
Super Bowl LX didn't go as cornerback Carlton Davis III and others associated with the New England Patriots had hoped, as New England's offense produced little of note for over three quarters of action during what became a 29-13 loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday night.
Nevertheless, Davis made it known shortly after the defeat that he is optimistic about the Patriots' future.
"It’s our first year together," Davis explained, per Chris Mason of MassLive. "Nobody thought we would be here. We put the league on notice. Obviously we didn’t get the job done and [expletive] stings. [Expletive] is never going to not sting. But we’ve got a bright future, man. We’ve got a lot of great young players. Coming in this [expletive] and taking the league by storm. Having a new coaching staff, a lot of new free agents. Something that’s really unheard of. So [expletive] hurts, but I’ve got a feeling we’ll be back."
Under first-year Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, second-year quarterback Drake Maye emerged as a regular-season Most Valuable Player Award finalist who guided the club to a 14-3 record and to three playoff wins. Maye committed three turnovers (one fumble, two interceptions) while playing with an injured throwing shoulder on Sunday evening, but one bad outing doesn't erase all the positive things he and his teammates accomplished this season.
Meanwhile, the New England defense played well enough on Sunday to keep the team in the game until things got out of hand in the fourth quarter. On Monday morning, ESPN's Jeremy Fowler noted that the Patriots are in a position to possibly build another "dynasty" with Maye still on his inexpensive rookie contract. That said, Davis understands that changes will be coming to the New England roster once the new league year officially opens on March 11.
"Every year it’s a new team," Davis added during his postgame comments. "Hopefully, we can retain a lot of the core guys. I really feel like we’ve already got a lot of guys under contract. I’m pretty sure the front office and our coaches will make the right decisions moving forward for next year."
As of Monday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook had the Patriots, Philadelphia Eagles and Baltimore Ravens tied for fourth among the betting favorites at +1300 odds to win Super Bowl LXI next February. Davis believes the Patriots can and will positively bounce back from Sunday's disappointing result.
"I think we’ll use it as motivation and we’ll move forward," Davis said about New England's Super Bowl loss. "I feel like we’ll be back."
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