Foxborough, MA — Although the Patriots fought valiantly, the Seahawks had too much offense in a 23-20 loss in Sunday's home opener at Gillette Stadium.
There are a few ways to look at New England's loss. The glass-half-full view is that the Patriots held a fourth-quarter lead, and their winning formula was competitive two weeks in a row. The Pats ran for 185 yards, the defense held Seattle to six points in the second half, and the offense didn't turn the ball over -- that'll keep the Patriots in most games.
Last week, that combination was enough for the Patriots to win vs. Cincinnati. However, on Sunday, New England fell off the tightrope. You can point to situational miscues such as a blocked field goal, a failed 3rd-and-1 in overtime, and going 2-4 in the red zone. But the same can be said for Seattle, who had multiple key drops and penalties in big spots.
The difference was that the Seahawks playmakers helped them overcome those little mistakes, while the bigger picture for the Patriots is that their margin for error offensively is still very thin—everything else needs to be working for them to beat good teams without a potent passing attack.
On one sideline, Seahawks QB Geno Smith threw for 327 yards, with Seattle's three-headed monster at wide receiver all contributing. Star receiver DK Metcalf led the way with 10 catches for 129 yards and a 56-yard touchdown. Second-year wideout Jaxon Smith-Njigba had 12 catches for 117 yards, and Tyler Lockett drew a 20-yard defensive pass interference in overtime. Yes, it was a questionable call, but those are the breaks sometimes.
On the other sideline, the Patriots are still searching for production in the passing game. Brissett threw for 149 yards in the loss, and although TE Hunter Henry had a career day, New England only completed three passes for 19 yards to wide receivers, while pressure on the quarterback was an issue again. For comparison, Metcalf and Smith-Njigba combined for 22 catches for 246 yards.
As we wrote after last week's win, the Patriots won't win many games like they did in Cincinnati, where the defense shut down the opposing offense, and Brissett was a game manager. Until the passing game wakes up, we'll have more games like Sunday's home opener, where a few plays cost the team a win as they navigated a narrow path to victory.
Here are eight takeaways as the Patriots drop to 1-1 on the season with Sunday's loss to Seattle:
1. SERVPRO Spotlight: TE Hunter Henry Sets New Career-High with 8 Catches, 109 Yards
As the Patriots tight end said following the loss, Henry would exchange his career day for a win, but that doesn't take away from the fact that he set a new career-high with 109 receiving yards in Sunday's loss.
Without much production from the wide receiver room, Henry was the Patriots passing offense, accounting for 109 of their 149 yards through the air. The veteran tight end had three third-down conversions, seven of his career-high tying eight catches went for first downs, and he was on the receiving end of the Patriots longest pass play of the season to date.
In his post-game press conference, Henry credited offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt for a well-timed play call and a good design on a 35-yard screen pass. New England uses all sorts of eye candy to get the Seahawks defense flowing to the offense's left. First, they bring WR Pop Douglas in orbit motion behind the quarterback and then mimic a trap play with the guard pulling to the left side of the line. With all the window dressing flowing to the offense's left, the defense gets pulled over in that direction, and the Pats hit Henry to the right on the screen.
"I would say it was a great call. Dialed it up at the right time. Man, honestly, I haven't seen that much green grass in a while. Usually, I catch the ball in the middle of the field, and I'm getting my knees chopped out. It was a great call, a great scheme. We work hard on our screens," Henry told Patriots.com following Sunday's loss.
Although the Patriots need to get others involved in the passing game, Henry's career-high performance wasn't surprising as someone who watched the veteran tight end throughout camp. Van Pelt's system and Henry's skill set fit together nicely. With Henry's big day on film, the Pats need to use it to open up other things in the passing game.
2. Dissecting Pats OC Alex Van Pelt's Play-Calling in Overtime Loss
Whenever you lose a close game in overtime, pundits such as yours truly will nitpick about Van Pelt's play-calling for the Patriots offense.
Seattle's new head coach, Mike Macdonald, was hired because he coordinated the Ravens defense to the No. 1 spot in DVOA last season, and now has the Seahawks at 2-0. The Pats offensive play-caller had his moments, but there were other times where Macdonald's defense was one step ahead of what the Patriots were doing offensively.
To Van Pelt's credit, the Patriots offensive coordinator had a few other good calls, such as the screen pass to Henry, which generated an explosive. The other play call that caught the eye was a staple scheme from AVP's playbook called leak or Y delay. Once again, Van Pelt uses window dressing with motion at the snap, a pulling guard, and a fake by Brissett to get the defense flowing to the left. Then, after disguising like he's going to block, Henry leaks out late into open space.
If the protection held up, it would've been a touchdown. Instead, the Patriots had to settle for an 11-yard gain. Later in the drive, New England would take a 20-17 lead after Van Pelt used some unqiue goal-line formations. First, the Pats unveiled a seven O-Line formation with backup C/G Nick Leverett as a short-yardage fullback. After picking up the first down with Leverett in the backfield, they went wildcat to punch it in from the one-yard line.
