The Patriots terrific first season under head coach Mike Vrabel came to a disappointing end in a 29-13 loss to the Seahawks in Super Bowl LX at Levi's Stadium on Sunday.

Whenever there's a loss of that magnitude, there's always a balance between properly reacting when failing to achieve the ultimate goal of winning a championship and overreacting to one game. Overall, the Patriots offense was one of the best units in the NFL. New England finished the regular season as the second-ranked scoring offense (28.8 PPG) and led the league in expected points added per play. However, the regular-season success they had didn't carry over into the postseason against better competition.

The hard truth is that when Vrabel and OC Josh McDaniels debrief the season, New England's brain trust will need to answer some tough questions. Were the Patriots playoff struggles, netting just 16.8 points per game, a product of injuries to QB Drake Maye (right shoulder) and LT Will Campbell (knee)? Do the Patriots need significant talent upgrades or system tweaks? Or can we chalk this whole run-up, where they produced the lowest EPA per play output for a Super Bowl team since the 2001 Patriots, to a second-year quarterback and two rookie linemen learning what it takes to compete on the NFL's biggest stage?

On Sunday, Seattle exposed New England's lack of a pressure plan for head coach Mike Macdonald's well-designed blitzes. When you go into a game, well-coached teams like the Patriots usually have a pressure plan: how to handle the opponent's blitz package is a huge element of game-planning. When it comes to beating blitzes, there are two primary plans. One is to adjust the protection so the offense has an equal number of blockers as rushers. The other obvious solution is to have pre-programmed answers where the quarterback can throw "hot" against the blitz. Typically, there's one route tagged as the "hot" route and sometimes it involves a sight adjustment, where the receiver must adjust his route to uncover quickly for the quarterback to have an outlet. Either way, the coach and quarterback need a viable answer.

Heading into the Super Bowl, the Seahawks led the NFL in EPA per drop-back when blitzing (-0.40) and ranked fourth in pressure rate when blitzing (49.1%). Although they didn't blitz much, Seattle blitzes effectively and Macdonald times up blitzes extremely well. Seattle blitzed Maye only 11 times, or 20.8% of his drop-backs, but generated an insane 85.7% pressure rate when they did blitzed. The Pats QB was just 4-of-10 for 22 yards with an interception and a sack when the Seahawks brought extra rushers.

For example, the Seahawks brought pressure on this 3rd-and-9 from right outside scoring territory (SEA 44). The Pats are in a six-man protection with RB Rhamondre Stevenson picking up the right-side edge blitzer. However, Seattle blitzes the MIKE and the nickel (CB Devon Witherspoon), while popping out two interior rushers in a cover-zero simulated pressure, which overloads the left side of the offensive line (3-on-2). Witherspoon comes off the edge unblocked and Maye just throws the ball away, leading to a punt.

Again, there are two ways the Patriots could have handled this. One way is trying to block it by checking from a six-man protection into a seven-man pass pro where TE Hunter Henry blocks Witherspoon. In theory, that gives Maye time to hit WR DeMario Douglas, who was winning on his deep post route against Seahawks S Coby Bryant from the left slot. The other solution would have been throwing hot, whether that was Henry or Douglas finding the void behind the blitzing slot corner. Instead, Witherspoon sneaks up on Maye without an outlet.

The other scheme Seattle frequently used was its "deuce" pressure, where they blitzed two defenders on the left side through the B-Gap and dropped the MIKE (Jones) and the backside edge (Lawrence) into coverage. The Pats try to combat this by releasing the back to create their own 2-on-1 against the outside corner (Jobe), with Maye throwing hot since Seattle brought one more rusher than New England has blockers. This time, the Seahawks rotate into cover six (quarter-quarter-half) and Maye throws into the cover-two side where Jobe is waiting for Henderson in the flat.

