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The New England Patriots will host the Seattle Seahawks in the 2024 home-opener and will be looking for their first 2-0 start since the 2019 season. Last week, the Patriots traveled to Cincinnati and came away with a 16-10 victory. This week's game will mark the eighth time that the Patriots will play against an NFC team in the home-opener. The Patriots opened the season in 1978 at home vs. Washington and in 1985 at home vs. Green Bay. In 1993 the home-opener was vs. Detroit and in 1996 vs. Arizona. The Patriots opened at home in 2000 vs. Tampa Bay. In 2012 the home-opener was vs. Arizona. And in 2023 the Patriots opened the season at home vs. Philadelphia.

SERIES HISTORY

The New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks will meet for the 20th time overall and for the first time since the Patriots fell 35-30 in a Sunday Night Football game on Nov. 20, 2020, in Seattle. The Patriots last two regular season games against Seattle were both Sunday Night Football games. The Patriots lost 31-24 on Nov. 13, 2016, in the last meeting between the two teams at Gillette Stadium.

This week's game marks the third time in team history that the Patriots will play their first home game of the season against Seattle. The Patriots opened at home against Seattle in 1984 and 1992, both in Week 3 of the season. The Patriots beat Seattle on Sept. 16, 1984, by a 38-23 score and lost 10-6 vs. Seattle on Sept. 20, 1992.

The Patriots and Seahawks played 12 times in a 14-year span from 1980-93, but have played only six times since then (2004, '08, '12, '16, '20 and Super Bowl XLIX).

Seattle is 1-1 all-time at Gillette Stadium.

SERIES BREAKDOWN

NEW ENGLAND 9, SEATTLE 10
(Including New England's SB XLIX Win)

Home Record: 4-6

• Gillette Stadium: 1-1
• Foxboro Stadium: 0-3
• Sullivan Stadium: 2-2
• Schaefer Stadium: 1-0

Road Record: 4-4

• Kingdome: 3-2
• Qwest Field: 1-0
• CenturyLink Field: 0-2

Neutral Site: 1-0

Total Points in the Series: Patriots 403, Seahawks 385

QUICK HITS

The Seahawks are the only non-divisional team that the Patriots have played twice in the regular season in the same year. That scheduling oddity took place during the 1993 season, the only year in which the league's 16-game schedule was played over an 18-week span, and each team was allotted two bye weeks.

SCOUTING THE MATCHUPS

By Paul Perillo

When the Patriots run - Edge: Patriots

Jerod Mayo and Alex Van Pelt spent much of the summer explaining how they wanted to run the football and expressing optimism about the offense's ability to do so. It was just one week but Rhamondre Stevenson made his coaches look like prophets. Stevenson was the best player on the field in New England's season-opening win to kick off the Mayo era, romping through the Bengals to the tune of 120 yards on 25 punishing carries. Most impressive was his ability to move the chains twice late to close out the six-point win, finding yards even when Cincinnati knew a run was coming. Van Pelt dialed up some wrinkles to help get it done, using rookie Caedan Wallace as an extra lineman on 18 snaps. He also leaned heavily on Stevenson to close it out, giving him the ball on seven of the final eight plays excluding kneel downs. The task will get more difficult this week against a Seahawks front that struggled in 2023 but was much better in the opener. Jonathan Hankins and Leonard Williams form a stout pair on the interior in front of middle linebacker Tyrel Dodson and former Dolphin Jerome Baker. Seattle limited the Broncos to 20 carries for 64 yards (excluding Bo Nix scrambles), so the offensive line will have its hands full.

When the Patriots pass - Edge: Seahawks

As well as Stevenson and the running game played in Cincy, the passing game was more of a work in progress. Jacoby Brissett did a nice job of avoiding several sacks and for the most part kept the ball out of harm's way. He was fortunate to not have an end zone pick, but otherwise made sound decisions and protected the lead. That said the Patriots threw for 120 yards and no receiver caught more than three passes. The Seahawks secondary was outstanding in the opener with two terrific young corners in Riq Woolen and Devon Witherspoon plus safeties Julian Love and Rayshawn Jenkins along with nickel back Tre Brown. That group hounded the rookie Nix, limiting the Broncos to 132 yards through the air. Seattle isn't necessarily known for its pass rush but the Seahawks did get after Nix, sacking him twice and forcing him out of the pocket on numerous occasions. Brissett was forced to move around throughout the opener, which was partly responsible for the low passing production in the win. The offensive line will need to do a better job in pass protection if Brissett (he was pressured on about half of his drop backs) hopes to get his wide receivers involved, something that never really happened in Week 1.

When the Seahawks run - Edge: Patriots

Like the Patriots, Seattle wants to be a physical offense by running the football. In Kenneth Walker they have a back similar to Stevenson in style, although a tad smaller than the Patriots lead dog. Walker was excellent in the opener, finishing with 103 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries, but he was forced to leave with an abdominal injury with just over 10 minutes left in the game. He told reporters that he was good after the game, but his status bears watching as Seattle's depth at the position is limited. Zach Charbonnet is more of a receiver and Kenny McIntosh is the only other running back on the roster. Assuming Walker can go, the Seahawks are also dealing with an injury to right tackle George Fant, who missed much of the Broncos win with a bad knee. Those injuries should help a Patriots defense coming off a strong all-around performance in Cincinnati. The front neutralized the Bengals ground game, holding Cincy to just 70 yards on 16 carries. New England controlled the line of scrimmage for much of the day, especially in the first half when the Patriots were able to seize control. Fant was already playing for the injured Abraham Lucas, who opened the season on PUP. That would put Stone Forsythe, who replaced Fant for the final three-plus quarters, into the starting lineup. That would be a big edge for the Patriots.

