After getting the win in Week 1 as an underdog in Cincinnati, the Patriots were unable to have a repeat performance in that same role in Week 2, falling to the Seattle Seahawks at home in overtime, 23-20.
This is the fourth straight season the Patriots have lost their home opener.
Here are your “Ups & Downs” from Sunday’s game at Gillette Stadium. Let’s start positive:
Ups
- Hunter Henry: It became clear early in Sunday’s game that Jacoby Brissett was going to be looking to Henry as his safety valve, and the veteran tight end delivered. In the first half alone, Henry accounted for 98 of the team’s 117 passing yards on seven catches. He ended the day with eight catches for 109 yards - his second 100-yard receiving game of his career.
- Jacoby Brissett: It was another week for Brissett where he needed to use his legs to keep plays alive, rather than relying on a clean pocket. Over and over again, the nine-year veteran avoided sacks, and frequently found Hunter Henry open under the defense for chunk plays. If a quarterback with less pocket awareness was under center for New England on Sunday, we’re talking about a 9-to-10 sack day for the offensive line (more on this in “Downs”).
- Front 7: On top of getting to Seattle quarterback Geno Smith for three sacks, the front seven was also incredibly stout defending the running game. With starting running back Kenneth Walker III out with an abdominal injury, the Patriots’ defense turned Seattle’s weakness into a detriment to their offense. The Seahawks completely went away from the rushing attack, only running the ball 19 times for 46 yards. Credit to the front for the Patriots for forcing Seattle to go one dimensional.
- Rhamondre Stevenson - While it wasn’t the dominant performance the team got from him in Week 1, the offense leaned heavily again on the fourth-year running back. He had 21 carries for 81 yards and a touchdown, a score he brought into the endzone on a wildcat offense play design. On multiple occasions throughout Sunday’s game, Stevenson kept runs alive that could’ve-and-should’ve been dead, including an 18-yard run from the Patriots 34-yard line in the fourth quarter on the drive that resulted in his wildcat touchdown.
- Antonio Gibson - A player who wasn’t much of a factor in their Week 1 win in Cincinnati popped on Sunday, with 11 carries for 96 yards, including a 45-yard run that put the Patriots in a position late to add to a 20-17 fourth quarter lead.
- Keion White - The second-year defensive end continued his strong start to the season, accounting for another 1.5 sacks on the day. On top of creating pressure all day for Smith, White was a huge contributor to Seattle’s light day on the ground.
Downs
- The Offensive Line: With tackle Chuks Okorafor being added to the “Exempt/Left Squad” list on Saturday, and guard Sidy Sow being ruled out as he still deals with an ankle injury, the Patriots starting offensive line was as follows: Vederian Lowe at left tackle, Michael Jordan at left guard, David Andrews at center, Layden Robinson at right guard, and Mike Onwenu at right tackle.
In Week 1 against Cincinnati, they only allowed one sack in the win, but Jacoby Brissett was running for his life the whole game. In Week 2 against Seattle, the offensive line’s deficiencies with pass protection were apparent, yet again. And this time around, they did result in sacks.
On the first drive of the game on 3rd and 2, Lowe allowed a sack to linebacker Boye Mafe for a nine-yard loss, forcing a punt. If you remember, Lowe was Okorafor’s replacement in Week 1 after he was benched on the team’s second series of the game. With Okorafor now away from the team, the pressure on Lowe to take another step forward increases even more. And with Lowe exiting Sunday's game in the second half with a knee injury, the ceiling for how much the 25-year-old tackle can improve in 2024 has only gotten lower.
On the Patriots’ second drive of the game, the offensive line was bailed out by Brissett on two separate occasions. On the third play of the series, Brissett evaded two different defensive back tackles in the backfield to avoid the sack, and hit tight end Hunter Henry for a 12-yard completion. Three plays later, he avoided a sack by linebacker Dre’Mont Jones on a rollout to his left, and found Henry again, this time for a 17-yard completion that set up 1st and goal. That drive eventually resulted in a five-yard touchdown catch for rookie Ja’Lynn Polk. If not for Brissett’s legs, we’re talking about more problems with the offensive line.
On the third possession of the game for the Patriots, the offensive line cost New England an opportunity for a touchdown in the red zone, as Brissett was flushed out of the pocket and forced into an incompletion on 3rd and 8. The Patriots ended up having to settle for a 29-yard field goal from Joey Slye to go up 10-7 with 11:05 left in the second quarter.
On their fourth possession of the game (are you sensing a theme here?), the offensive line was at it again. Early in the drive, Brissett avoided a sack, which allowed him to throw to DeMario Douglas, who drew a defensive pass interference on corner Devon Witherspoon to move the chains. Four plays later, Brissett was forced into a one-yard scramble on 3rd and 4 that, to the naked eye, looked like a sack. But the offensive line was bailed out again, this time by Seattle’s Witherspoon (bad drive for him), who was called for a five-yard illegal contact penalty.
