Mike Vrabel defends Patriots’ offensive game plan against Seahawks

After struggling in the Super Bowl, the New England Patriots offense was hopeful to turn things around in its rematch with the Seattle Seahawks defense in Week 1. While the game as a whole was much more competitive, the end result was still disappointing.

The Patriots finished with just 10 points on the day, turned the ball over three times, and were plagued by some of the same issues that already haunted them back on Super Sunday. The game was there for the taking, but Drake Maye's third interception of the day sealed it in the home team's favor, which came away with a 13-10 victory over the reigning AFC champions.

In the aftermath of the loss and New England's disappointing outing, offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels found himself the subject of criticism for what was seen as a fairly conservative game plan. However, head coach Mike Vrabel defended the plan on Monday.

I don't look at things as conservative. That's what we felt like was best against this defense," Vrabel said during an appearance on WEEI's The Greg Hill Show.

We didn't hit some things and you have to be able to run the football against split safety defense. That's no secret. You don't play split safety defense to stop the run; they play it to not give up big plays. We tried to hit some shots down the field. We threw it to the running backs a couple times for 12 or 15 yards when they were all off there, and on the interception should have thrown it to the back again for a third time. You just can't get bored doing things right. If it's not there it's not there."

Through three quarters, the Patriots had performed decently against one of the NFL's best defenses. They were up 10-3 and managed to move the ball even after losing star wide receiver A.J. Brown to what was later diagnosed as a high-ankle sprain. New England took its first snap of the fourth quarter - a 1-yard Corey Kiner run - in Seattle territory and with a chance of adding to its lead.

From that point on, however, things went downhill. Drake Maye threw an interception on the very next play while attempting to hit Romeo Doubs deep on the play Vrabel was referencing; this turnover was a turning point in the contest and opened the floodgates.

The Seahawks scored the game-tying touchdown five plays later, while Maye threw another pick on the next possession. Seattle added three more points off of that giveaway, which was then followed by the Patriots driving deep into their opponent's territory only to be denied on another, game-ending INT.

Could a different game plan have changed things and let the Patriots offense perform at the same level as others around the NFL in Week 1? Not in Vrabel's estimation.

Every game is different, every defense is different," he said. We all sit down, we game-plan. Josh game-plans with his staff; each guy has an area. I'll sit in with those. I think to look and say, Well, this guy, this team put up number...' - we didn't win the game."