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Sam Darnold once said it felt like he was "seeing ghosts" while playing for the Jets against the Patriots.
On Sunday night in the Super Bowl, the tables turned. Darnold led the Seattle Seahawks to a championship. Pats QB Drake Maye was the one seeing things that weren't there.
That's how former Packers QB Kurt Benkert described it on X on Monday:
"This Drake Maye tape is worse than I thought. There were wide open guys everywhere even when he had time he just wasn’t seeing it. It was the definition of seeing ghosts game."
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Benkert only played in one regular season NFL game, but he's more equipped than us to analyze this.
And from watching the game, it certainly seemed like Maye was feeling rushed or pressured even on the plays when the rush and pressure weren't getting to him.
Part of that comes from getting sped up by pass rushers so frequently getting to him. He has to start anticipating that it'll keep happening.
By the same token, Maye made a habit of stepping up into a particularly crowded pocket. It didn't go well for him.
He had made such good use of his legs by running in the AFC Championship Game. When he ran on Sunday, it mostly worked. But he didn't leave himself opportunity to do that enough, either.
It was a night Maye will want to forget about. Everyone watched as he struggled. It'll be up to the Patriots' young quarterback to prove that he's got achievable visions of a championship in his future. He's got to put this one in the past.
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