After reviewing the film, there were opportunities to hit open receivers downfield to make Seattle pay for blitzing. However, those fell by the wayside because the Patriots didn't have a sound pressure plan and didn't execute well enough at quarterback (five inaccurate throws) or in pass protection when Seattle rushed four. Seattle sacked Maye five times with a four-man rush, making life difficult for the Pats QB with two-high safeties. In my charting, Maye had 11 minus plays to just six plus plays, removing garbage time.

The Patriots head into the offseason with questions about why the offense went into a funk in the postseason. Some of that is to be expected when you play four elite defenses with a young quarterback, but there were some blueprint elements as well. Seattle majored in cover six (22 snaps) and blitzed its DBs, with Witherspoon logging three total pressures, including a sack and QB hit that led to a pick-six – two things that became common vs. New England's offense. Now, it's about taking the offseason to find solutions to make another run in 2026.

Here's a breakdown of the Patriots defense and quick-hit film notes from the loss to the Seahawks in Super Bowl LX.

Defense Review: Defense Will Lament Missed Opportunities and Run Defense Woes in Super Bowl

When you look at both the traditional and advanced stats, the Patriots defense did its part to keep Super Bowl LX close through the offense's struggles, which was the story of the playoffs.

New England's defense only allowed 22 points, with 10 of those points coming off two turnovers in Patriots territory. Seattle actually averaged fewer yards per play than the Patriots (4.7 to 4.9), were 4-of-16 on third down (25%), and 1-of-4 in the red zone. The Seahawks also only had a 32.4% play success rate on offense, their worst in any game this season. However, the Patriots defense left too many plays on the field.

Although they mostly weren't the problem, the Pats defense had several chances to make a game-changing play. From this perspective, it felt at times like they were pressing to make the big play, especially in the pass rush, where they missed at least four opportunities to sack Seahawks QB Sam Darnold, who was only sacked once: Standout DT Milton Williams failed to convert pressures into sacks, EDGE K'Lavon Chaisson hit Darnold as he was throwing, which would have been a strip-sack a split second earlier, and CB Christian Gonzalez dropped an interception. In all, the Pats defense missed 18 tackles and allowed a season-high 95 yards after contact – it was that kind of day at the office defensively.

For example, the Patriots had an opportunity to get off the field on this 3rd-and-3. New England rotates into cover two while executing a switch to Darnold's left that takes away his initial read and Williams wins his 1-on-1 with a double swipe move over the right guard. However, Darnold eludes Williams in the backfield to avoid the sack. At the same time, the Pats short zone distribution gets thrown off by Seattle motioning the tight end at the snap, leaving them without a strong hook defender where RB Kenneth Walker ends up. Ultimately, this play goes from a potential negative play on third down to a six-yard gain to move the chains.

During their first three playoff games, the Patriots produced -1.72 EPA per play with two interceptions when offenses moved the pocket by design. For instance, the Pats pressured Texans QB C.J. Stroud on a similar bootleg play to the one we are about to show, forcing an interception, with Chaisson landing a hit on Stroud that prompted the ill-advised decision.

However, Darnold also went 4-of-6 for 45 passing yards and a touchdown on moving pockets (bootlegs) in the Super Bowl. This time, OLB Harold Landry III generates pressure on Darnold in the same way that Chaisson did vs. Houston. But the Seahawks quarterback was more poised and had a clearer passing lane to Kupp, completing the pass for a 7-yard gain. Again, a close play but no cigar for the Pats defense.

Lastly, the Patriots run defense had been stellar when Williams played this season, allowing just -0.19 EPA and 3.7 yards per rush when their star defensive tackle was healthy. Although the advanced metrics were still solid (-0.15 EPA per rush), Walker won Super Bowl MVP because he had five runs of 10-plus yards and gained 88 rushing yards after contact.

Seattle appeared to be changing their run calls at the line of scrimmage based on the Patriots pre-snap structure. As you can see above, Darnold signals to "can" the play when he surveys the defense from under center. The Seahawks then ran a crack toss sweep against a six-man front and were able to get hat-on-hat to the play side for a 14-yard gain.

