New England was in a position to win its Week 2 game versus the Seahawks.
Up 20-17 in the fourth quarter of their game against the Seattle Seahawks, the New England Patriots appeared to be in control of their own fate. They started asserting their will at the line of scrimmage in the running game, and turned the clock into an ally en route to what would have been their first 2-0 start in five years.
In the end, however, everything fell apart. Despite the Patriots driving all the way up to the Seattle 21-yard line with less than 5 minutes on the clock, they did not add any more points to their total and eventually lost 23-20 in overtime.
A series of mistakes in all three phases ended up costing them.
“We’ve got to close that game out, man,” said defensive tackle Davon Godchaux after the contest. “This is a game we should’ve won for sure, definitely should have won this game, one hundred percent.”
The Patriots took possession of the ball at their own 20-yard line with a little over nine minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. Thanks in large part due to a 45-yard Antonio Gibson run, they managed to flip the field and take some serious time off the board.
Unfortunately for the team, quarterback Jacoby Brissett took a 9-yard sack on a 3-and-6. That takedown pushed the subsequent Joey Slye field goal attempt further back, and might indirectly have contributed to the kick getting blocked.
The defense then was unable to get a stop, sending the game to extra time. Once there, the Patriots failed to capitalize on winning the coin toss and after a three-and-out surrendered the game-winning drive.
“It’s tough,” Brissett said after the game. “You get that big play and you get all the momentum and now you’re going the opposite way. It’s in those critical situations we’ve got to find a way to — I think that was the moment in the game where it’s like, ‘Now we’ve got to put them away.’ They gave us the light and we just didn’t take it this time.
“We’ve just got to find a better way to capitalize on those, especially when we get down there this late in the game versus a really good team. They don’t give you that many opportunities. So, you’ve got to take advantage of those.”