The Seattle Seahawks didn’t just open the season with a win over the New England Patriots. They did it with a defense missing key pieces, a backup quarterback under center, and a fourth quarter that flipped the game when it mattered most.
That’s been the story with this team for a while now. The names change.
The availability changes. The results keep showing up anyway.
Even after losing Coby Bryant and Riq Woolen in the offseason, then rookie Bud Clark for the season, the Seahawks still entered Wednesday with confidence in the secondary. Mike Macdonald then had to announce that starters Nick Emmanwori and Ty Okada would miss the 2026 opener against the reigning AFC champion Patriots, and the depth test got even harsher.
No matter. Seattle’s defense still looked like the best unit on the field.
Playing without their QB against a very good Patriots team, the Dark Side again won the game. OK - perhaps it was not as dominant as it had been in the Super Bowl.
They gave up some big plays, missed some tackles. But consider this.
The Seattle defense - missing all those players - held New England to fewer points (10) and fewer yards (277) than they did in the Super Bowl.
And when the game tightened, that’s when Seattle separated. Through three quarters, the Seahawks had no sacks and no interceptions.
In the fourth quarter, they came up with two sacks and three interceptions. That’s the kind of closing burst that changes everything.
If you had Nehemiah Pritchett as one of the players who would turn the game around, congrats. You are far wiser than I.
The offense, meanwhile, had one clear answer when it needed a spark: Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
This one is almost too obvious to call a takeaway, but JSN’s 2025 season was not a fluke. With Seattle in desperate need of a big play, and without its starting quarterback available, he delivered the team’s lone touchdown to tie the game.
It came on a fourth-down short dump-off. He went about five yards, settled into a soft spot in New England’s zone, and then blew past half of the Patriots’ defense to finish the play.
The image called to mind Tyreek Hill’s famous touchdown against Dallas in 2017, when he took a short cross on the final play of the first half and simply ran around and past the entire Cowboys defense to the end zone. Watching JSN, it felt like the Patriots couldn’t get a hand on him.
They couldn’t cover him. They couldn’t tackle him.
Seattle’s other backs and receivers combined for 175 total yards running and catching in the game, while JSN had 122 by himself.
That doesn’t mean the Seahawks have everything figured out on offense. Far from it. But when they need a play, they have one of the league’s best playmakers ready to make it.
The quarterback conversation, though, deserves a little more respect than the usual rankings allow.
As the season approached, the quarterback lists all leaned toward New England because of the common belief that Drake Maye is better than Sam Darnold. That’s not a fight worth picking here.
Maye is an excellent quarterback who should only get better with painful experiences like this under his belt. But those rankings also miss the value Seattle has behind Darnold.
Drew Lock isn’t a top-16 starter, but he’s one of the better backups in the league. He proved it Wednesday.
Thrust into the game early and working with an offensive coordinator who had never called plays before, he made mistakes but handled the situation well enough to keep Seattle alive. The Seahawks still need Darnold healthy, no question.
But with this defense and Smith-Njigba, they can win plenty with Lock.
New England’s situation would have looked a lot different if the roles had been reversed. And Maye’s backup is Tommy DeVito.
That brings it back to the bigger picture with Seattle: pressure. Mike Macdonald spelled out the team’s approach in a pep talk on HBO’s Hard Knocks.
Apply pressure on the first play. Keep it on all game.
Never let it up. If the Seahawks land a score or a turnover, they turn the pressure up even more.
Wednesday was a perfect example of how that wears on an opponent. A lot of teams have talent.
Seattle has that, plus depth and versatility. That combination makes life miserable over 60 minutes.
By the fourth quarter, the pressure had clearly taken its toll on Maye. The Seahawks kept forcing difficult snaps, and the Patriots kept cracking under the strain.
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Drew Lock took over the offense after Darnold exited, and Seattle was left waiting on the quarterbacks status with the team listing him as questionable to return. For a Seahawks offense trying to find any early rhythm, the sudden shift at the position changed the feel of the night in a hurry. [Read more 🡒]
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The unusual kickoff is only the first part of a crowded opening stretch, with the league following it the next night with an international game in Australia. Commissioner Roger Goodell has made it clear that trip is part of a broader long-term push overseas, with more games planned in places such as Madrid, London and Paris. For Seattle, though, the immediate conversation is about what it means to open the season in such a high-profile rematch, and whether this twist on the league calendar ends up feeling like a showcase or a scheduling oddity. [Read more 🡒]