Seattle Survives: Seahawks Rally Past Patriots 13-10 in Dramatic NFL Season Opener

Three fourth-quarter interceptions, Drew Lock’s relief effort and another dominant Seattle defensive finish spoiled New England’s chance at Super Bowl revenge.

SEATTLE — Seven months after the Seattle Seahawks defeated the New England Patriots to win Super Bowl LX, the NFL brought the two teams right back together to open the 2026 season.

The result was the same. The path to get there could not have been more different.

Seattle overcame an early injury to starting quarterback Sam Darnold, a 10-point deficit and an offense that struggled to generate anything for three quarters before rallying past New England, 13-10, Wednesday night at Lumen Field. The defending champions scored 10 unanswered points in the fourth quarter, while Seattle’s defense intercepted Patriots quarterback Drake Maye three times in the final period to completely change the complexion of the game.

This was not the comfortable 29-13 victory Seattle produced over New England in February’s Super Bowl. This was a survival test.

And Seattle passed it.

A Championship Celebration Quickly Turns Into Concern

The night began with Seattle raising its Super Bowl championship banner in front of a packed home crowd, but the celebration lasted only a matter of minutes before the Seahawks were hit with their first major obstacle of the new season.

Darnold was sacked by former Seahawks defensive lineman Dre’Mont Jones during Seattle’s opening possession and immediately began dealing with a hip injury. After only five offensive plays, his night was finished.

Darnold completed just one of two passes for 13 yards before Drew Lock was forced into the game. Lock had attempted only three regular-season passes for Seattle during the entire 2025 campaign, yet suddenly the defending champions were asking him to guide them through nearly an entire opening-night game against the reigning AFC champions.

For a long stretch, it looked like the injury was going to be too much for Seattle to overcome.

New England’s defense controlled the first half. Seattle was shut out through the opening 30 minutes, while the Patriots gradually began to establish control despite not producing much explosiveness offensively themselves.

The Patriots finally broke through in the second quarter. A deep flea-flicker intended for A.J. Brown drew a lengthy defensive pass-interference penalty, putting New England near the goal line. On the next play, Maye found rookie tight end Eli Raridon for a two-yard touchdown — Raridon’s first NFL reception and the first touchdown of the 2026 NFL season.

New England carried that 7-0 advantage into halftime.

Patriots Build the Lead, But Never Put Seattle Away

Andy Borregales connected from 50 yards early in the third quarter, extending New England’s advantage to 10-0.

At that moment, the Patriots appeared positioned to deliver an impressive opening-night statement.

They had limited Seattle’s offense. They had knocked Darnold out of the game. They were controlling possession. Seattle had yet to reach the end zone.

But there was one major problem: New England never delivered the knockout punch.

Jason Myers finally put Seattle on the board with a 30-yard field goal late in the third quarter, trimming the deficit to 10-3. It seemed like a minor development at the time, but it kept Seattle within one possession.

That became critical once the fourth quarter began.

Despite running 67 offensive plays compared with Seattle’s 48 and holding the football for 34:17, New England finished with only 277 total yards. Seattle managed 285 yards on significantly fewer snaps and averaged 5.9 yards per play compared with just 4.1 for New England.

The Patriots controlled the volume of the game.

Seattle controlled the efficiency.

And eventually, Seattle controlled the football. Three times.

The Fourth Quarter Belonged to Seattle’s Defense

Maye entered the fourth quarter having played a relatively controlled game.

Then everything unraveled.

Seattle cornerback Nehemiah Pritchett intercepted Maye early in the fourth, providing the Seahawks with the opportunity they desperately needed. Lock and the Seattle offense finally capitalized.

Facing fourth-and-1, Lock connected with Jaxon Smith-Njigba for a 45-yard touchdown, instantly turning a night of offensive frustration into a 10-10 game.

It was Seattle’s biggest offensive play of the night, and it came when there was virtually no margin for error.

Smith-Njigba again looked every bit like one of football’s premier receivers. He finished with eight receptions for 122 yards and the game-tying touchdown, accounting for more than 40 percent of Seattle’s total offense.

Then Seattle’s defense went back to work.

Maye was intercepted again, this time by veteran safety Julian Love. Seattle converted the takeaway into a 26-yard Myers field goal with 5:53 remaining, taking its first lead of the night at 13-10.

In a matter of minutes, New England had gone from controlling a 10-3 game to trailing.

The Seahawks did not suddenly begin dominating possession.

They dominated opportunity.

Maye Gets One Final Chance — And Makes the Costliest Mistake

To Maye’s credit, the Patriots still had a chance to recover.

New England mounted one final possession and drove deep into Seattle territory. Even after Maye was sacked late in the drive, the Patriots continued moving forward and eventually reached the Seattle 16.

With 26 seconds remaining, New England was already within realistic range for a potential game-tying field goal.

That made Maye’s next decision even more damaging.

Under pressure, Maye attempted to loft a pass toward Mack Hollins in the end zone. Seattle cornerback Josh Jobe tracked it, secured the football and managed to complete the interception in bounds.

Game over.

Seattle 13. New England 10.

Instead of potentially taking the tying field goal and forcing overtime, the Patriots walked away with their third interception of the fourth quarter and their first loss of the season.

Maye finished 23-of-33 for 178 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions. He also provided much of New England’s most effective rushing production, scrambling seven times for 47 yards.

For three quarters, Maye had done enough.

For one quarter, he did far too much.

That distinction decided the game.

Seattle Finds an Unexpected Hero in Drew Lock

Lock’s performance deserves more attention than the final score might suggest.