Although he had his moments, Brissett said something troubling in his post-game press conference in response to my question about the lack of play-action success for the offense:
"They had a good tell on us whenever we tried to push the ball down the field. They had a good plan as far as not letting us get behind them. We tried to, but we have to find ways to get on top of that and continue to push the ball down the field. I thought they did a good job of playing two-deep [safeties] a lot of the times we were trying to take our shots," Brissett said.
The Patriots quarterback confirmed that he felt as though New England was tipping their play-action calls, giving the Seahawks defense a tell that they were dialing up a shot play. From this perspective, it seemed that Seattle's defense would drop out into a two-high safety structure whenever the Pats dialed up play-action, so maybe they do have a tell.
For the second straight game, the Patriots running backs ran the ball well to the tune of 185 yards on 36 carries. New England averaged 5.1 yards per rush, mainly using their zone schemes, generating +0.04 EPA per play and a 43% success rate. Despite running the ball well, the Patriots haven't been able to marry their run-game success to generate big plays off play-action. When this offense is at its best, it's creating potent run-pass sequencing that keeps defenses off-balance while producing explosives through the air off play-action.
If the Patriots offense has a play-action tell, that's something Van Pelt and his staff must fix immediately. Frankly, to have a tell like that two weeks into the season is concerning. Some will point to Van Pelt's third-and-1 play call in overtime, but the more disturbing development is that they're not maximizing their run-game success.
For a first-time play-caller, it's notable that Brissett admitted that the Patriots might be tipping their pitches.
3. Patriots Pass Defense Falls Short in Sunday's Loss to the Seahawks
As we mentioned off the top, Seahawks QB Geno Smith had a huge day through the air, with Smith generating +0.25 expected points added on 54 drop-backs in Sunday's loss.
For those who aren't familiar with EPA, Smith's performance is in the 75th percentile among all quarterbacks since 2010. In the traditional box score, Smith threw for 327 passing yards and a touchdown with a 103.1 passer rating – he was good, and the Patriots mostly couldn't stop him.
The most troubling aspect of Smith's big passing performance was that the Patriots defense allowed star receiver DK Metcalf (10 for 129, TD) and 2023 first-rounder Jaxon Smith-Njiba (12 for 117) to go off in this game. When you play a dangerous offense like Seattle's, it's important to limit them to one productive receiver; you can't let everyone eat.
You have two options: either eliminate their most dangerous receiver completely or allow that receiver to go one-on-one with your best cornerback and shut off the other options. Perhaps, the Patriots wanted to take away Locket, who had two catches for 15 yards and a 20-yard DPI. Still, allowing both Metcalf and JSN to go crazy was a huge reason why they lost the game. In After Further Review, we'll see if the Pats tried running any bracket coverages to take Metcalf or JSN out once they got going. Watching live, it didn't seem like that was their plan.
Secondly, the disguised coverages the Patriots used on the backend to confuse Bengals QB Joe Burrow didn't work as well on Seahawks veteran Geno Smith. Seahawks OC Ryan Grubb did a good job of using pre-snap shifts/motions to give Smith coverage indicators, but New England got caught in post-snap rotations several times, which put them in binds.
For example, Metcalf's 56-yard touchdown was a massive turning point in the game. A few minutes earlier, the Pats took a 7-zip lead. Seattle was in a 2nd-and-5 from their own 44 when safety Kyle Dugger checked into a "max" coverage call or a zero blitz, an aggressive call in that situation.
Dugger took responsibility for the coverage bust, saying that he checked the Patriots into the coverage call and got a bad read on the quarterback. With the No. 1 receiver running a hitch, both Dugger and Christian Gonzalez (slot) jumped the underneath route while nobody took Metcalf running through the defense. Dugger said they weren't in straight man coverage. Instead, playing a match coverage. Typically, you match verticals, meaning that would be on Gonzo, but both DBs probably should've taken the deepest threat like they did on the other side.
Ultimately, the Patriots secondary will live and die by these exotic coverages this season. Last week, they flustered Burrow and had his head spinning by the game's end. On Sunday, Smith and the Seahawks took advantage of some coverage lapses to produce big plays.
New England is playing a difficult brand of defense with all these post-snap rotations, so sometimes, they'll be a boom-or-bust. This week, there was too much bust.
4. QB Jacoby Brissett Manages the Pressure But Takes Blame for Passing Game Woes
For the second consecutive week, it felt like the Patriots quarterback was under pressure far too often. It started with pressure off the left side, but then even RT Mike Onwenu let up a sack.
According to Pro Football Focus's live charting, Brissett was pressured on nearly 50% of his drop-backs again on Sunday. Brissett was sacked three times, and the Seahawks logged eight quarterback hits. We'll see what those final numbers look like in After Further Review, but it was another high-pressure afternoon, and some of the hits Brissett took began to leave a mark as he came off the field in some discomfort several times.
