When New England Patriots fans heard that Josh McDaniels would be returning as the offensive coordinator on Mike Vrabel’s staff, they were ecstatic. Patriots fans remember what he accomplished with Tom Brady during his first stint as OC, and they believed he could take Drake Maye’s game and this offense to another level.
McDaniels did just that as Maye had an incredible second season, finishing second in NFL MVP voting behind Matthew Stafford. As a team, the Patriots surpassed all expectations, finishing with a 14-3 record, winning the AFC, and earning a trip to the Super Bowl.
However, McDaniels’ unit came up short in the biggest game of the year, as Maye’s postseason issues continued, along with rookie Will Campbell’s, who was consistently getting overpowered by Seattle’s defense.
Therefore, the hope during the game was that a veteran playcaller like McDaniels would find a way to make life easier for his young quarterback, while also providing his rookie tackle some help. Sadly, neither of those things happened, which is disheartening, as the Patriots’ defense did its best to keep them in the game by forcing field goal after field goal.
In fact, on Tuesday, Campbell told reporters that he tore a ligament in his knee this season and wasn’t 100 percent healthy for the playoffs. However, the rookie said that it’s not an excuse, per Mark Daniels of MassLive.
Patriots Given Even More Reason to Question Josh McDaniels After SB Loss
If this is the case, McDaniels deserves a lot more of the blame for why the offense didn’t play up to its standard.
He didn’t make adjustments to help out his young tackle, who allowed 14 pressures in the Super Bowl and 29 total in a single postseason, per Next Gen Stats. McDaniels could have easily run more two-tight-end sets to give Campbell another blocker on his side, alleviating some of the pressure he faced from Seattle's defensive front.
If that did not work, the next best option would be the quick passing game and leaving a running back in to block in pass pro, just in case Campbell gets beat.
However, as we found out, the Patriots, for some reason, went against everything they successfully did in the regular season. According to Dan Pizzuta on Bluesky, 79.1 percent of the Patriots’ offensive snaps were in 11 personnel.
11 personnel is a personnel package that has one running back, one tight end, and three wide receivers on the field. Pizzuta highlighted that New England did not have a game in the regular season with over 70 percent in 11 personnel.
He also mentioned that the Patriots’ offense had zero snaps in an empty set and rarely played any 21 personnel (1.5 percent), an offensive scheme involving two RBs, one tight end, and two WRs.
This is a major misstep by McDaniels, which should not be overlooked. He had two weeks to prepare for this Seahawks’ defense, knowing his QB was banged up and his rookie tackle was playing through an injury, and instead went against everything that worked well for them in the regular season.
McDaniels let Mike Macdonald and the Seahawks dictate what New England's offense would do, and that’s something a veteran play caller should know better than that.
Nonetheless, as we head into the offseason and inch closer to next season, we can officially say that the honeymoon is over for McDaniels and this group. McDaniels built up a lot of goodwill during the regular season, but that has gone out the window. Patriots fans won’t be satisfied with another performance like this in the regular season or playoffs in 2026.