SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Patriots rookie left tackle Will Campbell shook his head repeatedly, and right tackle Morgan Moses said no while he stood in a daze next to his locker room.
It probably didn’t make sense to the offensive lineman to speak to the hordes of reporters who rushed through the Patriots’ locker room minutes after their frustrating 29–13 loss to the Seahawks in Super Bowl LX at Levi’s Stadium. No point in agreeing to an interview when there weren’t answers for what went wrong on the field.
The Seahawks pummeled second-year quarterback Drake Maye, with the New England offensive line allowing six sacks and 11 quarterback hits, including a 45-yard pick-six touchdown by edge rusher Uchenna Nwosu to put the game out of reach with less than five minutes left in regulation.
There wasn’t much Moses could do on that memorable play because defensive mastermind and Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald sent cornerback Devon Witherspoon on a blitz while Moses was blocking Nwosu. Over on the left side, Campbell had his hands full with defensive tackle Jarran Reed. Sending that extra player made all the difference in Maye losing the football and giving Seattle’s vaunted defense a touchdown the city’s fans will remember forever.
Perhaps you could blame that on not having an extra blocker on the play but the Patriots’ offensive line took the bulk of the blame on social media and from talking heads. Players and critics have that in common; a lack of time for figuring out what went wrong. That’s the tough life of an offensive lineman. The spotlight usually falls on nights when it’s challenging to find answers.
But rookie left guard Jared Wilson had a response that sounded similar to star receiver Stefon Diggs’s when it comes to moving on from a humbling defeat. Just take it, they said. Take the moment to learn and grow, Wilson said.
Just take the next shot. “Keep shooting like NBA star Stephen Curry,” said Diggs when asked about what he told Maye after his three turnover performance. Somehow, Maye managed to throw for 295 yards despite having only six completions midway through the third quarter, finishing 27-of-43 with two touchdowns and two interceptions. He just kept shooting, even in a game that wasn’t going his way because of a swarm of Seahawks defenders around him on most plays on Sunday.
“Keep going,” Diggs said in a low tone. “He’s 23 years old. It’s a team effort. Even for myself, there’s stuff I wish I could have done more.”
While the focus was on the offensive line after the disastrous offensive showing, including punts on eight of the first 10 drives (the other two drives ended because of halftime and a fumble), the other position groups wondered whether they were the reason why the game didn’t go their way. The Patriots lost that game as a team, but they also won 17 games together in a season not many expected them to even make the playoffs after only winning four games in back-to-back seasons before coach Mike Vrabel arrived.
“We got here together and we lost some games together,” Wilson said. “We’re going to feel this feeling together. That’s all it is. It’s the greatest team sport that there is. There’s a brotherhood you have to build to get to this point, a connection throughout the building, trust in your head coach, trust in your quarterback, trust in every aspect of the game.”
Sticking to the theme of taking what’s needed to move on, Vrabel told his players to take it on the chin. Sunday’s result will hurt for a while, and not just for the players on the offensive side. The 2026 season is around the corner for the Patriots after a surprising year that ended in a humbling way on the biggest stage.
“We’re not promised to be here next year,” running back Rhamondre Stevenson said. “We’re not promised to be a positive team, an over .500 team. We just gotta go back in and hit the drawing boards.”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Patriots Left to Pick Up the Pieces From Disastrous Super Bowl LX Performance.
