There are plenty of mixed emotions among New England Patriots fans after how the 2025 season panned out. On the one hand, the team shocked the world by reaching the Super Bowl after winning just four games the previous year.
On the other hand, they got curb-stomped in the Super Bowl and Drake Maye played horribly.
NFL analyst Chris Simms was asked about the Patriots' morale following the blowout loss to the Seahawks. Patriots fans probably won't love a big chunk of his answer.
"...[m]orale is down 'cause, like what you talked about, they didn't play very good football in the playoffs," Simms said on The Dan Patrick Show. "The biggest story going into the game was that the guy that was one vote away from being the MVP was historically bad in the playoffs. Like historically.. Again, the guy that was one vote away from being the MVP is historically bad in the first half of the game... made one real throw. And the first three quarters of the game, he stepped up and threw a deep curl route to Stefon Diggs in the first quarter.
And I would say that was the only throw he made in the football game until the touchdown drive to make it 19-7 to start the fourth quarter. That's crazy. When you say that out loud... And that's why I think morale's a little down overall and they were dominated in the game and it just didn't look good... They shouldn't be down for long... The future is bright for the New England Patriots."
Chris Simms unloads on Drake Maye but still says future is bright
While Simms remained optimistic about the team's future, he didn't hold back his criticism of Maye. And, while it won't be popular to say, Maye did struggle in the postseason.
He threw six touchdown passes, four interceptions, and fumbled the football seven times. He was also sacked a record-setting 21 times, passing Joe Burrow's 19 times from four years ago.
It was a disappointing end to the Patriots' season but, the good news is that literally no one expected this team to even be there in the first place. That right there is a huge win.
Maye struggling in the postseason wasn't fun to watch, but it was only his second year in the league, and he's only 23 years old. His regular season was so impressive that, as Simms stated, Maye nearly won MVP. It makes sense that he'd struggle in the playoffs since it was his first time appearing in those games.
Hopefully, Maye learned from the Super Bowl stage and the mistakes he made throughout the postseason. Patriots fans hope Maye isn't the next Dan Marino, Joe Burrow, or other quarterbacks who made it to the Super Bowl early in their careers and never made it back (though the jury is still out on Burrow).
The good news is that New England has its quarterback, Mike Vrabel, leading the way as head coach, and a ton of money to spend in the offseason. Let's hope Simms is right in saying that this squad won't be down for long.