NFL: “The Dark Side” Picks their way to a Seahawk win over the Patriots

9/9/2026

Seattle 13, New England 10

(Seattle, WA) The anticipation of the start of the 2026 NFL season was overwhelming as the 12’s ready to roll at Lumen field in a re-match of last February’s Super Bowl where the Seahawks dominated New England for their second Lombardi Trophy in Seahawk history.

QB Sam Darnold didn’t play a snap in any of the three pre-season games nor did starting RB rookie Jadarian Price. Seattle began with the ball and after a quick pair of 1st downs. But then a penalty, a 9-yard run, an incompletion and then on the 6th play of the game Darnold is sacked and tackled awkwardly by Dre’ Mont Jones and limped off the field.

The training crew eventually took Darnold into the locker room and ruled him out for the rest of the game with a hip injury. Back-up Drew Lock was called upon and fortunately he had played 2 full halves of pre-season games, so he really wasn’t coming in cold.

Pressure falls on Seattle Defense

The Seahawk defense knew that it would be on them to keep the Hawks in the game and have a shot at getting the opening season win.

New England did take advantage of some sloppy play by Seattle on both sides of the field with multiple penalties. A 34-yard pass interference penalty set up the Patriots in the 2^nd quarter on the Seattle 2-yard line.

Drake Maye dropped back and tossed a short pass to tight end Eli Raridon for his first career NFL TD and New England went up 7-0 with 9:22 to play.

Neither team could light up the scoreboard for the rest of the half, and the Patriots went to the break with a 7-0 lead.

2^nd Half Re-Boot

New England would get the ball to start the 3^rd quarter and on a 4^th and long the Hawks decided to bring the house and just missed blocking it but then ran into the punter and was called for roughing giving the ball back to the Pats.

The Dark Side then awoke holding New England to a field goal try but knowing going down by 14 would create a lot of pressure on the offense. It was critical to hold them to 3, which Patriots kicker Andy Borregalas booted a 50-yard field goal to make it 10-0 with 11:49 to go in the 3^rd quarter.

Seattle would go 4 and out and Michael Dickson hit another tremendous punt inside the 10 at the 6 yard line. A quick 3 and out and the Seahawks were in business with a 1^st and 10 on the Patriots 43.

Seattle Offense starts to find its Groove!

The Seattle offense started to get some consistency, keyed by a spectacular 1 handed catch by Cooper Kupp. The Hawks couldn’t find the endzone but got on the board with a 30-yard Jason Myers field goal with about 3 minutes to go in the 3^rd.

That was all the defense needed as they stepped up and clamped down hard on the Patriots. On the following drive New England was driving but the pass rush was getting to Maye, and he tried to go deep when Nehemiah Pritchett picked him off and returned it 30 yards setting up the offense with a 1^st and 10 on the Seattle 33. After a 13-yard completion to Jaxon Smith-Njigba followed by two running plays of 5 and then 4 yards set up a 3^rd and 1 on at the New England 45.

On 3^rd and 1, the Patriots stuffed the run attempt, setting up a 4^th and 1 with more than 11-minutes to play in the game.

Seattle Head Coach Mike Macdonald did not want to waste this opportunity and gave new offensive coordinator Brian Fleury the green light.

Many thought they’d see AJ Barner come in and try the “tush push” which they did earlier in the game, but an offsides call took down a successful 1^st down try.

Instead, a play-action pass from Lock who found a wide open JSN who then took it to the house with a beautiful 45-yard catch and run for 6. Myers added the PAT and with 11:28 to play in the game it was all even and the momentum was on the Seattle side.

New England began the next drive on their own 14. Facing 2nd and 14 Maye scrambled away from pressure and found a wide-open Romeo Doubs who would have had the 1^st down easy, and a lot more but simply dropped the ball.

This forced a 3^rd and 14 when Maye went deep down the middle and Seattle’s Julian Love grabbed the ball for the 2^nd interception of the game and quarter on the Patriot 47.

Seattle then had a golden opportunity to punch it in when Lock scrambled and got 9 yards down to the Patriot 4 setting up a 2^nd and 1. NBC commentator Cris Collinsworth said, the is was the best-case scenario giving Seattle 3 chances to get 1 yard and then 4 more chances to the other 3.

