The Seattle Seahawks opened their Super Bowl title defense with another win over the New England Patriots. Seattle erased a 10-point deficit and defeated New England 13-10 in a dramatic Super Bowl LX rematch at Lumen Field on Wednesday night. The Patriots Seahawks Week 1 matchup delivered a completely different game from the championship meeting seven months earlier, with New England controlling the first half before Seattle’s defense took over and forced three fourth-quarter interceptions from Drake Maye.
New England entered the season opener looking to erase the memory of its 29-13 Super Bowl loss to Seattle. The Patriots immediately looked more comfortable offensively than they did during the championship game, and Maye connected with his receivers to help build a 10-0 advantage. New England also moved the ball effectively enough on the ground to keep Seattle’s defense from completely controlling the game early.
The problem for the Patriots was finishing drives once Seattle adjusted. Once the Seahawks settled defensively, New England struggled to generate the same consistency it showed during the opening portion of the game, and that stall eventually opened the door for Seattle’s comeback.
Seattle’s comeback became even more impressive after starting quarterback Sam Darnold left the game with a right hip injury just six plays into the season. Darnold was sacked on third down by Dre’Mont Jones during Seattle’s opening drive, completed just one of two passes for 13 yards, and did not return.
Drew Lock stepped into the starting role and gave the Seahawks exactly what they needed. Lock completed 16 of 22 passes for 187 yards and one touchdown while leading Seattle’s offense during its fourth-quarter comeback. The Seahawks finally found their rhythm late in the game when Lock connected with Jaxon Smith-Njigba on a big completion that helped spark the comeback and eventually produced the game-tying score.
Stevenson received an expanded role after TreVeyon Henderson was ruled out with an ankle injury heading into the opener. Henderson had been expected to play an important role in New England’s backfield before the injury forced him to miss the game entirely.
Stevenson responded with 95 total yards from scrimmage, and his workload became particularly important because New England needed a consistent rushing presence while Seattle’s defense pressured Maye late. Henderson’s absence also changes the outlook for the Patriots moving forward, since New England will need to determine how the backfield gets divided once its top back is healthy enough to return. For more on how that timeline affects fantasy value, check our Patriots running back rankings.
The most important storyline from the Patriots Seahawks Week 1 matchup was Seattle’s defensive response. New England scored 10 points early, but the Seahawks refused to allow the Patriots to maintain that control for the rest of the night.
Seattle produced three interceptions in the fourth quarter and finished the comeback with a defensive stand. The final takeaway came from Josh Jobe, who made a toe-tap interception in the end zone with 21 seconds remaining to seal the win. The defensive performance was especially impressive given that Seattle entered the season with real questions in its secondary, including injury concerns surrounding Nick Emmanwori and Ty Okada.
New England showed enough early promise to suggest this will not be the same offense that struggled during Super Bowl LX. Maye moved the ball, the rushing attack remained productive, and the Patriots defense created real pressure for long stretches of the game.
The fourth quarter exposed some of the same problems that hurt New England against Seattle in February, though. Turnovers and missed opportunities prevented the Patriots from finishing a game they had controlled for long stretches, and those same mistakes will need fixing quickly if New England wants to avoid a similar outcome down the road.
Seattle’s victory was far from perfect, but the Seahawks showed why they remain one of the NFL’s teams to watch entering the season. The defense created turnovers when the game mattered most, while Lock stepped into an unexpected role and delivered under real pressure.
The victory also gives Seattle real momentum entering the rest of the season, since the defending champions now know they can survive adversity even when their starting quarterback leaves the game. The biggest lingering concern is Darnold’s health — initial X-rays and a CT scan reportedly showed no fracture, but the quarterback is scheduled for an MRI to determine the full extent of the hip injury.
Seattle did not dominate New England this time. The Seahawks had to fight back from a 10-point deficit, survive the loss of their starting quarterback and rely on their defense to finish the job in a game that felt very different from February’s rout.
That makes the 13-10 victory even more impressive in some ways. Seattle found a way to win when the game was slipping away, and the defense delivered three fourth-quarter interceptions when New England needed just one clean possession to close it out.
New England should not panic after one loss, but the fourth quarter deserves serious attention from the coaching staff. The Patriots looked capable of beating the defending champions on Wednesday, yet Seattle proved once again that games against this team come down to execution when everything is on the line.
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