it a “nightmare” and said it was the worst game Drake Maye has played in the NFL. Orlovsky has admitted there’s something awkward regarding his personal relationship with Maye (especially compared to his love of Matthew Stafford). But skeptics and allies alike could have no defense for his play with the game on the line.

“Nightmare. It was a nightmare ending for Drake Maye and that offense. That’s the worst game he’s had as a pro. And it’s about as immature as a performance that you could have as a third-year quarterback. You are lobbed a softball in the reality of the game of football… the only way that you even come remotely close to losing that game is to make bad decision after bad decision after bad decision and breathe life into Seattle. And that’s exactly what Drake Maye did,” Orlovsky said.

Stephen A. Smith also hasn’t always seen eye-to-eye with the New England quarterback, but you can’t blame him for placing responsibility for the defeat entirely on his shoulders.

“All of it was on him last night. Three interceptions on your last three drives. Three interceptions in the fourth quarter. 55% completion. Sacked three times. Three interceptions. You look at some of the stuff he was doing. He tried to force one downfield to Romeo Doubs — that didn’t work. He tried to force one down the middle — that didn’t work. He throws off his back foot in the last minute of the game; you’re already in field goal range, and you throw that pass. I don’t know what the hell he was thinking. You can’t make mistakes like that,” Smith said.

Drake Maye certainly looked more like the quarterback with a 0-12 record against teams with a winning record than the quarterback who finished second in last year’s MVP race. Now that the Patriots have serious expectations and will play a much tougher schedule in 2026, these reactions could be a taste of what’s to come if he doesn’t bounce back quickly.

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