What you can’t do is commit yet another penalty and that’s what happened with a delay of game of all things. In the end Seattle faced a 4^th and 6 from the 8 and sent Myers in for the 26-yard field goal giving Seattle the lead for the first time 13-10 with 5:50 to play in the game.

The Dark Side one more Time!

New England got the ball back and began to move the ball but faced a big 4^th and 2 on their own 35 when aye boot-legged around the left side for 5 yards and the 1^st down.

New England then began to pick and choose their way down the field with 11 more snaps with 1^st downs, penalties, sacks but found themselves on the Seattle 17 with 32 seconds to play in the game.

On a 3^rd and 5 Maye dropped back looking for Mack Hollins and floated one up when Josh Jobe, who got called for that huge P-I in the 1^st half, did not slow down intercepted the pass in the end zone then got both feet down inside the sideline to end the game.

Maye had not thrown more than 1 interception in a game until the Super Bowl and now again on opening day with one thing in common….”The Dark Side”.

Reactions

After the game, NBC interviewed several players starting with Drew Lock and when asked what his mindset was going into the game so early, he responded, “Take care of the ball!. Our defense is going to create chances for us what we can’t do is put them in no win positions. So, take care of the ball was my focus.”

After grabbing the game winning interception, Josh Jobe said, “I saw the ball coming and knew I had a shot to get it. I also knew if I don’t they’re probably going to tie the game so this was my chance to end it and it just worked out.”

Head Coach Mike Macdonald admitted there were plenty of mistakes but so proud how this team never quit and just kept coming. Macdonald is proud of the culture he and his staff have been preaching and wanting their players to buy in has indeed done just that.

He lauded the play of the defense especially how Julian Love took control of the secondary with new faces getting the start due to injuries. How the front seven continued to adjust and find ways to create pressure on the Patriots and they just got better and better at it as the game went on.

Top Performers

Defense

Nehemiah Pritchett was lifted from the practice squad and got a pick along with 2 pass defenses. Julian Love with a pick a pass defended and how he played the run with 2 tackles for loss. Josh Jobe with the game winning interception and a pass defended and tackle for loss.

The front seven with sacks coming from Drake Thomas, Leonard Willaims and Derick Hall. Ernest Jones with 13 tackles and 8 solo tackles were just a few of the big defensive performances on the night.

Offense

Drew Lock went 16/22 for 185 yards and a TD. Jaxon Smith-Njigba caught 8 for 122 yards and a TD, Jadrian Price ran the ball 10 times for 52 yards.

Special Teams

Punter Michael Dickson just keeps being one of the best punters in the league. He punted the ball 5 times for a total of 227 or 45.4 per kick. He dropped 3 inside the 20 with one on the 6-yard line.

Jason Myers didn’t do anything spectacular with 2 field goals of 30 and 26 and a PAT. But after a tough preseason where he missed multiple kicks, it was a good start for Myers to get in the groove for the grind of the season.

Rasheed Shahid returned 3 kick-offs for 80 yards, averaging 26.7 yards per return with a long of 30. He had 1 punt return for 9 yards.

Up Next?

The Seattle Seahawks are now off for 10 days and will return to action on Sunday, September 20 at Arizona for a game against the Cardinals at 1:25pm.

New England will next face Pittsburgh in their home opener on Sunday, September 20.

Statistics
1st Downs	19	13
Passing 1st downs	9	9
Rushing 1st downs	7	4
1st downs from penalties	3	0
3rd down efficiency	5-16	2-11
4th down efficiency	2-2	1-1
Total Plays	67	48
Total Yards	277	285
Total Drives	9	10
Yards per Play	4.1	5.9
Passing	168	188
Comp/Att	23/33	17/24
Yards per pass	4.7	7.2
Interceptions thrown	3	0
Sacks-Yards Lost	3-10	2-12
Rushing	109	97
Rushing Attempts	31	22
Yards per rush	3.5	4.4
Red Zone (Made-Att)	1-2	0-2
Penalties	7-50	10-98
Turnovers	3	0
Fumbles lost	0	0
Interceptions thrown	3	0
Defensive / Special Teams TDs	0	0
Possession	34:17	25:43