Super Bowl LX showcased the best and worst of New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye.

For the first three quarters, he resembled the rookie year version of Maye who went 3-9 as a starter with 15 touchdown passes, 10 interceptions and nine fumbles. Maye was completely stymied by the Seattle Seahawks’ ferocious defense, throwing for just 60 yards and no touchdowns entering the fourth quarter.

With the game out of reach, Maye finally started to look more like himself in the fourth quarter, showing flashes of the player who finished second in the NFL MVP race this season. He led the Patriots on a pair of late scoring drives, throwing a pair of touchdowns and racking up 235 passing yards in the fourth quarter alone.

In fact, the 235 passing yards were a Super Bowl record for most passing yards in a single quarter. It was more than Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold had in the entire game (202).

Unfortunately, it was too little, too late for New England, which still lost 29-13. The Patriots weren’t able to overcome Maye’s previous miscues, which included three turnovers, six sacks and 10 off-target throws.

Maye was the second-youngest starting quarterback in Super Bowl history, and it showed. Still, at least he managed to end the game on a high note and salvage something from his shaky performance.

Maye was great this season, but he struggled mightily in the playoffs. He still has work to do this offseason if he wants to get back to the Super Bowl and have another shot at a championship someday.

New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye avoided using his shoulder injury as an excuse for his poor performance in Super Bowl LX, but came pretty close…

Maye, who was listed on the injury report for the majority of the two weeks between the AFC Championship and Super Bowl, ultimately shed any injury designation before playing and losing the big game to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.

It’s safe to say he gave an eye-opening answer when asked about how it impacted him, however.

“My shoulder feels – they shot it up, so not much feeling,” Maye admitted in his postgame press conference, per video shared by Tom Carroll of WEEI. “It was good to go, and felt alright.”

Maye’s removal from the injury report would suggest there was nothing holding him back during the game, but his performance would suggest something completely different — as he turned the ball over three times and ultimately put things on ice as he forced the ball into triple coverage and saw it get intercepted in a two-possession game.

The Patriots didn’t do much to help him, either.

Maye was sacked six times — with the number being much closer to seven considering he was hit and had the ball knocked loose and directly into the arms of Seahawks linebacker Uchenna Nwosu — and ultimately failed to make any changes that could have resulted in an easier time in the pocket. If that’s on anyone, it’s the coaching staff and not the sophomore signal-caller.

New England will find solace in the fact that it is set up for future success, but an opportunity was clearly missed on Sunday at Levis’ Stadium — whether it had anything to do with an injury or not.