The Seahawks didn’t put any points on the board until the fourth quarter on Wednesday night, but waiting to get the scoring started didn’t keep them from coming up with a win.
Their defense forced four punts while spotting the Patriots a 10-0 lead and then came up with interceptions on New England’s final three possessions to help pave the way to a 13-10 comeback win that played out with quarterback Sam Darnold out of the game to be evaluated for a hip injury. The Seahawks also sacked Drake Maye three times in the second half and generally sent notice to the NFL that the unit that propelled them to the Super Bowl last season remain in fine shape.
“When you think about Seattle, we want you to think about our defense, and what we are going to bring each and every day,” linebacker Ernest Jones said, via the team’s website.
The Seahawks pulled off Wednesday’s performance without safeties Nick Emmanwori and Ty Okada, so they’ll have even more weapons at their disposal in the weeks to come and that’s not great news for the opposing offenses on their schedule.
One of the realities of life as an NFL backup quarterback is that you get fewer opportunities in practice and that means there are some plays that you never get to rehearse ahead of time.
That’s the situation Seahawks quarterback Drew Lock found himself in after replacing the injured Sam Darnold during Wednesday night’s game against the Patriots. With the Seahawks down 10-3 and facing a fourth-and-1 from the New England 45-yard line with under 12 minutes to play, offensive coordinator Brian Fleury sent in a play that Lock had never gotten the chance to try out on the practice field.
It was a play-action pass to wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba that picked up the first down and then much more once Smith-Njigba turned around to find room to run all the way to the end zone.
“It is like a classic football play,” Lock said, via the team’s website. “But, no. No, definitely never ran it. Looked kind of funny before the snap. I didn’t really seem like they had anybody ready to match Jaxon based on what I knew we were about it run. He’s the third read in that play, and when 11 is just standing there, you got to give him the pill.”
The Seahawks struggled to move the ball most of the night, but Drake Maye kept giving the ball away for the Patriots and Lock came up with key completions to Smith-Njigba and Cooper Kupp to set up Seattle’s go-ahead field goal. He finished the night 16-of-22 for 187 yards and said after the game that he trusted in the defense to keep the game within reach.
“Knowing the type of defense that we have, there is no rush to push the ball down the field,” Lock said. “Let’s find ways to get the ball in our guys’ hands. Now, when the ones down field are there, I’ve never been one to be afraid of those, but having the mindset of taking football, getting it in our guys’ hands. You got the best defense in the world, in my opinion, let’s keep the ball moving forward and see what the scoreboard looks like at the end of this.”
The Seahawks can be happy with how the scoreboard looks thanks in large part to how well Lock handled being thrown into the fire on the second series of the 2026 season.
On an NFL opening night when the Seahawks’ offense was otherwise stalling, wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba kept it going.
Smith-Njigba caught a short pass on fourth-and-1 and raced downfield for a 45-yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter, scoring the Seahawks’ only touchdown in the 13-10 win over the Patriots. Afterward, he credited the play call, quarterback Drew Lock and his teammates’ blocking more than his own effort.
“I was happy it was a pass play,” Smith-Njigba said. “My job was to find a zone and Drew did a great job finding me, and afterward just do what I do, try to get upfield and protect the ball. Great upfield blocking by our tight ends.”
The Seahawks’ passing game went 8-for-11 for 122 yards and a touchdown when throwing to Smith-Njigba and 9-for-13 for 78 yards and no touchdowns when throwing to everyone else on the team. Despite that, Smith-Njigba credited teammates Cooper Kupp and Rashid Shaheed, who had a combined three catches for 39 yards.
“It’s not all on me. We have Cooper Kupp making big plays, we have Sheed making big plays,” Smith-Njigba said. “It’s a team effort.”
It is a team effort, but Smith-Njigba showed who the best player on the team is.
Patriots coach Mike Vrabel pointed to quarterback Drake Maye’s turnovers as the difference after losing to the Seahawks.
“You can’t throw three interceptions. Drake knows that,” Vrabel said.
The Patriots lost the game 13-10 and lost the turnover battle 3-0, as all three turnovers in the game were Maye interceptions. Given that, it’s no surprise that the Patriots lost: Last season, teams that were minus-3 or worse in turnover margin went 3-38.
“We can’t turn the ball over and we have to create more turnovers,” Vrabel said. “There’s a few things we have to eliminate that get you beat in this league.”
The Patriots’ loss was sealed when Maye threw an interception into the end zone with 21 seconds left. Vrabel defended the decision to try to score a game-winning touchdown rather than settle for a game-tying field goal, but he acknowledged the throw wasn’t what the Patriots wanted.
“We’re trying to be aggressive and win the football game, but not reckless,” Vrabel said. “It’s never just about one guy. I think everybody knows that.”
It’s not about one guy, but the Patriots’ loss to the Seahawks was primarily attributable to one guy: Maye wasn’t good enough.
Patriots quarterback Drake Maye took the blame after throwing three interceptions in a 13-10 loss to the Seahawks to open the NFL season on Wednesday night.
“I thought we had the game under control,” Maye said. “I lost patience and it cost us. There were decisions that cost us the game, on my part, on my end. I vow to myself to be better and realize it’s a long season, but at the same time you can’t have those. It was unacceptable and I know I have to get back to work, because that wasn’t how I play football and how I want to represent my game and playing quarterback for the Patriots.”
With the Patriots trailing by a field goal and in field goal range in the final minute, Maye knew a turnover was the one thing the Patriots couldn’t afford. And yet he threw a pass into the end zone that Seattle’s Josh Jobe intercepted, sealing the Patriots’ loss.
“It was just unacceptable. We had a chance to send it to overtime, at the worst, and the only thing you could do was turn the ball over, and that’s what I did.”
Maye had a tremendous 2025 season, finishing second in MVP voting and leading the Patriots to the Super Bowl. But they lost the Super Bowl to the Seahawks, and los to the Seahawks again in Week 1, and Maye knows he needs to be better.
