The Patriots won the coin toss and deferred, so the Seahawks took the opening kickoff. Rashid Shaheed, though, didn’t get an opportunity.
The Patriots kicked it out of the back of the end zone to avoid the dangerous returner.
That meant the Seahawks had to go only 65 yards for a touchdown. They went 51 yards in eight plays and settled for a 33-yard Jason Myers field goal and a 3-0 lead.
Kenneth Walker ran 10 yards on the first play from scrimmage, and two plays later, Patriots cornerback Marcus Jones tried to undercut tight end AJ Barner. Instead, Barner caught it and ran for 15 yards.
Then, Sam Darnold found Cooper Kupp, who was guarded by Jones, for 23 yards. It looked like Kupp might have bobbled the ball before going out of bounds, but the Patriots did not challenge the play.
From the Seattle 17, though, Darnold twice threw incomplete, sandwiched between a Walker run for 3 yards.
Myers hit the chip-shot field goal, and the Seahawks lead.