Between the missed opportunities for negative plays in the pass game and the explosive runs, the Patriots defense was just a step or two away from tilting the game in their favor all night.

Quick-Hit Film Notes From Patriots-Seahawks

Offense

- Three areas I'd like to see the Patriots offense improve schematically: screen game, draws, and bootleg plays. The Pats had a 33% success rate on screens in the playoffs and their draw plays went poorly. You could also see the difference between a Shanahan tree system (Kubiak) and the Pats O when it came to execution on boots (selling the fake, marrying to the run game, route spacing). The Patriots produced -0.58 EPA per play on nine designed rollouts in the playoffs – they tried them and they repeatedly didn't work. Due to these elements going poorly, the Pats had very few changeups to slow down the opposing pass rush.

- Although talk about receiver separation might be overblown, it was a tough postseason production-wise for the engines of New England's passing game: WR Stefon Diggs and TE Hunter Henry. After being Maye's go-to receivers in the regular season, Diggs and Henry only combined for 23 catches, 55.5 yards per game, two touchdowns, and +0.06 EPA per target in the postseason. In the regular season, they averaged nearly double that production: 104.8 yards per game on +0.53 EPA per target. Whether they were game-planned or not, it's tough to have a productive passing game when your top two receivers struggle.

- RBs Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson probably should've been a bigger part of the game plan. Stevenson was chipping away at Seattle's run defense with dirty runs of six, five, and four yards. He also converted a third down (7-yard catch) and had a 13-yard catch off a blitz beater. Henderson had runs of nine (toss-lead) and seven yards, with his 7-yard carry coming on a nicely schemed RPO shovel pass. I'm not sure why the Pats didn't spam passes to the backs against Seattle's zone blitzes. Stevenson also kept them on schedule early on and Henderson's speed was challenging Seattle to the edge – a fair second guess, in my opinion.

- WR DeMario Douglas had several opportunities for big plays, but the Patriots struggled to get him the ball. Douglas flashed open on the deep post highlighted above, as the seam runner in the dagger concept (twice), and on multiple crossing patterns that Maye either didn't see uncovering until it was too late or missed the throw. Pop was the Patriots most consistent separator and might have had a big game had Maye and the protection fared better.

- WR Mack Hollins made two high-level plays to orchestrate the Patriots first touchdown drive, with Maye fitting the ball into an insanely tight window for a 24-yard completion and Hollins winning the ball on his 35-yard touchdown. Unfortunately, the connection got going too late. WR Kayshon Boutte had a 21-yard catch on a deep stop route off play-action and was open on his slant behind a blitz, but Maye put the ball too far out in front. Boutte could've helped his QB out more by creating more separation on his third-down target, though.

- LT Will Campbell struggled in his matchups with Seahawks edge rushers DeMarcus Lawrence, Uchenna Nwosu, and Derick Hall while playing through a torn ligament in his knee during the playoffs. By my count, Campbell allowed five obvious pressures and then there were 3 to 4 more rushes that were borderline, which is probably how PFF got to their number of eight. The rookie's biggest issues were his strike timing (late hands) and set points. Campbell wasn't playing with his feet in the ground and then was "catching" rushers rather than firing his hands early in the rep. The combination sapped his power and led him to give up ground to bull rushes. Like many O-Line gurus on X, I believe Campbell's issues are fixable. But he has to keep working to become an elite technician so that he can work around his dimensions at LT.

- LG Jared Wilson had some struggles with two sacks allowed and a few missed blocks in the run game. After his initial rusher looped inside, Wilson went looking for work to help Campbell, but actually bumped Hall off Campbell's block, doing more harm than good. Wilson also gave up a sack to a straight bull rush by Seahawks DT Rylie Mills. It'll be an ongoing debate all offseason about what to do with Campbell and Wilson on the future O-Line.

