Drake Maye
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Drake Maye and offensive lineman Garrett Bradbury celebrate a play on Monday night.
Former NFL star defensive back Tyrann Mathieu had some advice for the New England Patriots following their Super Bowl loss to the Seattle Seahawks. He indicated that the Patriots should focus on one specific area heading into the offseason.
Mathieu knows a thing or two about stellar play. The defensive back was a three-time Pro Bowl selection as well as a three-time first-team All-Pro. He made the NFL 2010’s All-Decade Team and was a Super Bowl champion with the Kansas City Chiefs. He played for the Arizona Cardinals, Houston Texans, and New Orleans Saints in addition to the Chiefs.
Mathieu played in over 180 games in total, recording 834 tackles, 36 interceptions, 100 passes defended, 11 sacks, seven forced fumbles, and eight fumble recoveries. He was a relentless defender who could make plays almost at will.
Mathieu Takes Aim At New England Patriots Line
Mathieu was also seemingly everywhere the football was. He saw firsthand what it took to win. He spoke on his podcast, “In The Bayou,” about what he believes the Patriots need to do this offseason.
“New England should take sort of the Kansas City Chiefs approach. After we lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers… the very next day, they got new offensive linemen. Obviously, Will Campbell is young, the left side of the line is young, they’re going to grow. You gotta be able to protect the product.”
The Super Bowl he’s referencing was Super Bowl LV, where Tampa Bay’s defensive pressure was dominant. The buccaneers were able to pressure Patrick Mahomes constantly, as they won by a 31-9 margin.
During the game, the Buccaneers pressured Mahomes on 52% of his dropbacks. This was the most pressure recorded in a Super Bowl up to that point. ESPN NexGen Stats indicated that Mahomes ran a total of 497 yards for his passes and sacks.
That was enough for the Kansas City Chiefs to focus on making impactful editions. They signed guard Joe Thuney as well as Orlando Brown Jr. to the tackle spot. Creed Humphrey was drafted as a center. Trey Smith was also drafted to shore up the offensive line.
New England Patriots Have Young Line
The Patriots may not need to make as many drastic changes. They do have young players in left tackle Will Campbell and guard Jared Wilson. Those two had to develop in real-time and were faced with some of the toughest defenses in the NFL.
The Patriots need to make minor changes on the offensive line, but it could be said that the core group is in place. They certainly did not have the best game in the Super Bowl, allowing six sacks on the evening. However, it may be too soon to make drastic changes to this group in their first season.
The organization could undoubtedly use some depth in the positional group. It will be interesting to see what changes they make, if they make any at all. It’s no secret that the line struggled throughout the course of the playoffs. However, the Patriots are in a unique position where giving the line more time may yield better results.