Did Julian Love know exactly what Drake Maye was doing and where he was throwing in Super Bowl LX, as his viral NFL Films mic would lead you to believe?
That certainly looked to be the case when Love, who looked more like a fly ball-catching center, was perfectly positioned waiting for a Maye interception in the fourth quarter of the Seattle Seahawks’ 29-13 victory over the New England Patriots.
So, did he know it was coming? Sort of, but it was more about being properly prepared than anything else.
“I could say we had everything figured out, but we didn’t. I mean, you never know what’s going to happen. You’ve got two weeks to prepare; this is a great team,” Love told NFL’s Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo on Thursday. Insiders. “Early on, I feel like we just saw a certain style element to it, and yeah, as we got more confident as the game went on, we started to feel more relaxed and were just playing faster.”
All of New England’s grand designs for an improbable comeback were thwarted by Love’s layup with just under nine minutes left in the game and Seattle leading, 19-7. The pick led to a Seahawks field goal and 22-7 with just 5:35 left.
With Love looking like he was waiting at the right place and the right time to rip up Maye’s foul attempt, he had been set up in a similar fashion earlier in the game but came up just short of an INT.
Afterward, NFL Films caught Love on the sidelines and correctly predicted, “I’m going to get one. He was then filmed talking to safety Coby Bryant, describing Maye as a ‘classic young quarterback.’ He then explains Maye’s tendencies, noting that the second-year passer has a “hitch” that can be read about where he’s going with the ball.