Two keys for Seahawks vs Patriots in Week 2

The Seattle Seahawks are headed to Gillette Stadium in Foxborough to take on a rebuilding Patriots team in Week 2.

Mike Macdonald previews Seahawks’ Week 2 matchup vs Patriots

Both teams are coming off wins – the Seahawks over a rookie quarterback in Bo Nix, and the Pats an upset over Joe Burrow and the Bengals.

There were two keys to the Patriots success against Cincinnati, and both will be hugely important for Seattle on Sunday:

13

The Patriots led the league in 13 personnel by no small margin in Week 1, showing the formation 12 times, seven more than the next-closest team, Buffalo.

Why? Because they don’t have an especially prolific passing attack, might have some questionable pass protection, and know they want to – and can – run the ball with Rhamondre Stevenson. And it worked. With two tight ends and an extra lineman (rookie Caedan Wallace) as a tight end, the Pats picked up an additional three first downs, per NBC Boston Sports Insider Phil Perry. Stevenson finished with 120 yards on 25 carries (4.8 YPC) and a touchdown.

The Seahawks allowed just 64 yards from running backs in Week 1. And that’s great! But this is also a defense with plenty to prove, particularly coming off being the 30th and 31st-ranked unit against the run in 2022 and 2023, respectively. Tackling was clean against Denver, but even without Super Bowl expectations, a new-look Pats team will bring a test here.

“This is a West Coast offense. So think Cleveland Browns, Kevin Stefanski, Nick Chubb when he was healthy,” ESPN NFL Insider Mike Reiss told The Huddle Thursday. “That to me would be the best comparison for what the Patriots are. Offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt comes to New England from Cleveland, and (the staff) views Stevenson as one of the best backs in the league when healthy. They’ll do the wide zone – which is something Belichick was trying to implement a few years ago and it didn’t work out – and they’ll run power right down the middle. It’s the way they have to win.”

3

It’ll vary by outlet, but this is a Patriots team that was projected to be well under .500 this season (over/under is 4.5 wins). This isn’t me telling you to look past them – believe me, the Seahawks have lost to horrible, no good, very bad teams, and the Patriots packed a punch to upset the Bengals. But I say that to add some context: That this is a team that traded away one of its best defensive players ahead of the season, and much like some other franchises around the league, is working to establish a new identity and iron out kinks.

So how’d they beat the heavily favored Bengals? In addition to Stevenson’s huge game, they also took advantage of mistakes from Cincy. The Pats had three forced fumbles and recovered two of those, turning both into field goals, which made the difference in a 16-10 win. A very obvious key for Seattle here: protect the ball and win the turnover battle against an opportunistic team.

Listen to the conversation with ESPN NFL insider Mike Reiss at this link or in the audio player near the top of this story.

More on the Seattle Seahawks

• How Seahawks’ new linebacker duo impressed Wyman
• Lefko: Why you should be encouraged by Seattle Seahawks’ offense
• How real is Seahawks’ top-5 pressure rate from Week 1 win?
• Seahawks Injury Report: The latest on Nwosu, Fant, Walker and more
• Seahawks face Patriots in matchup of young new coaches who replaced legends

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