Five Takeaways From Patriots’ Overtime Loss To Seahawks

FOXBORO, Mass. — The New England Patriots held a fourth-quarter lead, but ultimately allowed the Seattle Seahawks to earn a 23-20 overtime victory Sunday afternoon.

Here are five takeaways from Gillette Stadium:

Defense can’t get crunch-time stop
The 2024 Patriots are built on the back of their defense, and the unit didn’t do enough down the stretch Sunday. New England limited the Seahawks’ offense through the better part of 55 minutes, but Seattle’s offense stepped up when it needed to. The Seahawks staged a nine-play, 42-yard drive that resulted in a game-tying field goal with less than one minute remaining in regulation. After the Patriots received the overtime kickoff and failed to record a first down, Geno Smith again led the offense down the field for a game-winning drive in the extra period. Seattle capped an eight-play, 71-yard drive with a 31-yard field goal, benefitting from a questionable pass interference call on New England.

Hunter Henry sets career high
Henry was far and away Jacoby Brissett’s favorite target against the Seahawks. The veteran tight end, who was limited to just two catches in the regular-season opener, caught each of his first five targets in the contest, all of which went for first downs. Henry recorded more than half of New England’s completions (11) and yards (165) in the first half as he hauled in seven of the 10 balls thrown his way for 98 yards. Henry finished with a career-high 109 yards on eight catches. His prowess in Alex Van Pelt’s offense, which has relied heavily on tight ends, is encouraging.

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Brissett avoids negative plays
The Patriots allowed three sacks in regulation, but it felt like that number could have been a half dozen or more. It would have been at least that with Mac Jones behind center. Brissett’s ability to remain calm, cool and collected when everything is crumbling in front of him paid dividends for New England through two weeks. Patriots fans probably asked themselves how in the world Brissett avoided a sack when two Seattle defensive backs sprinted off the edge on a first-and-10 from the Seattle 43-yard line. Brissett’s backyard football pass-and-catch to Henry on New England’s 10-play scoring drive that gave New England a 20-17 lead was another perfect example. Brissett shouldn’t have taken a nine-yard sack on third-and-6 in crunch time, but the Patriots still had a makeable field goal on fourth down.

Patriots pack pressure
Keion White pushed Seahawks center Connor Williams out of the way like he was a bag of feathers en route to a fourth-quarter sack on Smith. To that point, Smith performed admirably against New England’s pressure. He stood in the pocket (or got out of the pocket) and dotted throws to wideouts despite defenders closing in, much like he did on a chain-mover to DK Metcalf with less than two minutes remaining in regulation. But the pressure from the Patriots was there. New England finished with three sacks in the contest as White (1 1/2 sacks), Kyle Dugger (sack) and Daniel Ekuale (half sack) combined in the effort.

Call to action: Offense needs more ‘Pop’
DeMario “Pop” Douglas looked like the Patriots’ best pass-catching option throughout training camp. But the second-year wideout has not done much of anything to start the season. Douglas was not targeted during Sunday’s contest against the Seahawks. Brissett might have preferred Henry’s matchups more than Douglas’. However, Douglas was not even on the field during a few pivotal opportunities in the red zone. His zero-target game against the Seahawks came after he was targeted just three times against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 1.