Why Patriots’ Secondary Isn’t Panicking And Other Final Thoughts From Seahawks Loss

As the New England Patriots shift their focus to this week’s matchup with the Las Vegas Raiders, let’s dig through some final thoughts from Sunday night’s 35-30 loss to the Seattle Seahawks:

— Russell Wilson became just the second quarterback ever (and the first since Drew Brees in 2009) to hang five touchdowns on a Bill Belichick-coached Patriots defense. But his electric performance didn’t sent New England’s vaunted secondary into panic mode.

In fact, safety and co-captain Devin McCourty said Sunday’s game actually provided reasons for optimism.

“Sometimes, games like this let you know that you’ve got a shot,” McCourty said in his postgame video conference. “We’ve got a shot to be a really good football team, but we’ve got to get better, and I think it’s all the little things that we do this week in practice.

“We can’t let one loss slip us up and put our head down. … We’ve just got to keep that rolling, and next thing you know, we’ll start to put good wins together.”

Why the rosy outlook? For one, McCourty was pleased with the way the Patriots’ defensive backs executed on several of Seattle’s biggest plays, despite the negative outcomes. Belichick was, too.

Here’s a closer look at the five touchdowns New England surrendered Sunday night, with commentary from McCourty and Belichick:

First touchdown
On second-and-goal from the 4, Tyler Lockett ran what appeared to be a fade against cornerback Jason McCourty. McCourty initially had Lockett well covered, but when Wilson sensed pressure and scrambled out of the pocket, the wideout adjusted his route, ran horizontally along the end line and broke away from McCourty’s man coverage.

Wilson found Lockett and delivered an on-the-move dart across his body for the score.

“On that first touchdown to Lockett, when you look across the board, when (Wilson) hits his back foot, guys are covered,” Devin McCourty said. “Then he buys extra time, and I think that’s what’s tough.” 

Second touchdown
The longest play of Sunday’s game was a 54-yard heave from Wilson to D.K. Metcalf, who beat Patriots cornerback Stephon Gilmore on the play.

Metcalf initially ran an over route, then broke toward the corner, allowing him to create the slightest sliver of separation from the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year.

It’s hard to fault Gilmore for his coverage on the play. He was right on Metcalf as the ball arrived. Wilson also absorbed a heavy hit from Chase Winovich as he released the pass.

“You watch those plays, and it’s not bad coverage,” Devin McCourty said. “We’ve got guys all over the receiver, and (Wilson) really does a good job of just putting the ball really where only the receiver can catch it or it’ll be incomplete. And they had some really good throws and good catches.”

Third touchdown
According to NFL Next Gen Stats, Wilson’s 38-yard dime to receiver David Moore was the league’s second-most “improbable” completion since 2018.

Jason McCourty blanketed Moore as he streaked down the sideline on a stop-and-go, but a last-second stumble provided just enough of a window for Wilson — who was knocked to the turf by Lawrence Guy — to deposit one of his patented deep balls.

Still, Moore had to make one of the more acrobatic plays we’ve seen this season to get both feet down in the end zone.

“Those passes, literally it’s like two fingertips away from being a pass breakup or a really good catch,” Devin McCourty said. “And (on Sunday), they made the really good catches. I think that’s what tough. If we draw that play up, our guys are exactly where we want them to be. It’s just a good throw and catch, and sometimes in this league, a good throw and catch beats really good coverage.”

Belichick compared Metcalf’s and Moore’s touchdowns to Matt Ryan’s incredible sideline completion to Julio Jones in Super Bowl LI.

“You hope you don’t face that type of execution every week,” Belichick said Monday in a video conference. “But it’s the National Football League, and there’s going to be times. We know as a defensive back in the passing game, there’s going to be times where we have great coverage, and if it’s a great throw and a great catch by the quarterback and the receiver, the opponents are going to hit some of those.

“Hopefully not too many, but we want to make it as hard on them as we can. And sometimes, even when you do that, it’s not enough at this level.”

