The Seattle Seahawks got five touchdown passes from Russell Wilson and a goal line stand on the last play of the game Sunday night, to defeat the New England Patriots 35-30 at CenturyLink Field in Seattle, Washington.
New England (1-1) struck right away on defense. On the third play of the game a Wilson pass intended for Greg Olsen went through the tight ends hands, and right into the hands of Devin McCourty who returned it 43 yards for a touchdown to make it 7-0 just 1:12 in. Seattle (2-0) responded when they came right back and marched 90 yards on 13 plays culminating with a Wilson to Tyler Lockett four yard passing score to tie it 7-7. The Patriots regained the lead on a Cam Newton TD run of one yard. The Seahawks then got the only score of the second quarter when Wilson went deep 64 yards to DK Metcalf and the game was tied 14-14 at the half.
New England got the ball first in the third quarter, and would drive to the Seattle 7 yard line before settling for a Nick Folk 26 yard field goal for a 17-14 lead. The Seahawks though would take their first lead of the night and for good when Wilson found David Moore for a 38 yard connection, with a great throw and catch in the left corner of the endzone near the pylon. Newton was intercepted by Quinton Dunbar on the next Pats possession, and that turnover led to Wilsons fourth TD pass of the night of 21 yards to Freddie Swain to make it 28-17. The visitors immediately responded when Newton hit Julian Edelman for a 49 yard pass and catch on the next offensive play. Newton would finish that drive off with a fake run and short one yard TD pass to Jakob Johnson early in the fourth. New England went for a two point conversion, but couldn’t convert and the score stood at 28-23. Seattle looked like it had put the game away when Wilson found his fifth different receiver for a score when Chris Carson hauled in an 18 yard TD with 4:38 to play. The Patriots wouldn’t go away quietly though, going 75 yards in seven plays and taking just 2:16 off the clock with Newton scoring again on another short one yard run after a big 33 yard pass to Edelman set up the score. With all three timeouts and the two minute warning, New England was able to stop Seattle on a 3rd down and 1 to get the ball back with 1:42 left. Completions by Newton of 12 and 17 yards to N’Keal Harry, a Newton scramble of 12 more, and then a pass interference call on Seattle would put the Pats in position at the Seahawks 31. An 18 yard pass to Edelman with 36 seconds remaining got them even closer, and then Newton hit Harry for another 12 yards to the 1 yard line as the Pats took their last timeout to set up the last play. With only three seconds left on the clock, Newton would attempt to win it with a run but was stopped in the backfield by Marquise Blair and L.J. Collier as time expired.
Newton threw for the most yards in a game by a New England quarterback since Tom Brady threw for 505 yards in a Super Bowl LII loss in 2018 against Philadelphia. He finished 30-44 for 397 yards, with one touchdown and one interception. He also had 11 rushes for 47 yards and two scores as well. Edelman had a career high in receiving yardage going for 179 yards on eight catches. Harry also caught eight for 72 yards, and Demaire Byrd had six receptions for 72 yards. Jonathan Jones had seven total tackles to lead the defense. Wilson was 21-28 for 288 yards, with five touchdowns and one interception. The former Wisconsin Badgers QB now has nine TD passes in his first two games this season. Carson ran 17 times for 72 yards, and also caught three for 36 yards and a touchdown. Metcalf led the receiving core with 92 yards on four catches and the one long TD, while Lockett grabbed seven catches for 67 yards and a score. Ugo Amadi had eight tackles to anchor the Seahawks to the win. The Patriots return back home to Gillette Stadium next Sunday at 1 p.m. when they welcome in the Las Vegas Raiders.
A piece of sad news was announced before the game as Patriots running back James White received word his parents were involved in a bad car accident in Florida. Tyrone White did not survive, and his mom is in critical condition. White was inactive for the game in Seattle, and New England owner Robert Kraft offered to fly White to Florida on his private jet but White decided to stay in Washington and fly home with the team.
