The Patriots' Super Bowl loss has raised alarms. Two-time champion Bryant McFadden is concerned about a specific weakness he saw during the game. McFadden believes New England's path to the championship was easier than it looked, hiding a fatal flaw.

Speaking on the matter on CBS, McFadden said, “Am I worried about New England moving forward? I am. The thing about this Patriots team in postseason play, they benefited from the offenses with deficiencies. The offenses they played against were worse.” 

In the build-up to the Super Bowl, Mike Vrabel’s side allowed just 9 points per game. They defeated the Chargers in the Wild Card round by 16-3, followed it up with a 28-16 Divisional round win over the Texans, and a 10-7 victory against the Broncos before coming to the Super Bowl. 

The common factor was that their opponents didn't bring balanced offensive plays. Against the Chargers, when Herbert had little impact, running back Kimani Vidal only managed 31 yards. Similarly, against the Texans, when C.J. Stroud had a 42.6% completion rate, the rushing attack limped with just 48 yards. And coming to the Championship game, they were up against a backup QB taking his first start in months during blizzard-like conditions.

When you compare these games with the Super Bowl, the difference is clear. When Sam Darnold was struggling with a 50% completion rate, Kenneth Walker III stepped up with 141 rushing yards. If the Patriots want another shot at the Lombardi, they need to be better prepared.

But McFadden didn’t stop there, as he continued to dissect the Patriots. “You remember what their Achilles heel was with their offense in 2024? The inability to protect their quarterback... Drake Maye looked like a pedestrian in the pocket.”

In the playoffs, Maye was sacked 15 times in three games. Adding the 6 sacks against the Seahawks, that brings the total to 21 sacks in the postseason, the most by any quarterback in NFL history. 

McFadden pointed out rookie Will Campbell, who statistically dropped one of the worst Super Bowl performances. His performance directly affected Maye against the Seahawks. The numbers backed it up.

Drake Maye's Performance against the Seahawks

Although he scored a couple of touchdowns, threw for 295 passing yards, and kept New England in the hunt, the other stats are worrisome.

Maye threw two important interceptions in the fourth quarter and got taken down six times. It looked like Maye never had enough time in the pocket throughout the game.

He earned a QB rating of 16.3, which unfortunately came at the worst possible time.

Does McFadden's expert analysis concern the Patriots fans? Let us know in the comments!

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Written by

Kalp Thaker

Edited by

Siddharth Shirwadkar