A combination of explosive offense and strong third and fourth down play helped the Seattle Seahawks take a 17-13 lead over the New England Patriots into the break after scoring a surprising number of points in the first half in Foxboro.
Despite being under pressure from New England’s front line and taking a sack on the opening drive, Geno Smith played a nearly flawless first half, completing 16 of 19 passes for 169 yards and throwing a 56-yard touchdown pass to receiver DK Metcalf. The star wideout sprinted between two Patriots defenders with no one to catch him on a coverage bust, and the quarterback found him completely free on the run to tie the game at 7-7 midway through the first quarter.
Smith then led an 11-play, 70-yard touchdown drive in which receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba caught passes of 19 and 16 yards and managed a quarterback sneak of one yard on fourth down to preserve possession. Patriots cornerback Marco Wilson tackled receiver Tyler Lockett in the end zone after an incomplete pass by Smith on the next snap, resulting in a defensive pass interference call that moved the ball to the New England one-yard line, where Zach Charbonnet punted it from one yard out to give Seattle its first lead.
To end the half, a punt return by Dee Williams gave the Seahawks excellent field position with a minute to go, Smith threw the ball 14 yards to Noah Fant on third down, and Jason Myers hit the goal posts with a 44-yard field goal to extend the lead as time expired.
Smith-Njigba was a frequent target of Smith from the start, leading the Seahawks with six catches for 57 yards, while Metcalf caught four more passes for a team-high 78 yards. Charbonnet, filling in for the injured Ken Walker III, had a quiet half overall, rushing for 19 yards on seven carries and catching three balls for 15 yards.
Defensively, the Seahawks had no answer for veteran tight end Hunter Henry, who finished the half with seven catches for 99 yards, including a 35-yard run on a block that set up Joey Slye’s second field goal of the second quarter. On the Patriots’ second drive, he caught three passes for 37 yards, moving the chains all three times, setting up a short touchdown pass from Jacoby Brissett to rookie Ja’Lynn Polk that gave the home team an early 7-0 lead.
Fortunately, Seattle was able to keep the red zone situation under control on New England’s two second-quarter scoring drives. Shortly after Metcalf’s long touchdown, Leonard Williams chased Brissett on a third-down pass play, forcing an incomplete pass intended for Henry on the sideline and a short field goal by Slye. On the next possession, despite two Devon Witherspoon penalties that extended the drive, rookie linebacker Tyrice Knight forced an incomplete third-down pass by Brissett that led to another short field goal.
Brissett was able to avoid several sacks in the first half, with Boye Mafe being the only one to actually bring him down once. He played cleanly through the first two quarters, completing 11 of 19 passes for 117 yards. The Seahawks did a good job of blocking Stevenson, limiting him to 25 yards on nine carries, while Antonio Gibson was more effective at running back with 29 yards on just four carries.
