There are many stories that helped the New England Patriots this season and they all came together to earn a 10-7 win over the Denver Broncos in the AFC Championship Game. While most of New England is celebrating their first trip to the Super Bowl since winning it all in 2018, the play of safety Jaylinn Hawkins has been a growing concern.
Sunday’s game was a prime example of Hawkins’s struggles and he made several bad plays at the wrong time. While the 28-year-old has enjoyed a career year with an 81.3 overall grade from Pro Football Focus, the gaffes made Sunday’s game a lot closer than it should have been and could be a storyline that has a much different look going into Super Bowl LX.
Patriots Safety Jaylinn Hawkins Must Clean Up His Mistakes Entering Super Bowl LX
Hawkins had three tackles including a tackle for loss in Sunday’s win but there were moments that raised the blood pressure of everybody involved. That included a pair of miscommunications with cornerback Christian Gonzalez on the second drive of the game where Marvin Mims got open for a 52-yard reception and Hawkins played the run instead of the pass on a six-yard touchdown pass from Jarrett Stidham to Courtland Sutton that put Denver on the board with 10:19 left in the first quarter.
Another Hawkins gaffe came up in the second quarter when he had Denver running back RJ Harvey in the backfield. While Hawkins was there for a potential tackle for loss, Harvey was able to escape and dart ahead for a nine-yard gain that helped the Broncos march deep into Patriots territory.
The final mistake didn’t come back to hurt the Patriots as they were able to get a stop on fourth down and New England put the clamps on the Broncos’ offense later in the game, holding them to 32 yards of offense in the second half. But it may have been different if Denver starter Bo Nix hadn’t fractured his ankle in last week’s win over the Buffalo Bills and could be different facing Matthew Stafford or Sam Darnold in the Super Bowl.
With two franchise quarterbacks looming, the Patriots will need the old version of Hawkins back. In 15 starts, Hawkins had his most tackles (71) since the 2022 season with the Atlanta Falcons (84) and he tied a career high with three tackles for loss and set another career mark with four interceptions this season.
If Hawkins can get back to that, the Patriots defense can maintain the level of dominance they had minus his mistakes on Sunday and could help bring the Lombardi Trophy back to Foxborough.