Drake Maye had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day on Wednesday.
Maye and the New England Patriots faced the Seattle Seahawks to open up the 2026 season (marking a rematch of Super Bowl LX). Once again, it was the Seahawks who prevailed, winning by a 13-10 final score despite their starting quarterback Sam Darnold exiting with injury just three minutes into the game.
Meanwhile, the 2025 NFL MVP runner-up Maye was the one who ended up as the butt of jokes. That was because he threw not one, not two, but three interceptions on the evening to seal his team’s fate.
Maye’s final interception was particularly egregious. With his team trailing by three points in the final minutes of the fourth quarter, Maye managed to bring the Patriots into field-goal range. But on a 3rd-and-5 play from the Seattle 16-yard line, Maye inexplicably threw a jump ball into the end zone off the wrong foot.
The errant pass was picked off by Seahawks cornerback Josh Jobe, who managed to get both feet in bounds for a game-ending touchback to Seattle. Here is the video.
SEATTLE PICKS OFF DRAKE MAYE TO SEAL THE WIN
— ESPN (@espn) September 10, 2026
(via @NFL)pic.twitter.com/CU20Ns53Up
Maye’s trash-bag performance led to a merciless roast over social media. Here were some of the cruelest memes at Maye’s expense.
Drake Maye when the Patriots need him to play well vs a good team pic.twitter.com/PBOxrI91Ew
— GhettoGronk (@ghetto_gronk) September 10, 2026
“Drake Maye drops back to pass” pic.twitter.com/N8mvZXbSzZ
— Hater Report (@HaterReport) September 10, 2026
One tuna sub coming right up courtesy of Drake Maye pic.twitter.com/jAZBKBKDpi
— BetMGM (@BetMGM) September 10, 2026
Drake Maye with the game on the line pic.twitter.com/W6aa9zyhj9
— Shooter McGavin (@ShooterMcGavin) September 10, 2026
"Alright Drake Maye, now throw the ball into coverage while in field goal range" pic.twitter.com/hOamZ1Sbhi
— Nyanasaur (@Nyanasaur) September 10, 2026
The two-time Pro Bowler Maye finished the night going 23/33 for 178 passing yards with one touchdown to the three interceptions. He also took three sacks and failed to outplay Seahawks backup QB Drew Lock, who went 16/22 for 187 yards, one touchdown, and zero interceptions in relief of Darnold.
Adding further insult to injury for Maye was that his No. 1 receiver AJ Brown exited the game with an ankle injury in the third quarter and did not return. Brown was hurt off an underthrown ball by Maye, resulting in Maye being blamed for the star wideout’s injury.