When the Seahawks pass - Edge: Patriots

Seattle has some excellent weapons at their disposal with the criminally underrated Tyler Lockett, D.K. Metcalf and Jaxon Smith-Njigba at wide out with Noah Fant at tight end. Geno Smith has enjoyed a career renaissance in Seattle, spreading the ball effectively to those targets while using his legs occasionally to make plays. He scrambled 34 yards for a touchdown in the win over Denver, and like Brissett he showed solid mobility to avoid pressure in the pocket. Despite the talent at receiver, Seattle does not possess an explosive passing game. Smith isn't typically asked to throw the ball much more than 30 times per game and Seattle ranked in the middle of the pack in terms of yards (230, 14^th) a year ago. DeMarcus Covington did a nice job dialing up some pressure early on in Cincy as Keion White picked up 2.5 sacks against Joe Burrow. That early aggressiveness set the tone for the day and might be a good course of action against a banged-up Seahawks offensive line. It will be interesting to see how Covington handles the Seahawks stable of pass catchers with Christian Gonzalez, Jonathan Jones and Marcus Jones likely to get the bulk of the reps. Gonzalez has the size to battle Metcalf while Lockett and Jonathan Jones figure to see a lot of each other. This should be a solid matchup all around.

Special Teams - Edge: Patriots

It would be hard to have a better start to the season in the kicking game than the Patriots enjoyed in Cincy. Joey Slye's first game as kicker saw him connect on all three field goals plus his lone PAT. Coverage ace Brenden Schooler recorded three special teams tackles on punts while captain and long snapper Joe Cardona forced a key fumbled on a punt return early in the second half. Bryce Baringer averaged 50 yards on his five punts and had three downed inside the 20. Marcus Jones wasn't able to shake free on his punt return but did pick up 10 yards on his lone attempt. Overall, it was a strong debut for Jeremy Springer's troops. Seattle has Jason Myers (kicker) and Michael Dickson (punter) and both are solid, while Laviska Shenault handled kickoffs and Dee Williams punts. Neither made an impact in the opener, although Shenault turned in a 31-yard return on one of the three kicks he brought back. Look for more touchbacks on both sides as that seems to be the early strategy around the league handling the new kickoff rules.

TALE OF THE TAPE

CONNECTIONS

FORMER PATRIOTS

• TE Pharaoh Brown, 2023
• EVP of Football Operations Pete Carroll, 1997-99
• QB Coach Charles London, 2005
• S&C Asst. Grant Steen, 2004-05 (training camps only)

WHAT TO LOOK FOR...

• A Patriots win this week against Seattle would give the Patriots their first 2-0 start to a season since 2019 when they started the
  year with an 8-0 record. The Patriots have started the season with a 2-0 record 15 times in team history.
• The Patriots defense allowed just 10 points in the season-opener. In 2023, the Patriots held their opponents to 10 or fewer points in four games. If the Patriots hold the Seahawks to 10 or fewer points this week, it will be the first time starting the season with two straight games with 10 or fewer points allowed since the 2019 season when they started the year with a 33-3 win vs. Pittsburgh followed by a 43-0 win at Miami.
• The Patriots did not have any turnovers in the season-opener at Cincinnati. If the Patriots repeat that feat this week, it will be the first time they do so in back-to-back games since the 2022 season when they went three-straight games without a turnover – vs. N.Y. Jets (11/20), at Minnesota (11/24) and vs. Buffalo (12/1). It would also be the first time without a turnover in back-to-back games to open the season since the 2017 season when they had no turnovers vs. Kansas City and at New Orleans.

RUNNING THE TABLE

The Patriots rushed for 170 yards last week in the win at Cincinnati. If the Patriots rush for 170 or more yards again this week, it would be the team's first time to do so in back-to-back games since the 2020 season when they had 250 yards rushing vs. Las Vegas (9/27) followed by 185 yards at Kansas City (10/5). The last time the Patriots opened the season with at least 170 yards rushing in their first two games was in 1974 with 196 yards rushing vs. Miami (9/15) followed by 173 yards rushing at the New York Giants (9/22).

HEAD COACH JEROD MAYO

• Jerod Mayo earned a victory in his regular season debut and will look to become the first New England coach to start his career with a 2-0 record since Pete Carroll won his first four games in 1997.

BROADCAST INFO

TELEVISION: This week's game will be broadcast by FOX and can be seen locally on WFXT-TV Channel 25. Kenny Albert will handle play-by-play duties with Jonathan Vilma as the color analyst. Megan Olivi will provide analysis from the sidelines. The game will be produced by Fran Morison and directed by Bryan Lilley.

LOCAL RADIO: 98.5 The Sports Hub is the flagship station for the Patriots Radio Network. A complete listing of the network's 33 stations can be found here. Play-by-play broadcaster Bob Socci will call the action along with former Patriots quarterback Scott Zolak, who will provide color analysis. The games are produced by Marc Cappello.

For information on how to stream the game please visit our Ways to Watch guide.

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