Fourth touchdown
This one wasn’t a great throw beating great coverage. It was a flat-out coverage breakdown. Freddie Swain ran a shallow cross from right to left, and no Patriot went with him.

Cornerback J.C. Jackson gave chase, but he was 10 yards away when Swain caught a short pass from Wilson and couldn’t catch up as the rookie receiver went untouched into the end zone.

As Cris Collinsworth detailed on NBC’s game broadcast, Seattle used an unorthodox formation on the play, aligning Lockett, a wide receiver, tight behind Wilson in a three-point stance. This seemed to confuse the Patriots’ defense.

Safeties Adrian Phillips and Kyle Dugger could be seen pointing at Lockett just before the ball was snapped. When Lockett flared out toward the right flat, Jackson took one step in his direction before pivoting to pursue Swain.

The result: six coverage players bunched together on one side of the field and a wide-open wideout.

This was the only Seahawks touchdown that came against zone coverage.

In discussing the Metcalf and Moore touchdowns, Belichick noted there “were plenty of other plays that we could have helped ourselves on.” This one fell into that category, as did Wilson’s final scoring strike.

Fifth touchdown
Running back Chris Carson ran a wheel route out of the backfield and sped past Phillips, who was lined up as an edge rusher. Wilson had to loft his throw over an onrushing Winovich but was able to hit Carson in stride for the score.

“He made a great throw under pressure there,” Belichick said.

Fortunately for the Patriots, most of their 2020 opponents don’t boast the Seahawks’ level of elite talent at quarterback and receiver. One exception: Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs, who will host New England in Week 4.

“This isn’t going to be the last group we see that has a lot of speed and a really good quarterback back there,” Devin McCourty said. “We know usually when we play well in the secondary and we can make plays, that’s the difference in the game. And I think that’s what (Sunday) kind of came down to for us defensively.”

— The Patriots have been the NFL’s most disciplined team from a penalty standpoint this season. They’ve been flagged a league-low six times through two games, including an intentional delay of game in Week 1.

New England committed just two penalties (a defensive hold on Jonathan Jones and an offensive hold on Jackson on a punt return) to Seattle’s nine Sunday night. Due to these miscues, the Seahawks consistently found themselves in unfavorable down-and-distance situations, facing first-and-14 or longer a total of five times.

— All-Pro safety Jamal Adams made a ton of positive plays against his former AFC East rival, but Adams in coverage on Julian Edelman was a mismatch New England repeatedly exploited in the second half.

Edelman’s 26-, 33- and 49-yard receptions all came against the ex-New York Jet. The Patriots wideout finished with a career-high 179 receiving yards on eight catches.

Seattle’s safety depth was tested after Quandre Diggs was ejected for a helmet-to-helmet hit on N’Keal Harry and Marquise Blair left the game with an injury.

— Speaking of injuries, we mentioned Sunday how two of the Patriots’ upcoming opponents were hit hard this weekend, with the Denver Broncos (Week 5) losing quarterback Drew Lock and the San Francisco 49ers (Week 7) losing QB Jimmy Garoppolo, defensive end Nick Bosa, defensive tackle Solomon Thomas and running back Raheem Mostert.

Add another player to that list.

Courtland Sutton, the Broncos’ top wide receiver, tore his ACL in Denver’s loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers and will miss the rest of the season.

Without Sutton, the Broncos’ receiving corps will be led by highly touted rookies Jerry Jeudy (first round) and K.J. Hamler (second round). Denver also has DaeSean Hamilton, Tim Patrick and Tyrie Cleveland at wideout and one of the NFL’s most promising young tight ends in Noah Fant.

— The Patriots were fortunate to avoid the tsunami of injuries that battered much of the league Sunday.

This week, we’ll be closely monitoring the statuses of rookie linebacker Josh Uche (ankle) and first-year tight end Dalton Keene (neck), both of whom have yet to appear in a game for New England.

Thumbnail photo via Joe Nicholson/USA TODAY Sports Images