A quarterback with a sore throwing shoulder rarely keeps a Super Bowl defense up at night. But Mike Macdonald isn’t sleeping any easier.
As the Seattle Seahawks prepare for the biggest game of the season, their head coach made something clear: whatever concerns exist around Drake Maye’s health, they don’t change how dangerous he believes the Patriots’ quarterback truly is.
“He is a tremendous player,” Macdonald said bluntly. “He’s strong. He’s fast. All the things. Great arm talent, great decision-making.”
Those aren’t courtesy compliments. They’re warnings.
Maye enters the Super Bowl listed as questionable after taking a hard hit to his right shoulder in the AFC Championship game against Denver.
On paper, that should tilt the matchup toward Seattle’s elite defense. In reality, it has barely altered their preparation—and that might be the most revealing detail of all.
Macdonald’s concern isn’t limited to Maye’s arm. It’s his legs. His instincts. His refusal to play small moments safely.
Seattle’s defensive game plan is focused on one thing: preventing third-down chaos, where Maye has quietly punished opponents all season.
“We’ve got to be on our stuff up front,” Macdonald said, emphasizing discipline rather than aggression.
That restraint is intentional. Maye thrives when defenses overcommit.
The numbers explain why Seattle isn’t relaxing. During the regular season, the 23-year-old threw for 4,394 yards, 31 touchdowns, and just eight interceptions.
He led the NFL in completion percentage, passer rating, and yards per attempt. As a runner, he added 450 yards and four scores—numbers that place him among the most complete quarterbacks in the league.
And the playoffs haven’t slowed him down.
Against the Chargers in the Wild Card round, Maye scrambled for 66 yards on 10 carries while throwing four touchdowns.
In the AFC Championship, amid a second-half blizzard in Denver, he scored the game’s only touchdown on a six-yard run and finished with another 65 rushing yards.
That’s not a system quarterback. That’s a problem solver.
Still, there’s a crack in the Patriots’ armor—and Seattle knows exactly where to press. New England’s offensive line has struggled under playoff pressure, allowing Maye to be sacked 15 times in three games.
Coincidentally, the Seahawks posted 47 sacks in the regular season, tied for seventh-most in the NFL.
The matchup feels obvious. The execution won’t be.
Macdonald isn’t chasing sacks for highlight value. He’s hunting long-yardage situations—moments where Maye is forced to hold the ball just a beat longer. That’s where Seattle believes control can be established.
Yet even there, uncertainty lingers.
Maye downplayed his shoulder injury earlier this week, attributing it more to cumulative wear than a single hit.
“Thirty weeks of throwing,” he said. “It can add up.” His tone was calm. Confident. Almost dismissive of the concern.
That confidence is what Seattle is preparing for—not the injury designation.
Maye enters the Super Bowl as a frontrunner for league MVP, alongside Matthew Stafford. That context matters.
This isn’t a young quarterback trying to survive his first big moment. This is a player rewriting expectations in real time.
The Seahawks remember what happens when New England quarterbacks are underestimated. Super Bowl history doesn’t fade easily in Seattle.
So despite the injury report, the Seahawks aren’t adjusting expectations. They’re sharpening them.
Because if Drake Maye is limited, Seattle can live with that.
If he’s not—and they prepared for less—
the cost could be everything.
And as Macdonald’s words made clear, the Seahawks refuse to make that mistake.
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