The good, the bad, and the s—t that got them beat from Patriots’ loss to Seahawks

Ahead of last summer’s training camp, New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel explained that he was looking at his team’s performances in three distinct categories. There is the good, the bad, and, as he called it, the s—t that gets you beat.

The Patriots’ 29-13 loss to the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl LX on Sunday mostly operated in those last two areas, but there was also some positive to take away from the game. So, if the coach wants to look at his team through the three categories he established, who are we to disagree? Let’s break down the game in exactly that manner.

The good: Christian Gonzalez

Let’s start off by highlighting some of the Patriots’ positive performances against the Seahawks. DeMario Douglas finished with five catches, but did get open on more occasions than those. Mack Hollins made some big receptions on the team’s first touchdown drive. Craig Woodson was a menace playing downhill. Milton Williams was disruptive as a pass rusher even though he only got home once. Anfernee Jennings made sure to leave it all on the field. The punt team did its job limiting dangerous returner Rashid Shaheed.

However, one man’s contributions stand out among all of them. Christian Gonzalez was doing all he could to keep the Patriots in the game, and in a winning effort would have had a strong case for the Super Bowl MVP award.

Playing 40 coverage snaps, Gonzalez finished the day with just one 16-yard catch given up on five targets. He went up against star receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba 14 times in coverage and besides that one reception shut the newly-minted NFL Offensive Player of the Year down. Oh, and he also finished with three pass breakups, including a leaping, highlight-reel play on a well-thrown deep ball intended for Shaheed.

Gonzalez’s progression this season should leave the Patriots excited about his future. He showed that he can excel regardless of coverage scheme but still put the clamps on anybody one-on-one, and that the team would be smart to lock him up sooner rather than later.

Gonzalez is a prime extension candidate this offseason, and he showed why in the Super Bowl.

The bad: Run defense

New England entered the Super Bowl having absolutely dominated in the ground game so far in the playoffs: in their previous three postseason games, opponents averaged only 71.3 yards against one of the toughest run defenses in the NFL. And yet, in the biggest game, the unit failed to deliver the goods.

Eventual Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker already surpassed that prior playoff average in the second quarter, and ended up finishing with 135 rushing yards on 27 carries for an average of 5.0 yards per run. With him as the focal point, the Seahawks were able to control the flow of the game offensively.

“We didn’t do very well against the run game,” Mike Vrabel said afterwards. “We didn’t create any turnovers and missed some sacks, missed some tackles. Not well enough for us to win.”

The s—t that got them beat: Offensive synergy

For the first three quarters, Drake Maye and the Patriots offense were virtually non-existent. They showed some signs of life on their first two drives, gaining three combined first downs and advancing into Seahawks territory twice, but it all went downhill from that point on before a short-lived rebound in the fourth quarter.

The problem for New England is that there was no one problem, but a multitude of issues all contributing to the offense going scoreless until it was too late.

Let’s start with Drake Maye. The second-year quarterback, possibly still somewhat affected by the shoulder injury he sustained in the AFC Championship Game, was simply not on his game for much of the day. His accuracy was spotty — he missed several passes high early on — and he appeared to have a hard time sensing the rush and operating the pocket. He also did not see the field cleanly or show the quick processing that made him an MVP candidate in the regular season.

Part of the reason was the defense providing pressure and swarming the field out of its nickel and dime zone looks. Both of those also contributed to other breakdowns. Even when Maye had time, receivers were unable to consistently settle into open spots or create separation against man coverage (with the aforementioned DeMario Douglas being a notable exception).

Of course, he did not have a lot of time to begin with. The Seahawks used some timely and well-disguised blitzes to mess up Maye’s timing and stress an offensive line that was a question mark already entering the game. As a result, he was pressured on 43.4% of his dropbacks and sacked six times.

Add the fact that the run game simply got stuck in the mud — potentially in part because of curious personnel usage — and you get an offense that saw possession after possession come and go without any momentum being generated.

The tide seemed to turn in the fourth quarter, when two chunk plays to Mack Hollins brought the Patriots their first touchdown and they followed it up by also moving the ball well on their next possession. However, Maye forcing a deep ball that was intercepted all but ended the comeback attempt. It was one of three turnovers, and despite the final one being returned for a touchdown arguably the costliest.

It was exemplary for an offense that simply was off in a game it very much needed to be on at all times. It wasn’t, however ,and the results were not pretty.