DangerRuss keeps Newton, Pats at bay, winning 35-30
Seattle, WA. –
“In terms of the game, seems like we always have a crazy game against the Patriots,” said Seahawks QB Russell Wilson in his post-game presser with NBC’s Michelle Tafoya. Since the start of Russell Wilson’s career, games between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots have always been a marquee, exciting match up. Tonight’s game was no different, with Wilson tossing five touchdowns to five different receivers in a 35-30 rout over the Cam Newton-led New England Patriots up in Seattle.
DangerRuss is Dangerous
Wilson’s record against New England was 2-1 going into Sunday’s game, with the lone loss coming during Super Bowl XLIX back in 2015. But past games be damned, as Wilson balled against a 7thranked Patriots defense; completing 21/28 (75% completion) passes for 288 yards, five touchdowns, and one pick-six by Devin McCourty on the first drive of the game. Wilson’s really making his case for MVP this year, having scored nine passing touchdowns in the last two weeks, while only throwing 11 incompletions. At that pace, DangerRuss can finish the season with 72 touchdowns.
Wilson’s favorite target, speedy wideout Tyler Lockett (7-67-1), was kept in check by the Patriots secondary, opening the field up for second-year receiver DK Metcalf. All night, Metcalf was shadowed by reigning Defensive Player of the Year Stephan Gilmore, and the two got chippy, even getting into a fight on the sideline. But Metcalf came out the victor, shedding a Gilmore tackle for a 54-yard touchdown in the second quarter. He finished the night with four catches for 92 yards and that touchdown. On the ground, New England’s defense gave up a total of 154 rushing yards, with running back Chris Carson (17-72, 3-36-1) and Wilson (5-39) combining for 111 of those yards.
Over on defense, Seattle’s secondary lost two key players early in the game. The first was safety Quandre Diggs, who was ejected in the first quarter for a helmet-to-helmet hit against Patriots receiver N’Keal Harry. The second was Diggs’ replacement, Marquise Blair, who went down with a knee injury. Against the rush, Seattle kept the Patriots ground game in check, limiting them to just 67 yards on the ground. However, they weren’t able to keep out Patriots quarterback Cam Newton, who scored two of his three total touchdowns of the night in short goal-line situations, usually on designed QB draws. Speaking of Newton…
Return of the Cam (Once Again!)
While he won his first game as a Patriot against the Miami Dolphins last week, questions about Cam Newton’s throwing shoulder were floating around the football cognoscente, as he went 15/19 for only 155 yards passing against Miami. On Sunday night’s game against Seattle, a defense with a far better secondary than the Dolphins’, “SuperCam” put those questions to bed. Newton completed 30/44 (68% completion) passing attempts for 397 yards, one touchdown, and a pick. Newton looked better than he ever did, shedding sacks and slashing Seattle’s defense for huge gains. Like Tom Brady before him, Newton connected well with veteran slot wideout Julian Edelman, with the former Super Bowl LIII MVP catching eight passes for 179 yards, with a good chunk of those yards coming against new Seahawks safety Jamal Adams. Edelman burned Adams twice; the first was a 49-yard stop-and-go down the middle for 49 yards in the third quarter. The other, a post route down the middle for 33 yards, downed at the 1-yard line near the end of the fourth quarter.
The running back Carousel was missing a crucial piece in pass-catching halfback James White, who was a healthy scratch after it was reported today that his father, a former Miami-Dade police officer, and mother were in a tragic car accident in Miami. White’s father, unfortunately, died at the scene, while his mother is in critical condition. Seattle’s Russell Wilson, a former teammate of White during their college years at Wisconsin, was among the many NFL voices offering their support to White, both on Twitter and in post-game pressers.
As for New England’s defense, they just could not contain Wilson. Sure, veteran safety Devin McCourty got that pick-six against Wilson at the start of the game, but aside from that, Wilson ripped Bill Belichick’s defense apart. On the bright side, rookie second-round draft pick, safety Kyle Dugger, showed he can fill in the shoes veteran safety Patrick Chung left after he opted out for the 2020 season. Against Seattle, Dugger had six total tackles, four of them solo.
Going forward
Pete Carroll’s squad gets to stay home next week, as they play host to a Dallas Cowboys team that just pulled off what might be the greatest late-game comeback of the 2020 season against the Atlanta Falcons early on Sunday.
As for New England, the Pats travel back East to Foxboro, where they’ll play host to a Las Vegas Raiders team that’s coming off a Monday Night Football bout with an NFC South favorite in the New Orleans Saints.
Writer
-By: Juan Gaurin-Carmargo