Drake Maye’s performance in Super Bowl LX could not have gone much worse.
The New England Patriots’ offense was shutout through three quarters, while its quarterback was battered throughout what proved to be a dreadful effort from Maye and his team during a 29-13 defeat at the hands of the Seattle Seahawks.
As bad as his game looked at face value, when you dig deeper, things get even more ugly.
According to Kevin Cole of Unexpected Points, Maye finished Sunday’s game with the second-lowest Super Bowl QB efficiency (EPA/play) since 2000, excluding garbage time (win probability <3%). The Patriots’ quarterback generated an EPA/play of -0.90 against the Seahawks, better than just one QB’s performance in the last 27 Super Bowls — Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes against the Philadelphia Eagles last year in Super Bowl LIX.
Additionally, Maye’s EPA per dropback of -0.34 against Seattle was tied for the sixth-worst recorded by a Super Bowl QB since 2000, per TruMedia. That equaled former Denver Broncos QB Peyton Manning’s mark during a 43-8 loss to the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLVIII.
Sunday’s game was a microcosm of Maye’s postseason performance, which left plenty to be desired. The Patriots’ signal-caller finished the playoffs with a passing EPA of -41.2, which is the worst playoff passing EPA in the NextGen Stats Era, per Michael Florio of NFL Network.
So, while Maye took the league by storm during the regular season, helping the Patriots earn the AFC East title, the No. 2 seed in the conference and a spot in the Super Bowl in just his second season, his performance in the Super Bowl game and postseason as a whole did him more harm than good when it comes to defining the early stages of his legacy as an NFL quarterback.
