SEATTLE — Despite a late fourth-quarter rally, the New England Patriots were unable to overcome the Seattle Seahawks on the road Sunday, falling to Pete Carroll’s squad, 35-30, thanks to a five-touchdown performance by QB Russell Wilson.
The two teams entered the second half tied at 14-14, but a pair of third quarter touchdowns by Wilson and an interception by Patriots QB Cam Newton helped turn the game in favor of Seattle (2-0).
And while New England (1-1) cut the deficit to five points with Newton’s second rushing touchdown of the night, Newton and the Patriots were stuffed near the goal line as time expired to hand them their first loss of the season.
Trailing with three seconds remaining in the contest, Newton took the snap and ran left for the endzone. Before he could get there, however, he was met by L.J. Collier, who stopped the quarterback short of the goal line to end the game.
The Patriots entered the fourth quarter knocking on the door of the Seattle endzone, trailing by 11 points. On 1st-and-goal from the 1-yard-line, Newton connected with fullback Jakob Johnson to bring New England within five points after a failed two-point conversion attempt.
But the New England defense was unable to keep it a one-score game as Wilson threw his final touchdown pass of the game to RB Chris Carson with 4:32 remaining in the contest. The Patriot offense kept the team in the game with a 7-play, 75-yard scoring drive to cut the deficit to five, but could not come up with a go-ahead score on their final drive.
The Seahawks' first two drives of the contest resulted in touchdowns, however the first of those scores came on a 43-yard interception return by New England S Devin McCourty on the second play from scrimmage.
Upon scoring, McCourty ran up to a TV camera and shouted “2-8 we love you, bro!” The tribute was in honor of teammate James White – who wears number 28 for the Patriots – whose father was killed in a serious car crash Sunday. White’s mother is also in critical condition following the crash.
>>>MORE: Father of Patriots RB James White dies in serious car crash, mother in critical condition
The running back became inactive for the contest upon hearing the news, according to one report.
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After McCourty’s interception return made it 7-0 Patriots, Wilson and company went back to work for Seattle, marching down the field on 13 plays. On the final play of the drive, Wilson connected with Tyler Lockett on a four-yard touchdown pass to even the score.
Scoring continued to see-saw between the teams in the first half as Newton and the Patriots answered with a long touchdown drive of their own. The 12-play, 72-yard drive culminated in a 1-yard touchdown run by Newton, his third rushing score with New England.
Seattle’s Quandre Diggs was ejected on that New England scoring drive after a helmet-to-helmet hit on N’Keal Harry after the second-year receiver converted a 4th and 3 for the Patriots.
Wilson twice connected with receivers on deep touchdown passes, hitting DK Metcalf on a 54-yard touchdown with just over seven minutes to go in the second quarter before linking up with David Moore on a 38-yard strike in the third quarter to give Seattle a 21-17 lead.
Moore’s touchdown came three minutes after a Nick Folk field goal gave New England a three-point advantage on the opening drive of the second half.
Seattle pushed their lead to 11 points just over five minutes later following Newton’s first interception as a Patriot. The 31-year-old quarterback tried to connect with WR Damiere Byrd on 2nd and 8 from the New England 47-yard line, but Newton’s throw was behind Byrd, sailing into the arms of Seattle’s Quinton Dunbar.
Five plays later, Freddie Swain scampered into the end zone after catching Wilson’s fourth touchdown pass of the evening.
Wilson had a masterful evening, compiling 288 passing yards on 21 of 28 attempts while also rushing for 39 yards.
Newton rushed for 47 yards in the loss while completing 30 of 44 passes for 397 yards. He found the end zone three times in total and turned the ball over once.
New England will look to get back in the win column in Week 3 when they take on the newly-minted Las Vegas Raiders Sunday afternoon at Gillette Stadium.