- C Garrett Bradbury was also among the linemen who struggled against Seattle's bigger DTs, allowing five total pressures while being on the scene for three run stuffs. Bradbury had a tough time digging out the Seahawks bigger tackles and missed a second-level block on Jones that led to another stuff. The veteran center had a solid season at the pivot, but matchups against big power D-Tackles were tough sledding at times for the interior O-Line.

- RG Mike Onwenu also allowed four total pressures by either allowing rushers to get his outside edge or having his eyes in the wrong places. On Maye's miss up the seam to Henry, Onwenu was supposed to block down on the 2i (DT) but seemed to block the wrong gap, which led to pressure in Maye's lap that altered the throw. He also didn't pick up a safety blitz when his man looped inside, leading to another pressure. Onwenu did better with limited chances in the run game, including a plus block on an outside zone weak rep.

- RT Morgan Moses was the cleanest of the bunch with just three hurries allowed in pass pro. However, Moses got picked off his man a few times by stunts, allowed one hurry in a true pass set to speed, and let a blitzer through as the inside threat through his B-Gap. Moses will hopefully return for his age-35 season in 2026, as his 2025 tape was rock-solid, but like the entire line, he had some struggles in the Super Bowl.

- QB Pressures (43.4% pressure rate): Campbell (sack, QB hit, six hurries), Bradbury (sack, four hurries), Wilson (two sacks, two hurries), Onwenu (four hurries), Moses (three hurries).

Defense

- Rookie S Craig Woodson was outstanding in the Super Bowl with a season-high six run stuffs and two good coverage reps to prevent completions. Woodson did it all against the run: chased down an end around, filled the alley from split-safety, retraced to limit damage when Walker bounced runs, and cleaned up when the first defender missed the tackle. Woodson also did well to recover out of phase to prevent a completion to Kupp off a bootleg. His play speed, physicality, and tackling were the best they've been all year – Patriots have themselves a safety.

- CB Christian Gonzalez was also terrific with three elite pass breakups in coverage on the Seahawks top wideouts. Gonzo's breakup playing outside in cover three on a deep post against Shaheed was next-level, like one of the best plays you'll see from a corner all year. He also had backside coverage on JSN in palms (quarters) to break up that pass and strapped Kupp on a slant for his third PBU. Gonzalez hit a trifecta of playing teach-tape technique in three different coverages: cover-three (Shaheed), backside quarters (JSN), and man (Kupp) – elite player.

- DT Milton Williams was disruptive, but his impact was sapped by uncharacteristically poor tackling. Like many Patriots, Williams might've been pressing to make splash plays, leading to three missed tackles in the backfield. He tallied six total pressures, a sack, and a batted pass. However, he missed two clear sack opportunities and fell off a potential run TFL. Eventually, Williams got home for his sack, working through multiple blockers on a play-action scheme. Still, he left some plays on the field because he couldn't corral Darnold, with one being a third-down conversion and another netting an 11-yard scramble.

- DT Christian Barmore was very good in this game against the run (three stuffs) and was double-teamed 17 times in the pass rush. However, he didn't register a QB pressure in 29 pass-rush snaps. Although he had good playing strength into the line of scrimmage and lateral movement to stuff the run, Barmore and Williams needed to take over this game, and they didn't quite reach that level of impact, mainly because Williams kept missing TFL chances.

- EDGE Anfernee Jennings also had a mixed bag of impact plays and missed opportunities. Jennings recorded four run-stuffs, a QB hit, and a pass breakup, dropping out of the rush in a blitz scheme to break up a pass in the flat to JSN. However, he also lost his edge on a 10-yard run and didn't contain on the backside, leading to a 9-yard run when Walker bounced outside. Jennings made some impressive plays against the run, but he also gave up a few.

