Patriots don’t quite measure up to Seahawks – not yet anyway

Beating the Miami Dolphins provided a little snippet of information about where the Patriots are headed this season.

The Seahawks?

This was a much better gauge. Given the Dolphins are rebuilding, and the Seahawks are a well-established team, with a quarterback in Russell Wilson who Bill Belichick essentially called the best player in the game, this game revealed more significant intel on the Patriots.

Did they pass the litmus test?

Not quite, but let’s just say losing doesn’t ruin the season. If anything, there were plenty of encouraging signs during the nail-biting 35-30 loss at a fan-less CenturyLink Field. The gap between the Patriots and the Seahawks has been established.

And it’s not much.

This was an emotional battle royale against the Seahawks, and the Patriots didn’t flinch. They went toe-to-toe with Pete Carroll’s team in a game that went down to the very last play, with Cam Newton being stopped at the goal line.

But let’s just put some context into this amazing game before hitting the analysis button.

Hours prior to the kickoff, James White, the Patriots best pass-catching back, learned that his father had been killed in an accident in Miami, and his mother was in serious condition.

So the Patriots were playing with heavy hearts for their teammate and offensive captain.

As it was, it was a tough week for the Patriots, given Bill Belichick lost his mother, Jeannette, who died earlier in the week at age 98.

From the third play of scrimmage, when Devin McCourty picked off a Wilson pass for a 43-yard touchdown return and gave a shout-out to White, to the very last play of the game, the Patriots gave the Seahawks a run for their money.

That said, let’s break it down.

What was most concerning about the loss?

All week long, Belichick preached about Wilson’s greatness, especially his effectiveness in throwing the deep ball. There’s no one better.

And even against the Patriots’ vaunted secondary, with all the warnings delivered about what Wilson does best, the Seahawks quarterback still hit the long ball — and it cost the Patriots.

D.K. Metcalf beat Defensive Player of the Year Stephon Gilmore for a 54-yard score in the first half. Wilson then hit David Moore for a 38-yard score in the third quarter, as he beat Jason McCourty, making a great catch for the score.

In all, Wilson tossed five touchdown passes, just as he did the previous week against the Falcons. He is great. There is no denying that. And after that first miscue, which was a deflected pass, he was nearly unstoppable.

The Seahawks also rushed for over 100 yards. So the defense, which had three picks last week against Ryan Fitzpatrick, could not contain Wilson. It was obvious from this game how much they missed the group of linebackers that left in free agency, along with Dont’a Hightower, who opted out due to COVID-19 concerns.

Given the Patriots still have to face a number of top-notch quarterbacks (Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Deshaun Watson) in Wilson’s style, Belichick has more work to do with this group.

The good?

The Patriots veered a bit from their all-run philosophy that was good enough to beat the Dolphins. They didn’t stick with being a “we’ll do-what-we-do-well” team.

They had a game plan that was specific to Seattle.

And yes, Cam Newton (30 for 44, 397 yards, 1 TD, 1 pick) can throw the football. He’s not just a one-trick pony.

He had the ball with a chance to win the game. It went down to the last play. He got stuffed with the Seahawks putting on a goal-line stand to end the game.

Newton, however, put the Patriots in a position to win. He made a ton of notable pass plays, hooking up with Julian Edelman numerous times, none better than a 49-yard completion at the end of the third quarter which set up a touchdown. On the night, Edelman had eight catches for a career-high 179 yards. Damiere Byrd had 6 catches for 72, while N’Keal Harry chipped in with 8 catches for 77 yards.

Newton did rush 11 times, and ran in for a pair of scores. He just fell short in the end.

Instead of the 42/19 run-pass split from the first game, Josh McDaniels crafted a heavier pass-rush mix to attack Carroll’s Cover-3 defense.

Part of it was the fact the Patriots couldn’t do much on the ground. Then ultimately, when they got behind in the third quarter, there wasn’t much choice.

Trailing for the first time this season, Newton did force one pass during the third quarter. He had that ball picked off, with Seattle defender Quinton Dunbar sitting on one of the backside out routes that had been previously successful in the game.

Newton had some luck earlier in the game hitting Byrd on that route, but went to the well once too often. Dunbar was sitting on the route.

Without White, though, who has been a force against Cover-3 defenses, it was much tougher to overcome a deficit, although in the end, it came down to a yard.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3cfIpPr