Did a few members of the New England Patriots throw Drake Maye under the bus after losing the Super Bowl to the Seattle Seahawks?
Maye completed 27-of-43 passes in the Super Bowl for 295 yards for two touchdowns with two interceptions and a fumble. His final stat line didn't look awful due to a few throws in "garbage time," but the advanced metrics put into perspective just how rough his performance was against Seattle.
According to Kevin Cole of Unexpected Points, last weekend's performance from Maye marked the second-lowest efficiency from a quarterback and the sixth lowest EPA per dropback in a Super Bowl since 2000.
Towards the end of the fourth quarter, Patriots defensive linemen Christian Barmore and Milton Williams had an animated chat on the sideline. Since they were mic'd up for the Super Bowl, the audio from their conversation was shared with the public this week.
"It wasn't us, bro. It wasn't us, man," Barmore told Williams. "It wasn't us, twin. It wasn't us, bro. It wasn't us, twin."
Williams replied, "Now we just gotta build on it ... keep getting better and better."
Feb 8, 2026; Santa Clara, CA, USA; New England Patriots defensive end Milton Williams (97) after the game against the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl LX at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images © Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images.
Although there's no guarantee Barmore was throwing shade at Maye, some fans are convinced he was blaming New England's offense for the Super Bowl loss.
"Calling your QB trash while mic'd up is certainly a choice," one fan said.
"Drake Maye fans close your ears," a second fan commented.
"Every time I see this I get a little irked. Repeating some [expletive] like that after letting a RB win MVP of the Super Bowl is borderline delusional," another fan wrote.
"People are taking this as Barmore blaming the offense, but it's entirely possible that he's saying 'it wasn't us' as in the Patriots performance wasn't up to their usual standards," Evan Lazar of Patriots.com argued. "Without context, this is a tough edit. The films edit of the Super Bowl mic'd up was rough."
Not giving up on Drake Maye.
Even though Maye struggled mightily in the Super Bowl, Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel refused to throw him under the bus.
"We can sit here and try to put it on one guy," Vrabel said. "You'll be disappointed because that'll never happen. It starts with us as a coaching staff and making sure that we're doing our part. Obviously, we have to be able to execute, we gotta be able to protect. When we do protect, we have to be able to progress through and throw the ball with guys open and help the quarterback. And then he's gotta be better. That's just how it goes, that's never gonna change."
Maye should still be proud of the season he just had. The former No. 3 pick finished the 2025 regular season with 4,394 passing yards, 31 touchdowns and eight interceptions.
If Maye builds off his early success, there's no question he could get the Patriots back to the Super Bowl.
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