- EDGE K'Lavon Chaisson nearly made the game-changing play the Patriots needed when he logged a QB hit coming off the edge unblocked, but Darnold just barely started his throwing motion to make it an incomplete pass rather than a fumble. Chaisson also logged a run stuff, but missed a pair of tackles, including missing a sack when Darnold slipped out of his grasp.

- EDGE Harold Landry III played only 14 snaps but logged a QB hit on a boot pressure and stuffed a run in the red zone. He was obviously playing through a significant knee injury, but he was more noticeable on this film than in his previous two playoff games.

- LB Robert Spillane logged four pressures as a blitzer but missed a pair of tackles and was possibly struggling with sudden changes of direction due to his injured ankle. Spillane just seemed a half-step slow to gather and change directions, which was the difference on a few occasions, including when he had a free run at Darnold on a blitz, but the ball came out quickly for a 16-yard completion to Shaheed.

- LB Jack Gibbens appeared to be responsible for the TD to TE A.J. Barner, who went in motion before the snap and sold his run block before releasing upfield. It appeared that Spillane had passed the man-coverage assignment to Gibbens, but Gibbens bit on the play fake and couldn't recover to the Seahawks tight end, who scored the game's first touchdown to make it 19-0.

- LB Christian Elliss also missed a pair of tackles in this game, including one on Barner, where the big tight end broke Elliss's tackle and ran for the first down on a short completion. Elliss did log two QB pressures as an interior blitzer, though.

- NCB Marcus Jones allowed two chunk plays on the Seahawks opening FG drive: a 15-yard completion to Barner and a 23-yard completion to Kupp. On the Barner catch, Jones got switched on to the tight end due to a pre-snap motion against man coverage and then tried to jump a hook route to no avail. As for the Kupp play, Jones was playing underneath a crosser and Darnold beat him with a good throw. Jones limited the damage on his other receptions allowed, but the Seahawks were 7-for-7 for 72 yards when targeting Jones on Sunday.

- CB Carlton Davis III spent the majority of the game on WR Rasheed Shaheed (14 matchups) and did well despite a potential speed mismatch. Davis got a little lucky on an out to Kupp (bad throw) and a go ball to Shaheed (overthrown), but was competitive in coverage, especially on a third-down target where he jumped an out to Shaheed on an incomplete pass. Davis also played his two-read (palms) technique well on a coverage stop in the flat and logged a run stuff.

- S Jaylinn Hawkins logged two pressures as a blitzer but had a missed sack that nearly led to a house call for JSN on a scramble drill and missed a run tackle that led to another 15 yards or so for Walker on a 30-yard run. Hawkins has good timing and speed on his blitzes off the edges, but he needs to work on breaking down in the backfield to get the quarterback on the ground.

- DTs Cory Durden and Khyiris Tonga continued to do the dirty work in this one, pressing blocks to reset the line of scrimmage on multiple run stuffs. Durden also drew a hold that wiped out a 49-yard touchdown run. It appeared that Tonga was manipulated out of his gap by some good inside running by Walker on a 29-yard run, though.

- QB Pressures (45% pressure rate): Williams (sack, five hurries), Spillane (four hurries), Elliss (QB hit, hurry), Chaisson (QB hit, hurry), Hawkins (QB hit, hurry), Landry (QB hit, hurry), Jennings (QB hit), Ponder (hurry), Woodson (hurry), Jones (hurry). Run stuffs: Woodson (6), Jennings (4), Barmore (3), Gibbens (2), Elliss (2), one each (Chaisson, Tonga, Davis, Landry.

- Coverage: Jones (7/7/72 yards), Elliss (3/3/35 yards), Davis (6/3/27 yards), Spillane (5/2/19 yards), Gonzalez (5/1/16 yards/3 PBUs), Gibbens (1/1/16 yards/TD), Woodson (4/1/11 yards), Pettus (2/1/6 yards), Jennings (1/0/PBU).

DISCLAIMER: The views and thoughts expressed in this article are those of the writer and don't necessarily reflect those of the organization. Read Full Disclaimer