Drake Maye will try to become the rare QB to get back to Super Bowl and win after losing debut

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Drake Maye has a long career ahead of him to try to bounce back from flopping in his Super Bowl debut.

The second-youngest quarterback to start in a Super Bowl committed three turnovers, took six sacks and couldn't get the New England Patriots on the scoreboard until the fourth quarter of a 29-13 loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.

While the 23-year-old Maye should have plenty of chances down the road to get back and win on the NFL's biggest stage, history shows that's not quite as easy as it may seem.

Dan Marino, the only quarterback younger than Maye to start a Super Bowl — by 35 days — never got back after losing his Super Bowl debut to San Francisco following the 1984 season.

That's more typical. Only seven of the 36 quarterbacks before Maye to lose their first start in the Super Bowl eventually made it back as a starter, with only four winning it all.

Jalen Hurts was the last quarterback to break through after losing his Super Bowl debut, winning the title and MVP in the 2024 season — two years after falling short against Kansas City.

Before Hurts’ championship, it had been a long time for a QB to get Super Bowl redemption after losing his first trip, with John Elway the last to do it when he won it all for Denver in the 1997 season following three straight losses earlier in his career.

Bob Griese avenged himself a year after losing Super Bowl 6, capping Miami’s perfect 17-0 season in 1972 by beating Washington for the championship.

The only other quarterback to do it was Kansas City’s Len Dawson, who lost Super Bowl 1 to Green Bay and won it all three years after against Minnesota.

Three other quarterbacks made it back but lost, with Jim Kelly going 0-4 in Super Bowls, Fran Tarkenton 0-3 and Craig Morton 0-2.

The Seahawks once again used a dominant defense to win a Super Bowl, shutting down Maye and the Patriots in similar fashion to what they did 12 years ago against Peyton Manning and Denver.

Now the question is, where does Seattle stand when compared to the Legion of Boom defense and other top units that went on memorable Super Bowl runs?

Some advanced metrics like the efficiency stat DVOA, which takes into account how a defense rates compared to the rest of the league based on situation and quality of opponent, have this year's Seahawks defense ranked with the past greats.

Seattle's defense ranks fourth best among all Super Bowl-winning defenses since 1978 in DVOA counting the regular season and playoffs, coming in behind the 2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the 1985 Chicago Bears and the 2000 Baltimore Ravens, and ahead of Seattle's 2013 team.

The Seahawks forced eight punts and a fumble on the first nine drives of the game for New England before finally allowing a score with 12:27 to play. That's the fourth-longest scoreless stretch to start a Super Bowl and longest since Minnesota didn't score until there was 10:33 left against Pittsburgh in Super Bowl 9.

The Seahawks allowed 78 yards in the first three quarters for the fewest through three quarters since the Patriots had just 58 in Super Bowl 20 against the Chicago Bears defense that is viewed by many as the best ever.

In all, Seattle became the fourth team in Super Bowl history to force at least eight punts and three turnovers, with the 2000 Ravens defense the last to do that against the New York Giants.

It was all part of a dominant season, with the Seahawks tying for the second-best point differential in the regular season and playoffs of any Super Bowl champion since the 2000 season. Seattle's 12.3 points-per-game advantage was just a tick behind the 2013 version at plus 12.4.

The Seahawks lost just three games by a combined nine points, becoming the first Super Bowl champion to be outscored by single digits in its losses since Washington lost two games by a total of five points in 1991.

Protecting the ball was a major problem for Sam Darnold for much of the regular season, when he led the NFL with 20 turnovers.

But starting with a clean performance in a Week 18 win over San Francisco to clinch the division and No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs, Darnold didn't turn the ball over once in his final four games. He became the first QB to win a Super Bowl in a season that he led the NFL in turnovers since Eli Manning had 27 for the New York Giants in 2007.

Darnold became the first quarterback to win the Super Bowl without a postseason turnover since Drew Brees did it in the 2009 season for the New Orleans Saints.

Darnold's ability to avoid mistakes helped Seattle become the first Super Bowl champion ever to go through an entire postseason without a turnover. Six teams did it with only one turnover, with Kansas City the last to do that in the 2022 season.

Only two Super Bowl champions since the 2000 season had more than the 28 turnovers Seattle had in the regular season, with Denver committing 31 in 2015 and the Giants 34 in 2007.

Winning a regular-season MVP as a running back has become essentially impossible as the league has relied more on passing and voters typically view quarterbacks as the most valuable position.

Adrian Peterson was the last non-quarterback to win the award in 2012 season, but the drought for running backs was even longer when it came to Super Bowl MVP before Kenneth Walker III snapped it.

Walker became the first running back since Terrell Davis 28 years ago to win Super Bowl MVP after rushing for 135 yards — the most in a Super Bowl since Davis' 157 in his MVP game against Green Bay on Jan. 25, 1998 — and catching two more passes for 20 yards.

Walker became the eighth running back to win the award, matching the total for wide receivers. Quarterbacks typically win Super Bowl MVP, doing it in 34 of the 60 Super Bowls. Wide receivers have eight, and nine Super Bowls had an MVP on the defensive side, with Randy White and Harvey Martin sharing it for Dallas in the 1977 season.

