6 winners and losers from the Patriots’ loss to the Seahawks

Here is who caught our eye, for better or worse, in the Patriots’ home opener.

The New England Patriots dropped their 2024 home opener 23-20 to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday to fall to 1-1 on the year.

Here is who caught our eye for better or worse upon live viewing.

Winner: TE Hunter Henry. The Patriots tight end was the best part of New England’s passing attack on Sunday, as he finished with eight catches for a career-high 109 receiving yards. Henry’s top play came on a well-designed and executed tight end screen that he took for 35 yards. He also would have had a walk-in touchdown off a leak design, but pressure forced a low throw that he had to scoop off the turf.

Loser: Wide receivers. On the other end of the passing game spectrum was the wide receivers. While a review of the film will tell if receivers were separating throughout the game and other factors led to the limited production, the group finished with just three total catches for 19 yards. That included zero targets for Pop Douglas.

“We definitely have to start to get the ball down the field,” Jerod Mayo said. “We’ve got to start pushing the ball down the field… It’s something that we need to work on.”

Loser: Pass protection. In live time, the offensive line also appeared to play a key role in the limited passing game. According to Pro Football Focus’ initial charting, Jacoby Brissett was under pressure on 16 of his 33 drop backs. Those are extremely tough conditions to operate in for any QB and cost New England points — mainly on the aforementioned play to an open Henry.

Winner: DL Keion White. It was another dominant showing for Keion White up front as the second-year pass rusher continued his early season rise. White finished with 1.5 sacks — which upped his total to four this season — and a career-high five pressures. He continued to flash as an interior rusher, as three of his pressures came over the left guard. For a team with pass rush questions, White has established himself as New England’s top option up front.

Loser: CB Marco Wilson and the pass defense. Geno Smith was largely unbothered on Sunday, throwing for 327 yards and a score as New England gave up 129 yards to DK Metcalf and a career-high 117 yards to Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Jabrill Peppers shared the unit’s backend disguises did not do a good enough job to slow down Smith, while a coverage bust resulted in Metcalf’s score. Wilson also continued to rotate for Jonathan Jones at times and got called for his second pass interference in as many weeks to set up a Seahawks touchdown.

Winner: RB Antonio Gibson. After being used in a limited fashion in Week 1, Gibson saw his usage increase against Seattle. That came with increased production as well as the back ran for a game-high 96 yards on 11 carries. Gibson looked like a strong fit in the zone scheme and broke off an impressive 45-yard run off a shotgun toss in which he made a defender miss behind the line of scrimmage. He also caught his lone target for a first-down.

Honorable mentions:

• Jacoby Brissett was strong again in the pocket on Sunday, evading pressure on multiple occasions and finding an open receiver. He also played turnover-free football again, but managed just 149 passing yards and struggled in the red area as he took the blame for the lack of downfield passing.
• Christian Gonzalez drew the DK Metcalf matchup and largely held the receiver in check. Aligning across of him on 36 of his 44 routes, Gonzalez had some troubles away from the ball early but limited Metcalf to just three catches for 24 yards on the day.
• Metcalf’s one big play was a 56-yard touchdown due to a miscommunication in the secondary. Kyle Dugger claimed responsibility for the breakdown after checking the Patriots into a max blitz coverage but getting a bad read on the QB. Dugger did, however, record a sack and a key fourth-down stop in the run game elsewhere.
• Another strong showing from punter Bryce Baringer, who finished with a net of 47.3 yards and three inside-20s to just one touchback.
• Elsewhere on special teams, the blocked Joey Slye field goal with 3:54 left proved costly. The block came from safety Julian Love, who appeared to get pressure past Austin Hooper.