Patriots vs. Seahawks overreactions: Seattle better with Drew Lock, WRs doom Drake Maye again and more

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Patriots vs. Seahawks overreactions: Seattle better with Drew Lock, WRs doom Drake Maye again and more originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Seattle Seahawks celebrated a Super Bowl 60 win over the New England Patriots to kick off the 2026 season, thanks to a strong home defense in Wednesday night's 2026 season-opening rematch.

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Playing host, Seattle didn't quite duplicate the dominance from Feb. 8 in Santa Clara, a 29-13 rout. But the Seahawks still earned a hard-fought 13-10 victory to begin their attempt to repeat as NFL champions at 1-0.

This time, instead of six sacks and two interceptions of Patriots quarterback Drake Maye, the Seahawks were more balanced, with big plays, including three sacks and three interceptions, sealed with the late game-clincher in the end zone by cornerback Josh Jobe.

The biggest difference was the fact that the Seahawks had to grind more on offense with backup quarterback Drew Lock after Sam Darnold suffered a game-ending hip injury on the fifth play of the first series. For the Patriots, despite some key offseason upgrades at wide receiver and offensive line, the result was about the same for Maye.

Because it's the first game of the season kicking off Week 1, there will be some rash judgments made about both teams. Here's a look at the results that will no doubt cause plenty of hyperbole:

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The Seahawks are better at QB with Drew Lock replacing Sam Darnold

After a shaky few series taking over for the injured Darnold in the first half, Lock got into a second-half rhythm with help from his savvy wide receivers, Cooper Kupp and Jaxon Smith-Njigba, making big plays with their hands and legs. In the end, Lock put up supersub passing stats (16-for-22, 187 yards, TD, 8.5 yards per attempt, 113.3 rating). He also had a couple of key runs and was a fiery leader to rally his team down from 10-3 with a 10-point successful fourth-quarter comeback.

Darnold, however, surpassed 110.0 in passing efficiency in 10 games through the playoffs last season. The Seahawks went 9-1 in those games, including helping to beat the division rival 49ers and Rams in the playoffs.

The Seahawks also stayed balanced like they were in 2025 with 26 dropbacks and 22 runs, just a little off 50-50 at 54-46 in their offensive play-calling. New offensive coordinator Brian Fleury didn't need to mess with much; predecessor Klint Kubiak did, coming from the same Kyle Shanahan system in San Francisco.

It's a testament to the Seahawks' coaching and consistency that Lock was able to execute so well, but there's no controversy. Darnold is 100 percent the only choice to start when he's back 100 percent healthy. It's nice, however, for Seattle to know it can win big games vs. the toughest of opponents with Lock.

The Patriots look cursed at wide receiver again for Drake Maye

Maye ended up with three interceptions all in the second half. He played mostly without new go-to wide receiver A.J. Brown in that half, after the former Eagles blockbuster trade acquisition was giving the Seahawks coverage fits. Brown sparked the Patriots on their lone TD drive in the first half with a key catch for a first down and than drawing a downfield pass interference call that set up an easy red zone touchdown.

But then Brown, who had some durability issues in Philadelphia, couldn't return with an ankle injury. Maye then just tried to pivot to newcomer Romeo Doubs, the former Packers No. 2. An errant connection between the two led to the first interception of Maye on a deep ball. Then with a follow-up chance at redemption, Doubs dropped a potential big pass play and Maye threw his second interception one play later.

Maye was again counting on returning wide receivers Mack Hollins and Pop Douglas to move the ball, much like he did last season when he still had Stefon Diggs. Should Brown and Doubs stay on the field, they will make Maye a better passer. It didn't materialize at first, but better health and chemistry will get the QB back on track.

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The Patriots are in big trouble should A.J. Brown's ankle injury be serious

New England adjusted to no Brown as best it could and had Doubs come through on his opportunities; there's a good chance the Patriots are 1-0. Josh McDaniels made good use of the tight ends, backs and the wide receiver depth he did have to help put Maye in the red zone at the end of the game before the ill-fated decision to throw toward Jobe.

The Patriots also showed they will stick with the run even when it's not working so well, as was the case with Rhamondre Stevenson. They should have the element of second-year speedster TreVeyon Henderson to also boost the big offensive playmaking soon. They can still be a strong offense without Brown (see last season), but he's needed for Maye to completely avoid a third-year slump and build on his MVP level.

The Seahawks are just fine in the running game with rookie Jadarian Price

The first-round draft pick, replacing Super Bowl 60 MVP Kenneth Walker III as the early-down back, stepped into a sizable role with Zach Charbonnet (knee) still well on the shelf. Price looked great running with his 10 carries for 52 yards and added a couple of catches. But they still needed some of versatile George Holani and fullback Brady Russell to move the ball well overall out of the backfield.

Price is a solid power back for early downs, but the Seahawks will be reluctant to trust him consistently on third downs. Unfortunately, Seattle won't restore its strength in those obvious passing situations until Charbonnet can return.

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The Seahawks should be the Super Bowl favorites again, not the Rams

The Seahawks did come back to the pack a little with the Patriots making the rematch a lot more competitive. Plus, the Darnold injury clouds their offense a little going forward, despite how well Lock can play for a few games. Seattle rallied to flex in the end. Los Angeles will get its turn in the second game of Week 1 vs. the mutual NFC West rival San Francisco on Thursday night/Friday morning.

The Seahawks are just fine in the secondary without nickelback Nick Emmanwori

The Seahawks' star cornerback Devon Witherspoon played well in the opener, but safety Julian Love and Jobe stole the show with their big plays on Maye. The secondary did well to control the middle of the field and come up with huge INTs. But not having the presence of the safety hybrid Emmanwori looming hurt a little at first, with some early coverage issues. Seattle is stacked in the secondary either way but Emmanwori is a difference-making cherry on top.

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Mike Vrabel and the Patriots are for sure headed for a Super Bowl hangover

Vrabel, as you might have heard, was rocked by an off-field scandal in the offseason. But the early indication is anything that happened in his personal life isn't affecting his professional acumen. He had his revamped defense playing on point to contain the Seahawks much better than they did in the Super Bowl, even with Lock playing well. McDaniels also made some smart adjustments from February.

Unfortunately, Maye and some of his teammates made some bad unforced errors and those big momentary lapses cost them big-time in a game decided by a field goal. The Patriots' coaching was not the issue on Wednesday night and it will continue to be an asset through the adversity of a much tougher schedule.

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