The New England Patriots welcomed the Seattle Seahawks to Gillette Stadium on Sunday afternoon for a Week 2 matchup, and Jerod Mayo's team was handed a 23-20 loss to fall to 1-1 on the season.
New England's offense moved the ball well on the ground, as Rhamondre Stevenson, Antonio Gibson and JaMycal Hasty combined for 179 yards on 5.4 yards per attempt, which was helped by a 45-yard run by Gibson after he broke a tackle in the backfield. Stevenson found the end zone for the second time this year; this time as a wild-cat quarterback.
Their passing attack wasn't overly impressive in this one. Jacoby Brissett was under pressure pretty consistently, completing just 55.6% of his passes for 149 yards and a touchdown. His favorite target on Sunday was clearly tight end Hunter Henry, who caught eight passes for a career-high 109 yards. Brissett's lone touchdown went to Ja'Lynn Polk in the first quarter.
Brissett attempted just five passes to wide receivers, completing three (two to Polk for 12 yards and one to K.J. Osborn for seven).
The Patriots' defense wasn't their best, as they allowed Geno Smith to complete 75% of his passes for 327 yards and a 56-yard touchdown to D.K. Metcalf which was a result of a miscommunication between Christian Gonzalez and Kyle Dugger. Metcalf finished the game with 10 receptions for 129 yards and that touchdown while Jaxon Smith-Ngiba caught 12 passes for 117 yards.
New England also got called for two big defensive pass interferences, as Marco Wilson got tangled with Tyler Lockett in the end zone to set up Zach Charbonnet's rushing touchdown and Jonathon Jones was called for one against Lockett in overtime, allowing Seattle to get close to the game-winning field goal.
While they sacked Smith three times (1.5 for Keion White, one for Kyle Dugger and a half-sack for Daniel Ekuale), New England didn't force any turnovers, which is a huge problem when the offense lacks the talent to find the end zone consistently. They need as many chances as possible.
The loss can probably be brought back to New England's second-to-last drive in the fourth quarter. They drove the ball down to Seattle's 21-yard line before Brissett was sacked and Joey Slye had his 48-yard field goal attempt blocked by Julian Love.
The Patriots have a lot to clean up after this one, including making sure linebackers Ja'Whaun Bentley and Oshane Ximines and offensive tackle Vederian Lowe, who all left the game, are healthy and good to go. They have a quick turnaround for a Thursday night matchup with the New York Jets this week.
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