Last season, Patriots quarterback Drake Maye made himself into an MVP candidate in big part because of his prolific downfield passing, but against the Seahawks defense, it was a different story in Super Bowl LX.

And in Wednesday night's season opener, the Seahawks defense again made life difficult on Maye and New England's passing game when he attempted to throw the ball downfield.

Maye had a strong game throwing underneath, going 20 for 23 for 134 yards and a touchdown on throws under 10 air yards, but once he tried to push the ball downfield, it was a different story.

Thanks to strong play from Seattle's secondary and a fearsome pass rush, the Seahawks were able to limit Maye to 3 of 8 passing for 44 yards and three interceptions on throws of 10-plus air yards. All three of Maye's interceptions came on passes of 20-plus air yards, with Julian Love, Nehemiah Pritchett and Josh Jobe all recording picks in the fourth quarter to help the Seahawks overcome a 10-0 deficit.

Again, per Next Gen Stats, Jobe's fourth-quarter interception, which came in the final minute with the Patriots well within range to kick a game-tying field goal, resulted in a 47.9 percent swing in win probability.

Maye's two interceptions in Super Bowl LX also came on deep pass attempts--Maye was attempting to throw downfield on Uchenna Nwosu's pick-six before Devon Witherspoon hit the quarterback in the arm--meaning he has thrown five interceptions on deep pass attempts in eight quarters against the Seahawks after having one such interception in the entire 2025 season.