Smith followed that up by leading an 11-play, 70-yard touchdown drive that featured 19 and 16-yard receptions by receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba and a one-yard quarterback sneak on fourth down to keep the possession alive. Patriots cornerback Marco Wilson tackled receiver Tyler Lockett in the end zone on an incomplete pass by Smith on the ensuing snap, leading to a defensive pass interference call that put the ball at the New England one-yard line, where Zach Charbonnet punched it in from a yard out to give Seattle its first lead.

To close the half, after a punt return by Dee Williams gave the Seahawks excellent field position with less than a minute left, Smith completed a 14-yard third-down toss to Noah Fant and Jason Myers broke the uprights with a 44-yard field goal to extend the lead as time expired.

Smith-Njigba was a frequent target for Smith from the start. He led the Seahawks with six receptions for 57 yards, while Metcalf added four receptions for a team-high 78 yards. Charbonnet replaced an injured Ken Walker III and had a quiet half, with 19 yards on seven carries and three catches for 15 yards.

Defensively, the Seahawks had no answer for veteran tight end Hunter Henry, who finished the half with seven receptions for 99 yards, including a 35-yard dash on a screen that set up Joey Slye’s second field goal of the second quarter. On the Patriots’ second drive, he caught a trio of passes for 37 yards to move the chains all three times, setting up a short touchdown pass from Jacoby Brissett to rookie Ja’Lynn Polk to give the home team an early 7-0 lead.

Fortunately, Seattle was able to lock things down in the red zone with New England’s two scoring drives in the second quarter. Shortly after Metcalf’s long touchdown, Leonard Williams chased Brissett on a third-down pass play, leading to an incompletion intended for Henry down the sideline and a short Slye field goal. On the next possession, despite two Devon Witherspoon penalties that extended the drive, rookie linebacker Tyrice Knight forced a third-down incompletion by Brissett, leading to another short field goal.

Able to slip away from multiple sacks in the first half, with Boye Mafe being the only one to actually take him down, Brissett played a clean first two quarters, completing 11 of 19 passes for 117 yards. The Seahawks did a good job of containing Stevenson, limiting him to 25 yards on nine carries, while Antonio Gibson has been more effective as a change-of-pace back with 29 yards on just four carries.