Get Drake Maye some help!
Drake Maye, the player who breathed new life into the entire Northeast region of America, needs some help from his offensive line right now, and unfortunately, it may not come.
Maye has had pockets of opportunity throughout the playoffs to thrive. Great rushing when he needed to take off, deep threats like Kayshon Boutte down the field, and Rhaomdre Stevenson available either out of the backfield or along the sidelines.
The Seahawks defense has had an answer for all of that in the first half of Super Bowl LX.
The Patriots are feeling the Seattle pass rush, trailing 9-0 at the half. Rookies on the offensive line, like Will Campbell, are showing struggle against the edge rush of the Seahawks. Campbell was even called on a false start in one of the few penalties in the game.
Despite a 21-yard Kayshon Boutte catch from Maye, that really has been just about it for the Patriots' offensive explosiveness. The Patriots' offense is struggling and, at this rate, won't see the end zone the way they did throughout the regular season.
Like they did throughout matchups against the Chargers, Texans, and Broncos, the Patriots may need to rely heavily on their defense, as we have already seen in this game.
Like Maye, the Patriots defense has had pockets of opportunity in previous matchups to keep Darnold and the Seahawks out of the end zone, and it has succeeded.
With the exception of a few Kenneth Walker III runs that have been long yard gains and a botched pass from Darnold to Smith-Njigba that could have been an easy touchdown, the Pats defense has hit Seattle's offense in a feisty way.
Christian Gonzalez has contested multiple catches, including an end-of-the-half pass to Smith-Njigba at the goal line. If anything, the Gonzo/JSN matchup has lived up to the hype.
But can Drake Maye live up to his? The Patriots' second-year quarterback is 6 of 11 for 48 passing yards and 11 rushing yards. He has been sacked 3 times.
The Patriots offense needs to be patient and not force things, because at this rate, it's going to be Maye seeing ghosts instead of Sam Darnold.