New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye is about to appear in his first Super Bowl.
Maye, 23, will almost certainly feel some nerves as he takes the sport’s grandest stage on Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to get any special treatment from those who have been there before — like head coach Mike Vrabel.
“I don’t necessarily need to send a message to him, but more or less our entire offense,” Vrabel told ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio on Sunday.
What is that message?
“We need to find out how to create some (explosive) plays. It’s something that we did a really good job of throughout the season, but has disappeared these last couple of weeks — whether that’s the defenses we’ve played or the conditions,” Vrabel said, as seen on ESPN. “If we’re going to win this football game we have to create some of those explosive gains.”
Story continues below advertisement
Vrabel isn’t wrong, as his offensive unit averaged 8.35 explosive plays during the regular season, but saw that number dip to 4.0 during the postseason — putting more stress on a defense that has stepped up at every turn.
It’s going to be easier said than done turning things back around, though.
Story continues below advertisement
Mike Macdonald’s squad has controlled the explosive play margin better than any other team in football, carrying a +2.60 (7.24 on offense, 4.64 on defense) margin throughout the regular season, narrowly edging out their upcoming opponent (8.35 on offense, 6.18 on defense).
The Patriots and Seahawks will battle to see who can create more explosive plays (and score more points) in Super Bowl LX on Sunday, with kickoff from Levi’s Stadium scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET.
Featured image via Andrew Nelles/Imagn Images