Thrown into the game unexpectedly, he completed 16 of 22 passes for 187 yards, a touchdown and no interceptions. He averaged roughly 8.5 yards per attempt and maintained enough composure to eventually exploit New England when Seattle finally received favorable field position.

There were certainly stretches where Seattle’s offense looked stagnant, but Lock avoided the catastrophic mistake that Maye could not.

In a game decided by three points, that mattered tremendously.

Seattle did not ask Lock to become Sam Darnold.

It asked him to survive long enough for the rest of the roster to take over.

He did exactly that.

JSN Remains the Centerpiece of Seattle’s Passing Attack

The offensive player Seattle could consistently rely upon was Smith-Njigba.

New England knew where the football was likely going and still could not prevent him from producing eight catches for 122 yards.

His 45-yard touchdown was particularly revealing. With Seattle facing fourth-and-1 and needing something to ignite the offense, the Seahawks did not settle for simply trying to move the chains. They attacked.

That aggression completely changed the game.

Cooper Kupp added two receptions for 35 yards, while rookie first-round running back Jadarian Price showed encouraging flashes with 52 yards on 10 carries — 5.2 yards per attempt.

Price’s performance will be worth watching as Seattle reshapes its backfield following Kenneth Walker III’s offseason departure.

New England’s Running Game Remains a Question

New England spent the offseason trying to improve an offense that Seattle overwhelmed in Super Bowl LX.

The opening-night results were mixed.

Rhamondre Stevenson carried 18 times but produced only 51 yards, averaging 2.8 yards per attempt. Corey Kiner added only 11 yards on six carries. Maye himself accounted for 47 of New England’s 109 rushing yards.

That is not the formula Mike Vrabel wants.

The Patriots possessed the football for nearly nine minutes longer than Seattle, yet too many possessions required Maye to manufacture something rather than allowing the running game to dictate the terms of the matchup.

Against an elite Seattle defense, that ultimately became dangerous.

The A.J. Brown Injury Adds Another Concern

New England also left Seattle with an important injury question.

A.J. Brown, making his Patriots debut after his offseason acquisition from Philadelphia, left during the third quarter with a right ankle injury and did not return. Brown finished with three receptions for 26 yards.

Losing Brown clearly reduced New England’s options when the game tightened late.

Mack Hollins led the Patriots with 51 receiving yards, while Stevenson added five catches for 44 yards. But the explosive passing component Brown was acquired to provide disappeared once he exited.

His status becomes one of the most important Patriots storylines coming out of Week 1.

The Numbers Explain How Strange This Game Was

Seattle committed 10 penalties for 98 yards.

The Seahawks possessed the football for only 25:43.

They ran 19 fewer offensive plays than New England.

Their starting quarterback played five snaps.

And they still won.

Why?

Turnovers: Seattle 0, New England 3.

That statistic overwhelms almost everything else.

New England could argue it played well enough to win in several areas. The Patriots controlled the first half, generated more offensive snaps, held a sizable possession advantage and limited Seattle to 13 points.

None of it mattered because they gave Seattle three additional possessions in the fourth quarter.

Championship-level defenses punish those mistakes.

Seattle did.

CrossTalk Analysis: The Seahawks Still Have Their Championship Identity

Perhaps the most important takeaway from Seattle’s opening victory had nothing to do with its offense.

This team still knows how to win when the game becomes uncomfortable.

The Seahawks lost their starting quarterback almost immediately. They fell behind 10-0. Their offense produced nothing for an entire half. They committed nearly 100 yards in penalties.

None of those circumstances caused them to lose their defensive identity.

Mike Macdonald’s team remained aggressive, forced Maye into increasingly difficult decisions and waited for the game to present an opening.

When it did, Seattle attacked.

Pritchett changed the momentum.

Love changed the field position.

Jobe ended the game.

That is what championship defenses do.

Seattle did not resemble a polished defending champion Wednesday night.

It looked like something potentially more important in September: a team capable of surviving when almost everything goes wrong.

For New England, This One Will Hurt

There should also be some optimism surrounding New England.

The Patriots went into Seattle, limited the defending Super Bowl champions to 13 points and were one possession away from winning despite losing Brown during the game.

But there are losses that can be rationalized, and there are losses teams know they allowed to escape.

This was the latter.

New England led 10-0.

Seattle was using its backup quarterback.

The Patriots had the football inside Seattle territory with an opportunity to tie the game in the closing seconds.

They still lost.

For a team trying to prove that last season’s Super Bowl appearance was the beginning of sustained contention rather than a single breakthrough year, eliminating those mistakes becomes critical.

Maye remains the franchise quarterback and one bad quarter does not change that.

But if New England intends to return to February, its quarterback cannot give an elite opponent three fourth-quarter takeaways.

Especially when the third is thrown with a potential overtime field goal already available.

Final Word

The NFL season began with a Super Bowl rematch, but Wednesday night felt less like a continuation of February and more like a reminder of what separates good teams from championship teams.

New England spent most of the night placing itself in position to win.

Seattle spent the final quarter taking the game away.

The Seahawks escaped with a 13-10 victory, Drew Lock delivered when suddenly called upon, Jaxon Smith-Njigba produced the biggest offensive moment of the evening and Seattle’s defense once again proved capable of deciding a football game when everything else around it was falling apart.

The defending champions are 1-0.

And after one night, the message from Seattle is already familiar.

If you want to beat the Seahawks, you had better finish the job.

Because Seattle certainly will.