To his credit, Brissett managed pressure as well as anyone could expect. He has yet to turn the ball over this season, and he has turned into Houdini in the pocket showing excellent escability while maintaining a low pressure-to-sack rate despite the constant heat on the QB.
Brissett extended several plays with his legs, buying time for his receivers to uncover while helping out the O-Line. Above, Brissett is well protected at first but doesn't see anyone open downfield. So, he extends the play. When he breaks the pocket, Brissett pulls a zone defender out of coverage as the linebacker starts chasing him down, which creates an opening for Henry, and it's a big play for the Patriots.
Brissett deserves credit for his toughness, sack avoidance, and surprising off-script playmaking. Some quarterbacks would wilt under this amount of pressure, but Brissett has kept his composure and avoided catastrophic turnovers that would cost his team the game.
However, the third-and-6 sack he took in the fourth quarter was a killer. Brissett was sacked for a nine-yard loss that turned a 39-yard field goal attempt into a 48-yard kick with 3:59 remaining. Joey Slye's field goal attempt was blocked by Seahawks DB Julian Love, with the Patriots looking to take a six-point lead. Seattle then would've needed a touchdown to win rather than a field goal to send the game into overtime. Fair or not, you can't take a big sack there.
The other nitpick is that Brissett tends to hold the ball too long in the red zone. New England was 2-4 in the red area after going 1-4 last week (3-8 on the season). Brissett needs to make quicker decisions with the space condensed inside the 20 and tends to get stuck on his initial read rather than processing quickly to find open receivers, which can prove costly.
The film will tell the whole story about the red-zone issues, the lack of a downfield passing game, and the three sacks. But, watching live, the pass protection was the biggest issue on Sunday, not Brissett.
5. Besides DE Keion White (Two Sacks), the Patriots Defense Needs More From the Pass Rush
Another developing take on the Patriots defense is that, outside of White, they're not getting much pressure from their four-man pass rush. Last week, the Pats ranked dead last by pressuring Bengals QB Joe Burrow on just over 17% of his drop-backs. New England mostly played coverage in that one, only blitzing Burrow nine times. Still, it was a very low number.
This week, Smith had too many clean pockets and was diagnosing coverage better than Burrow, leading to a big passing day. White had two sacks, Dugger had one on a blitz, and the Pats logged four other QB hits. However, it didn't feel like Smith was feeling the heat.
On a positive note, White is off to a terrific start. The second-year defensive lineman now has 4.5 sacks through two games and continues to generate pressure as an interior rusher. White's quickness to get on the inside edges against guards, as he did above, has been dominant at times. The 2023 second-rounder also drew a hold that wiped out a big Seattle passing play.
The Patriots defense needs to find pressure from other sources, but White continued his breakout campaign with another monster performance in Sunday's loss.
6. Patriots Run Game Continues Productive Start with 185 Rushing Yards
After rushing for 170 yards in the opener, New England rushed for 185 yards on Sunday, with Antonio Gibson and Rhamondre Stevenson combining for 177 yards on 32 attempts.
Although you'll take yards however you can get them, it was good to see the line blocking outside zone well. New England leaned on more zone schemes this week following a downhill approach in Week 1, with outside zone weak being a good scheme for them.
On Gibson's 45-yarder, the Patriots are blocking a pin-pull scheme from the gun. Pin-pull is in the same family as outside zone. Rather than everyone taking a 90-degree step to block horizontally, two pullers wrap around pin blocks to get to a similar stretch action. This play is actually blown up in the backfield, with the unblocked edge beating LG Michael Jordan. But, as they did last week, Gibson creates yards after contact to get loose.
Eventually, you'd hope that outside zone success leads to bootleg play-action plays, but baby steps. It's a positive sign that the offense is running the ball so well this early in the year.
7. Rookie WR Ja'Lynn Polk Scores First-Career Touchdown in Week 2
Overall, it was a very quiet day for the wide receivers, and Van Pelt needs to do more to get DeMario Douglas involved in the passing game. He's their most explosive receiver: figure it out.
That said, it was great to see second-rounder Ja'Lynn Polk's first career touchdown. Polk has a great feel for navigating the middle of the field. In the play, he's running an in-breaker where Seattle has help defenders in the middle of the field. Polk does well to climb over the linebacker sitting in the initial passing window, makes himself QB friendly, and Brissett fits it in there.
Last week, Polk was getting open on the All-22. Although it wasn't at a high volume, Polk flashed his potential with his touchdown catch on Sunday.
8. Special Teams Take a Step Back with Blocked Field Goal
After an excellent performance in Cincinnati, the Patriots special teams had a costly mistake on Sunday. Seahawks DB Julian Love blocked Slye's 48-yard field goal. Love came through unblocked as the inside rusher, second to the end of the line, which is a big no-no. If Slye makes that field goal, it's a six-point game with 3:54 left. Instead, all the Seahawks needed was a field goal to send the game into overtime – that's a big swing in the game.
DISCLAIMER: The views and thoughts expressed in this article are those of the writer and don't necessarily reflect those of the organization. Read Full Disclaimer
