Maye capitulates as Seahawks edge out Patriots

214 long days later, NFL action returned in Seattle tonight, as the reigning champion Seahawks kicked off the season hosting the New England Patriots in a highly anticipated Super Bowl rematch, and it did not disappoint.

The spectacle was electrifying before the game had even begun, as the Lombardi trophy and Super Bowl ring were shown off to the fans, with former Legion of Boom enforcers Kam Chancellor and Richard Sherman bringing the crowd to their feet, leading ‘Seahawks’ chants and galvanising Lumen Field, not that it needed much fuel.

The energy of the Seahawks fans was quickly silenced, as a sack from Patriots defensive end Dre’Mont Jones saw Sam Darnold limp off the field and into the X-ray room with a hip complaint, whereafter he was replaced by veteran backup Drew Lock for the remainder of the night, throwing an unexpected spanner in the works of Seattle’s early title defense.

Not dissimilar to the Super Bowl itself, it was a cagey defensive battle to begin the game, with neither team crossing midfield until New England did so with 11 minutes remaining in the 2^nd quarter, which led Drake Maye to give rookie tight end Eli Raridon turned into his first NFL touchdown, primarily courtesy of a 34-yard pass interference call against Josh Jobe on AJ Brown.

Already struggling to generate offense with Lock under centre, Seattle’s first venture into Patriots territory was immediately hindered by an unhelpful 4^th down flag on short yardage, ultimately forcing Michael Dickson into his 4^th punt of the first half, as the home team went into the sheds facing a 7-0 deficit.

The injury carnage continued into the second half. New England’s star wide receiver AJ Brown went down holding his ankle, limping into the blue tent and subsequently, the locker room. Andy Borregales nailed his first field goal of the season from 50 yards to extend the lead.

Echoing New England’s inability to score until the 4th quarter of last year’s Super Bowl, Seattle finally got on the board via a 30-yard field goal from Jason Myers at the end of Lock’s most promising drive for the night to that point.

The momentum shift came at the beginning of the final period, as an attempted deep ball to Romeo Doubs in double coverage resulted in Maye being picked off by Nehemiah Pritchett, giving the Seahawks fans their first notable moment to cheer about since the pre-game celebrations. In the blink of an eye, Jaxon Smith-Njigba had turned on the afterburners and taken his 7th reception of the night to the house for 45 yards and the scores were tied.

Things went from bad to worse for both Doubs and Maye, with the former initially dropping a wide-open, would-be 25-yard gain on 2nd & 14, which was followed by Maye’s 2nd interception of the night, picked off by Julian Love at midfield. Unable to take full advantage of the field position, Seattle settled for a chipshot from Myers for his 2nd field goal of the night, taking the lead for the first time with 5:50 to play.

New England’s second half offensive capitulation was finally emphasised by a 3rd consecutive Maye interception, this one coming with New England in position to at least tie the scores and head to overtime, effectively ending the game, as Seattle dug deep on both sides of the ball to secure a gritty opening night win, sending the fans home happy.

Seahawks fans will have their heart in their mouth as they sweat on finding out the extent of Sam Darnold’s injury, while Patriots fans will feel the exact same way about AJ Brown’s.

Seattle’s league leading defense ultimately proved the decisive factor as it did so frequently last year and will at least keep them in plenty of games all year, even if Darnold misses substantial time.

For New England, there’ll be significant fallout as to whether the team have taken the necessary steps forward to go one better this year. Maye (225 total yards, 1 TD, 3 INT) lost control over the game frighteningly quickly tonight after losing his star receiver, severely similarly to what we saw 7 months ago.

A great way to start the 2026 NFL regular season, with plenty more action to come!

Touchdowns
New England: Raridon
Seattle: Smith-Njigba

Top Performers
New England: D. Jones, Jacas, Gonzalez, Spillane
Seattle: Dickson, Smith-Njigba, Nwosu, Love, Pritchett

Injuries
New England: Brown (ankle)
Seattle: Darnold (hip)

Crowd: 68,744 at Lumen Field