Maye can learn from Darnold

Sam Darnold can only relate to what Patriots quarterback Drake Maye endured against the Seahawks defense in the Super Bowl

It was only fitting that Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold faced the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl to complete his redemption tour. Exactly how it should be.

After all, Darnold remarked he was seeing ghosts when the Patriots blitzed him while miked up on Monday Night Football in 2019. It summed up his ill-fated Jets tenure right there. He never recovered from it, and two years later, the Jets traded him to the Carolina Panthers. He went to San Francisco to learn under 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan, and then he found his footing with the Minnesota Vikings last year.

His success with the Vikings helped him get a three-year, $105 million deal with the Seahawks in the offseason.

Consider money well spent. Darnold engineered the Seahawks to a successful season by leading them to the Super Bowl. You can say it was poetic that the Patriots saw him conquer the ghosts once and for all after he and the Seahawks celebrated on the field as Super Bowl champs on Sunday night at Levi’s Stadium.

It was second-year Patriots quarterback Drake Maye who saw ghosts in the Patriots’ 29-13 loss to the Seahawks in Super Bowl LX. He was sacked six times along with getting hit 15 times, and the Patriots punted on their first eight full series. He had three turnovers (two interceptions, one fumble).

When Darnold had the ball and threw a touchdown pass to AJ Barner after Byron Murphy recovered Maye’s fumble on the Seattle 37-yard line with 10 seconds left in the third quarter, it might as well have been over after the Seahawks took a 19-0 lead.

Maye was never going to figure out the Seahawks on this night. His offensive line couldn’t protect him, and the Patriots quarterback turned out to be a punching bag. It reached the point you felt sorry for him.

When Uchenna Nwosu intercepted Maye’s pass for a touchdown on a Devon Witherspoon blitz, you might as well call it a mercy rule when the Seahawks took a 29-7 lead with 4:27 left.

What the second-year quarterback experienced was the game being fast for him.

Maye served as a game manager during the Patriots’ playoff run and nothing more. This was never going to work against the best defense in the league. It’s no wonder the Seahawks were favored by four in this year’s Super Bowl. It turned out they won by 16 as a result of Maye’s poor game.

Darnold wasn’t exactly great, either. He didn’t need to on this Sunday night with the way his defense attacked his counterpart.

To the Seahawks quarterback’s credit, he did lead the Seahawks to the red zone, resulting in Jason Myers’ five field goals. Maye couldn’t even do that.

The Patriots had chances to give the Seahawks a scare, but Maye couldn’t even get his team to the red zone when it mattered.

It was just another learning experience for the second-youngest quarterback ever to play in the Super Bowl. It’s something he won’t forget. But it doesn’t have to define his career.

Darnold went through trials and tribulations with the Jets. He recovered nicely by being persistent and willing to learn as a backup. He kept working through it.

If he can do it, so can Maye.

Here’s what the Patriots quarterback has going for him: He plays for an organization that will give him a chance to succeed. He has competent coaches to work with in coach Mike Vrabel and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels.

There’s a reason to believe Maye will be back on this stage and be better for it.

It probably won’t happen next season. The Patriots are going to have a tough schedule that features games against the Kansas City Chiefs, Super Bowl champion Seahawks, Jacksonville Jaguars, Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers. It’s going to be tough for him to take the next step. Plus, Super Bowl runners-up have that dreaded hangover where the team is never the same.

Maybe Maye surprises us here. If not, it will happen eventually for him.

A game like this could and should be the best thing that ever happened to him.

Sure, it’s not pleasant. It wasn’t that way for Darnold on an October night at East Rutherford once against the Patriots.

Darnold managed to bounce back by finally conquering his ghosts in the Patriots. He certainly had an appreciation of what he went through after doing just that.

It would be fitting if Maye finally does that to be a champion at the Seahawks’ expense.