On Sunday, September 15, the New England Patriots suffered a gut-wrenching overtime defeat to the Seattle Seahawks 23-20 in their home opener. What was supposed to be a day of celebration for the 10th anniversary of Super Bowl 49 ended pretty deflating and anticlimactic. Many outside NFL fans liked what they saw from New England, but others who follow this team would think otherwise. There were positive takeaways that the team could build on through the rest of the season, yet this loss exposed a lot of flaws and weaknesses that still need to be corrected. The Patriots gave it their all, but unfortunately, they failed to deliver when they were needed most. Let’s take a look at the five biggest takeaways from this game and understand what was working for New England and unfortunately what ultimately cost them in the end.
NFL Week 2: Patriots Recap vs Seahawks
1. Rhamondre Stevenson the New Face of the Team
Once again, the running game continues to be the bread and butter of this Patriots offense, which was expected when they hired Alex Van Pelt to be the offensive coordinator. It was the identity of the Cleveland Browns when he was working under Kevin Stefanski, and he is successfully implementing the same in Foxboro. Not only did Rhamondre Stevenson tally eighty-one more yards on twenty-one carries, but Antonio Gibson arrived on the scene and finished four yards short of 100 on just eleven touches. So far, Stevenson is fifth in rushing yards, just three short of Saquon Barkley and three more than Alvin Kamara. There’s a very strong chance that he could finish in the top three in that category. It felt like those two were going to lead New England to victory once again, but every time the Seahawks defense forced them into third and medium situations, the Patriots just fell flat for one simple reason.
2. Passing Game Fails to Deliver Again
Maybe Jacoby Brissett did not have to do too much in New England’s victory against the Bengals, but he sure failed to show up when he was asked to deliver on Sunday. Once again, he was pedestrian with just 149 yards and a touchdown pass to Ja’Lynn Polk, but 109 of them were courtesy of Hunter Henry. Give credit to Seattle’s defensive backs for keeping these New England wide receivers in check, but Polk was the only person in that group that had two catches. Demario Douglas and Javon Baker were not even targeted and Kayshon Boutte was a healthy inactive. This isn’t just a scheme or talent issue, but this is also a quarterback-related problem because Brissett is the one throwing the football. The calls for Drake Maye to start are a little premature since this is only the first loss of the season, but once again, the lack of a reliable passing game is what is going to hold New England back from improvement. If it is still a problem against the Jets on Thursday night, then maybe those discussions can start taking place.
3. DK and JSN Were a Problem
Christian Gonzalez might have allowed DK Metcalf to catch just three passes when lined up against one another, but the receiver still finished the game with ten catches for 129 yards and a wide-open 56-yard touchdown near the end of the first quarter. There were a lot of missed opportunities that cost New England that play, but that huge play to tie the game up at seven cost them big. But if Gonzalez was blanketing DK, then nobody had an answer to slow down Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who quite possibly had the best game of his career with twelve catches and 117 receiving yards, torching anybody in both man and zone coverages. Kenneth Walker did not even play and Seattle’s offense was still making critical plays in the first half and in the final minutes of the game. They might have totaled just over sixty yards of offense before the final drive of regulation, but when it was time to seal the deal, the Seahawks got it done and the Patriots could not on either side of the ball.
4. The O Line is Still Concerning
Before Sunday’s game, tackle Chuks Okorafor had departed from the team, so Vederian Lowe was thrust into the starting lineup as the left tackle. Because of the injuries to Cole Strange and Sidy Sow, the guards were Michael Jordan and rookie Layden Robinson. Just earlier today, both David Andrews and Michael Onwenu were on the injury report. This offensive line is starting to fall into shambles and ever since Dante Scarnecchia retired, they have been getting worse and worse. They better hope that their next draft pick is high enough to select tackle Will Campbell out of LSU, because it is not going to get any better, especially after Sunday’s defeat. Brissett got sacked three times and hit eight, with a majority of them coming from Leonard Williams up the middle. Blocking for the run was clearly not an issue since they have two capable backs, but at some point in time, defenses are going to start loading up the box and shutting that down. New England cannot afford to lose any more guys within that group, because whenever Maye does get his opportunity, he better be ready because he is going to be under a lot of pressure.
5. Geno Smith Was More Clutch
Overall, the biggest reason why the Seahawks won this game was that Geno Smith was more clutch and poised towards the end. Once Brissett took a third-down sack towards the end of the fourth quarter and right after Joey Slye’s 48-yard field goal got blocked, it just felt like the Seahawks were going to send this to overtime because they know how to take advantage of those opportunities. Sure enough, Smith drove his team right down the field, and it did not take long for Jason Myers to tie the game up at forty. New England even got the ball back when they won the coin toss, but the offense went three and out and gave the ball right back to the Seahawks. By that point, New England’s defense was flat-out exhausted and could not hold up anymore. The minute that Jonathan Jones was flagged for pass interference, there was no more fight left in that group, and Myers once again put on the finishing touches.
This was a great game that once again came down to the wire, but the Patriots just made too many mistakes down the stretch. The good news is that they are not turning the ball over so far, which is great, but the production is still very inconsistent. It is also great to see that they are using old-school tactics by relying on the run and their defense. Unfortunately, when teams cannot throw the ball as proficiently in this new NFL, then reality is going to slap them in the face one way or the other. The Patriots will be on a short week as they will travel up to MetLife Stadium to take on the New York Jets on Thursday Night Football. Both teams are 1-1, they are coming off opposite endings, and it will be interesting to see what type of game each will play on a prime-time stage.
Main Image: Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images
