Maye’s ‘unacceptable’ trio of interceptions help Seahawks win season opener over Pats

Backup quarterback Drew Lock led two late scoring drives and the Seattle Seahawks intercepted Drake Maye three times in the fourth quarter to overcome an early injury to starter Sam Darnold and beat the New England Patriots 13-10 on Wednesday night in a Super Bowl rematch.

The Seahawks were held to just a field goal through three quarters as Lock and the offense struggled to move the ball after Darnold injured his hip on the opening drive. ESPN reports that he could return for Seattle’s Week 3 game against the Washington Commanders.

“At this point, we are able to rule out a fracture,” Seattle head coach Mike Macdonald said after the game. “So there’s some more tests to be done. ... We’re still working through all that, but right now I think fracture is out, which is great news.”

The costly interceptions by last season’s MVP runner-up turned the tide and made sure that the banner-raising night would end in happy fashion for the boisterous home crowd.

Maye overcame the first two picks to drive the Patriots into position to tie or take the lead in the final minute. But Josh Jobe made a toe-tapping interception in the end zone to seal the win.

“I thought we had a good plan to try to start chipping away and be patient. Lost patience and it cost us – decisions that cost us the game on my part, on my end,” Maye said. “I vow to myself to be better and realize it’s a long season. But at the same time, you can’t have those. It’s unacceptable.”

Seattle trailed 10-0 but got a field goal in the third quarter and tied the game when Lock connected with Jaxon Smith-Njigba on a 45-yard pass on fourth-and-1 following an interception by Nehemiah Pritchett.

Julian Love intercepted Maye on the next drive and the Seahawks took a 13-10 lead on a 26-yard field goal by Jason Myers. That set the stage for the defensive stand on the final drive.

The game started following a ceremony that featured the Super Bowl banner being raised and highlights being played on the video board. This was the third Super Bowl rematch in Week 1, with it last happening in 2016 when Denver celebrated their title with a win over Carolina.

The excitement turned to worry quickly as Darnold came up limping following a third-down sack by Dre’Mont Jones on the first drive. Darnold went immediately to the sideline medical tent and then back to the locker room before the next drive.

Lock, who threw just three passes last season, entered the game but Seattle’s offense was stagnant until the fourth quarter.

The Patriots didn’t fare much better on offense but got the only score of the first half after Jobe interfered with offseason acquisition AJ Brown on a deep flea-flicker pass and Maye found rookie Eli Raridon for a two-yard score on the next play to make it 7-0.

A penalty helped set up the second Patriots score as well. Chazz Surratt was flagged for roughing the punter on the opening drive of the second half, setting up Andy Borregales’ 50-yard field goal.