On their fifth possession, pinned deep in their own territory with 1:28 to go in the first half, Brissett avoided multiple tacklers in the backfield that would have resulted in a sack, bordering on possibly being a safety. Crisis was averted, and Brissett was able to throw the ball incomplete to Henry instead of giving up 2 points to Seattle.
On their sixth possession of the game - their first play of the second half - Brissett avoided a sack by rolling out of the pocket, and salvaged the play by picking up 5 yards on the ground. One play later, running back Rhamondre Stevenson had a 15-yard run called back after a holding penalty by Lowe.
On their seventh possession (I’m not making this up, people), Brissett took a bad sack on 3rd and 10 for a loss of six yards. Seahawks Pro Bowl defensive end Leonard Williams had his way with the right side of the offensive line, getting by both Robinson and Onwenu on his way to a sack that Brissett is lucky didn’t result in injury.
On their eighth possession, Brissett was almost sacked for a massive loss on 1st and 10 from the Seattle 22-yard line. It was a fake bubble screen to Douglas, and the protection in front of Brissett disappeared almost instantly. Brissett somehow got a throw off from his back leg, and found his safety valve in Henry for an 11-yard gain. This saved-play eventually led to a wildcat offense touchdown for Stevenson from 1-yard out, putting the Patriots up 20-17 with 12:43 to go in the fourth quarter. O-line gets away with another one!
On their ninth possession, after a huge run by Gibson put New England in a position to add to their 20-17 lead, the interior of the offensive line allowed a split sack to Williams and defensive tackle Byron Murphy II. Jordan got completely blown up at guard, and watched as Brissett got brought down.
On their 10th and final possession of regulation, Brissett avoided a sack as the pocket collapsed on 1st and 10 by throwing the ball at the receiver’s feet down field.
Simply put - the offensive line was bad.
- Christian Gonzalez: After shutting down a reportedly ill Ja’Marr Chase in Week 1, the second-year cornerback was still coming into Week 2 with more to prove after having his rookie season cut short. Early on against the Seahawks, he failed an early test, allowing Pro Bowl wide receiver D.K. Metcalf to blow past him, leaving Metcalf wide open up the away-sideline for a 56-yard touchdown catch. Metcalf was a full three-to-four steps ahead of Gonzalez on that touchdown.
Corners get beat in the NFL. It’s a sunk cost of today’s game. But that’s not the type of blown coverage you want to see early from the player expected to be the shutdown corner of the future for the franchise.
Some may point to a pass break-up Gonzalez had midway through the third quarter while covering Metcalf deep down field, and argue this means he should be listed as an “Up.” But that was a ball underthrown by Smith. Had he put more on it, Metcalf was behind Gonzalez and would have had himself another big house call.
Metcalf seemed to do what he wanted all game long, accounting for 119 yards on nine catches to go along with his highlight touchdown grab.
- The Secondary: Gonzalez deserved his own bullet point, but the secondary overall did not have a good day on Sunday. On the 56-yard touchdown for Metcalf, safety Kyle Dugger was nowhere to be found with the help defense after Gonzalez got beat. Both New England defensive backs were completely left in the dust.
This wasn’t Seattle’s only big gain through the air, as quarterback Geno Smith was able to find his stable of wideouts wide open throughout the ballgame. On top of giving up too much space, we also saw a defensive pass interference penalty on Marco Wilson in the end zone on Seattle’s third possession of the game that set up a one-yard touchdown run for running back Zach Charbonnet. That gave the Seahawks their first lead of the game at 14-10 with 5:47 to go in the second quarter.
On Seattle’s fifth possession at the end of the first half, tight end Noah Fant was able to get open underneath the defense for a 14-yard completion on 3rd and 7. On the next play, Metcalf found similar space, catching a ball from Smith for nine yards to set-up kicker Jason Myers for a 44-yard field goal with no time left at the end of the second quarter.
In the fourth quarter, on Seattle’s ninth possession of the ballgame, the secondary for the Patriots was bailed out by Jaxon Smith-Njigba, as he dropped a ball on 1st and 20 that would have resulted in a first down for the Seahawks. Smith-Njigba had lots of space to work with.
On Seattle’s game-winning drive in overtime, Smith threw the ball all over the defense on their way to the game winning score. Smith was 6 for 7 for 51 yards on that final drive.
The 1-1 Patriots have a short week, as they head to MetLife Stadium for their first divisional game of the season against the New York Jets.
That game kicks off on Thursday night at 8:15 p.m. ET on Amazon Prime Video.