This Patriot Could Be The Difference Maker In Super Bowl LX

The New England Patriots’ offense has sputtered during their playoff run. But before the offense played in back-to-back blizzards, people conveniently forget that quarterback Drake Maye had 334 total yards against the Los Angeles Chargers’ fifth-ranked defense.

Maye threw only one touchdown in the 16-3 loss. That touchdown went to tight end Hunter Henry.

Henry has quietly been one of the league’s most consistent tight ends over his five-year New England tenure, and he could be the difference between a win and a loss in Super Bowl LX against the talented Seattle Seahawks.

NBC Sports Boston’s Nick Goss has named Henry the “X-factor” in the matchup.

“The Seahawks have an elite defense — maybe the best in the league,” Goss wrote. “But they don’t dominate versus tight ends. In the regular season, the Seahawks allowed the fifth-most receptions (105) and the sixth-most yards (1,080) to tight ends.

“In the playoffs, the Seattle defense gave up five catches for 59 yards to San Francisco 49ers tight end Jake Tonges in the NFC Divisional Round and three catches for 62 yards to Los Angeles Rams tight end Colby Parkinson in the NFC Championship Game.”

Henry torches zone coverage, and few teams in the NFL play more zone coverage than Seattle.

But as Goss pointed out, fans knew New England’s red zone offense was going to be a problem this time of the year. It was the headline of much debate during the season as the team continued a historically low trend of touchdown conversions in the red zone.

It reered it’s ugly head in the wild-card round with the Patriots going 0-3 in the redzone.

Henry will have a hand in getting the team down the field, but he really must shine inside the 20-yard line.

If the Patriots want to get ring No. 7, they’ll need to be stealing six, not settling for three.