Patriots Defenders Have Differing View Of Seahawks Loss

FOXBORO, Mass. — Keion White didn’t mince words when he stepped to the podium at Gillette Stadium on Sunday.

“I know y’all just had Jacoby (Brissett) on,” White said. “I think the offense did what they needed to do for us to win today. I feel that as a defense, we need to play better. Me included. (The defensive line), (defensive backs), linebackers, everybody. We need to go to the drawing board, watch the film and see how we can improve.”

The Patriots had just suffered their first defeat of the season — falling in a tightly-contested overtime matchup with the Seattle Seahawks — so emotions might have been running a bit high. White’s reaction to the unit’s overall performance was still rather strong, especially if you take into consideration that he was once again one of the best players on the field.

How about his teammates? Did they back up his claim?

“I wouldn’t necessarily say that,” Patriots defensive lineman Davon Godchaux said. “I thought we should have closed the game out when we had the ball in the fourth quarter. I think we’ll look back on film and we’ll grade it.”

The Patriots did have an opportunity to close things out, needing to kill just over six minutes of clock with the ball already in the extended red-area. What happened next? Brissett took a nine-yard sack on third down. Joey Slye’s attempt from 48 yards out was blocked. Seattle marched down the field and tied the game with a field goal of their own.

Seattle would then go on to win the game in overtime, despite New England possessing the ball first and having an opportunity to win it.

White showed good leadership skills trying to shoulder the blame for what happened Sunday, but it’s tough to agree.

New England coined the phrase “Take ‘Em To The Hill” based on their ability to bleed clock with a lead in Cincinnati, but they weren’t able to get the job done against Seattle — which had nothing to do with the defense.