Drake Maye has to step up – but not how you might think | Opinion

The New England Patriots' season-opening loss left the reigning AFC champions with an uncomfortable air of familiarity.

The narrow defeat to the Seattle Seahawks was hardly as lopsided as February's Super Bowl 60 shellacking. Yet for a team that made a concerted effort this offseason to address the undeniable deficiencies that became glaring in the title bout, the rematch resurfaced many of the same problems.

Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald again vexed New England on multiple fronts. The ground game never got going, and the Patriots' passing attack was thrown off by Seattle's incessant pressure. Above all, though, the Seahawks again broke the game open on critical late turnovers by Maye, with three fourth-quarter interceptions this time derailing the bid for revenge.

Putting yet another crushing collapse behind them would have been difficult enough for the Patriots on its own. But when it was revealed that wide receiver A.J. Brown would be placed on injured reserve and likely miss four to six weeks after spraining his ankle, an offense that became so rooted in his presence now looked potentially unmoored.

Addressing the loss on WEEI's "Jones & Keefe" on Friday, Sept. 11, Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels went as far as…

Original source: https://www.usatoday.com/sports/