The greatest lie a fanbase tells itself is that there is always next year.

It is the softest landing spot in sport, a comfort blanket after a crushing defeat. Next year, we’ll be healthier. Next year, we’ll fix our offensive line. Next year, we’ll add that superstar receiver and retain all our guys. Next year.

Dan Marino has been here. He lost a Super Bowl in his second season with the Miami Dolphins and spent the rest of his Hall of Fame career chasing a return. Joe Burrow was here just a few years ago, a drive away from a ring. The Cincinnati Bengals were confident – certain, even – a Super Bowl berth was the start of something, not the end. But they quickly evaporated, and Burrow has trudged through disappointing seasons ever since.

“Look, I told those guys. This may have been our only shot,” Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell said after his team’s playoff exit last season, sounding like a man who had peeked behind the curtain.

Only the very best teams get sequels in the NFL – the likes of Patrick Mahomes’ Kansas City Chiefs or Tom Brady’s version of the New England Patriots. This version of the Patriots showed on Sunday that they’re good, but not special. They were beaten by the Seahawks 29-13, with the final score doing a disservice to Seattle’s dominance.

The Patriots didn’t just come up short; they were flattened. For much of the game, they could barely move the ball on offense, relying on their all-world defense to keep them within striking distance of a comeback. Drake Maye put together a historically poor Super Bowl performance, flailing under constant pressure from Seattle’s defensive front. There were flashes late on, a hint of hope, but the Seahawks showed there are levels in championship games.

“As great as it is, I wish the season just kept going,” Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said after his team’s win. Even covered in champagne, Macdonald understood the fragility of the moment. He may never crest this high again. There is a reason Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers own the same number of titles as Nick Foles and Trent Dilfer. Making the Super Bowl is physically and mentally gruelling. It requires an uncommon alignment of talent and luck. When those breaks fall right for a team, they need to cash in.

And all season long, things fell right for the Patriots. The soft schedule. Maye competed at an MVP level despite being one of the youngest players in the league. Everything head coach Mike Vrabel touched turned to wins. It was a remarkable turnaround, from four wins last season to a place in the final dance this time around. But Sunday exposed every wart New England had managed to cover up.

It was a matchup of strength against strength – and the Patriots leaned into it. They stubbornly stuck to the run game, ramming headfirst into the Seahawks’ defensive wall, fearful of Seattle’s pass rush. They chased explosive plays against a lockdown defense, and couldn’t spring anything down the field. They opened the game with eight straight punts. In the first half, they had 51 yards of total offense, the second-fewest by any Super Bowl team this century. Getting to half-time only 9-0 down felt like a win.

Breaking down Seattle’s defense was always going to be a challenge: Macdonald is a defensive savant. They roll eight deep along the defensive line, filled with game-wreckers and hustlers. Everywhere else, there is speed and talent.

Maye and his receivers could do nothing against Seattle’s swarming, piranha defense. There were bodies in the backfield, arms in passing lanes, limbs everywhere. Maye had no space or time to operate. By the time he was able to string anything together, he looked frazzled, forcing throws and missing open receivers.

And yet, somehow, the Patriots lingered because their own defense was magnificent. Cornerback Christian Gonzalez played the half of his life, shadowing Jaxon Smith-Njigba across the field and breaking up two would-be touchdowns.

Patriots defensive coordinator Zak Kuhr blitzed Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold relentlessly, hoping he would see ghosts and chuck the game away. But Darnold remained composed, navigating a cluttered pocket and escaping trouble. In a defensive contest, throwaways, incompletions and late scampers are decisive. Avoiding sacks and turnovers is the key.

The Patriots and Maye could do neither. There is an old coaching axiom: an offense can work around having one sinkhole along the offensive line. Working around two is tough. But working around two who stand next to each other is almost impossible. Seattle picked on the weak left side of New England’s offensive line. Rookies Will Campbell and Jared Wilson were overwhelmed. Macdonald dialed up pressure after pressure, targeting the duo repeatedly. Next Gen Stats credited Campbell with 14 pressures allowed, the most by any player in a game this season. When the Patriots tried to address the problem in the second half, Macdonald flipped his approach. Knowing the Patriots would offer help to their left side left the door open to free pass-rushers from their right. For a coach as good as Macdonald, it was easy work.

Every blitz came screaming home. Maye was hit, hurried and harassed, pressured on more than half his dropbacks. He perceived pressure on almost all of them, throwing off-target even when he had time.

Without a receiver who could win downfield, without protection that could hold for two beats, the offense shrank. New England’s play-calling remained conservative, almost frightened, until it was too late.

By the time the Patriots opened things up and finally let Maye cook, the kitchen had already burned down. He started seeing ghosts. He was staring down at pass-rushers who weren’t there. He threw late and hopefully. He finished with two interceptions, including a back-breaking pick-six, a fumble and six sacks. By the end of the game, with the Patriots having the smallest opening for a comeback, Maye was washed. After finally establishing some rhythm, Maye tried to chase the game back with one knockout throw. It didn’t go well.

For the Patriots to have a chance, they needed their quarterback to be special. He was anything but. He finished 11-of-20 for 135 yards with a touchdown, two interceptions and a fumble when put under pressure. Darnold, meanwhile, struggled when facing heat, but crucially didn’t turn the ball over.

“Nobody [on the Patriots] played good enough for us to win,” Vrabel said post-game. “We are 307 days into what is hopefully a long and successful program.”

And there it is – the promise of tomorrow. It’s an easy sales pitch to buy: the Patriots were two years ahead of schedule. Maye is only 23 and, despite Sunday, one of the best quarterbacks in the league. The defense is championship caliber. The roster flaws are fixable. They have oodles of cap space. Another draft, another offseason, a healthy line, a proper No 1 receiver. The Eagles have shown a recent blueprint, returning from a Super Bowl loss to win it all within two seasons.

But it won’t be that easy. No team nails every draft pick or free-agent pickup, certainly not two years in a row. Besides, teams crumble. Critical players are picked off in free agency. Players and coaches leave. Injuries bite. The Disease of Me creeps in. The schedule will harden. Just a year ago, the Washington Commanders made it to the NFC title game on the back of an outstanding rookie quarterback. A year later, they won five games and decided to blow things up.

Some will point to the fact that the Patriots’ path to the Super Bowl goes through the AFC, weaker right now than the Seahawks’ NFC. But the AFC will grow teeth, too. Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Mahomes and Burrow aren’t disappearing. Neither will the Chargers, Texans, Broncos or Jaguars. There are plenty of teams waiting for their own crack at a title.

The Patriots earned their shot this year. But nothing says they’ll get another anytime soon. Only four quarterbacks have come back to win a Super Bowl after losing their first Super Bowl start. Even for the New England Patriots, that’s thin ice.

The promise of next year is comforting. The league, though, only offers now. And with a chance to spring an upset, the Patriots were unmasked as pretenders.