Desmond Howard is the only special teams player to get the award thanks to his kickoff return TD for Green Bay against New England 29 years ago.

Walker was the rare offensive player to win Super Bowl MVP without throwing a TD pass or scoring a touchdown, with Joe Namath (Super Bowl 3), Fred Biletnikoff (Super Bowl 11), Deion Branch (Super Bowl 39) and Julian Edelman (Super Bowl 53) the others to do it.

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Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold (14) completes a pass to Seahawks running back George Holani (36) against the New England Patriots in the second quarter of the NFL Super Bowl 60 football game in Santa Clara, Calif., Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (Santiago Mejia/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Seattle Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker III (9) runs against New England Patriots cornerback Marcus Jones during the second half of the NFL Super Bowl 60 football game, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026, in Santa Clara, Calif. (AP Photo/Doug Benc)

Seattle Seahawks linebacker Uchenna Nwosu (7) celebrates his touchdown on a fumble recovery during the second half of the NFL Super Bowl 60 football game against the New England Patriots, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026, in Santa Clara, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Seattle Seahawks cornerback Devon Witherspoon (21) forces a fumble against New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye (10) at the NFL Super Bowl 60 game in Santa Clara, Calif., Sunday, February 8, 2026. (Adam Hunger/AP Content Services for the NFL)

New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye walks off the field after a loss to the Seattle Seahawks in the NFL Super Bowl 60 football game, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026, in Santa Clara, Calif. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Luka Doncic will miss the rest of the Los Angeles Lakers' regular season with a Grade 2 strain of his left hamstring, the team announced Friday.

Doncic is the NBA's top scorer and the driving force behind the Lakers' surge into the third spot in the Western Conference standings, but he injured his leg during Los Angeles' blowout loss in Oklahoma City on Thursday. An MRI exam revealed the severity of the strain.

The Pacific Division champion Lakers (50-27) have just five games left before the postseason, starting Sunday at Dallas.

Grade 2 hamstring strains sometimes require several weeks of recovery, but Doncic also has prior experience with hamstring issues. He missed four games right before the All-Star break with another left hamstring strain, but returned to the lineup after the break.

Doncic is putting up spectacular numbers in his first full season with the Lakers, who acquired the Slovenian superstar from the Mavericks last season. He is averaging 33.5 points, 8.3 assists and 7.7 rebounds per game for Los Angeles, and he was named the NBA's Western Conference player of the month for March after racking up 13 consecutive 30-point performances, including seven 40-point games, a 51-point barrage against Chicago and a 60-point masterclass in Miami.

Doncic scored a whopping 600 points in March, becoming only the 10th player in NBA history to hit that mark in one month. While LeBron James and Austin Reaves have also played well down the stretch, the Lakers thoroughly depend on Doncic, who either scored or assisted on 58% of the their total points in March.

Doncic is all but certain to win his second NBA scoring title — but he has played in only 64 games this season, which means he will finish one game shy of the 65-game threshold to be eligible for the NBA's biggest postseason awards.

He was a lock to be an All-NBA selection, and he had even been making a late run at consideration for the MVP award with his outstanding play down the stretch.

Along with his two absences caused by hamstring injuries and a handful of additional absences for minor medical maintenance early in the season, Doncic missed two games last December while flying to Slovenia for the birth of his second child. He also missed one game last week under suspension for accumulating 16 technical fouls.

Since he sits just shy of the 65-game threshold, Doncic theoretically could challenge the rule by citing the extraordinary circumstances of his daughter's birth in Europe through the grievance process created for these collectively bargained rules. It's wholly unclear whether that appeal would have any chance of success.

If Doncic wins the scoring title but doesn't make the All-NBA teams, he would be only the third scoring champ in league history to fail to do so. Elvin Hayes wasn't selected when he won the crown as a rookie in 1969, and Bob McAdoo wasn't chosen for the teams in 1976.

Lakers coach JJ Redick said Doncic was injured in the first half against the Thunder, but was cleared to return to the game while his team was getting plastered by the defending NBA champion Thunder. Doncic lasted only about four minutes before he spun, stopped and went down on the court in pain, leading to his departure.

The loss was only the Lakers' third in 19 games since Feb. 26, but Doncic's absence casts a cloud of uncertainty over the rest of their year. Los Angeles only leads fourth-place Denver (49-28) by one game, while sixth-place Minnesota (46-30) is 3 1/2 games back with a game in hand.

The Lakers’ regular-season finale is next Sunday, April 12, at home against Utah. Their first-round playoff series is expected to start the following weekend.

AP Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds contributed to this report.

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA

Los Angeles Lakers forward/guard Luka Dončić (77) drives against Oklahoma City Thunder guard Cason Wallace (22) during the first half of an NBA basketball game Thursday, April. 2, 2026, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Gerald Leong)

Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic (77) gestures after a three-point basket against the Indiana Pacers during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Indianapolis, Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic (77) is fouled by Orlando Magic center Wendell Carter Jr. (34) as Magic forward Tristan da Silva, right, helps defend during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Saturday, March 21, 2026, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)