The Seahawks beat the Patriots 13-10 after raising the banner for beating the same club in Super Bowl LX.
But Seattle’s celebration will likely be a bit muted, as the club has a significant injury concern with its quarterback.
Sam Darnold exited the contest after Seattle’s first series of the season with a hip injury and did not return. Darnold was sacked by Dre’Mont Jones on third-and-6 from the New England 46 — Seattle’s sixth play from scrimmage.
Darnold came off the field with a noticeable limp. He was examined in the sideline medical tent before going to the locker room for further evaluation, which was when he was announced as questionable.
Just before halftime, Seattle downgraded Darnold to out.
The quarterback completed one of his two passes for 13 yards, which was a completion to Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
Drew Lock replaced Darnold on the second drive and played the rest of the game.
On the other side, Patriots quarterback Drake Maye threw three interceptions, the last of which took New England out of the game.
With just 26 seconds left in regulation and the Patriots facing third-and-5 from Seattle’s 16-yard line, Maye was flushed out of the pocket to his right and inexplicably threw a poor jump ball to Mack Hollins in the end zone. But Josh Jobe caught the ball instead, effectively ending the contest.
The Patriots had taken a conservative offensive approach for most of the game and had a 10-3 lead entering the fourth quarter. But that’s when the meltdown started, as Maye attempted a deep pass to Romeo Doubs that was intercepted by Nathaniel Pritchett on the second play of the period.
That led to Jaxon Smith-Njigba’s 45-yard touchdown catch-and-run that tied the game at 10-10.
On New England’s next possession, Romeo Doubs had a critical drop on a second-and-14 play. Doubs was wide open after Maye was able to evade the pass rush in the backfield and roll to his right. But Doubs was unable to handle the throw as it fell incomplete.
On the next play, Maye fired a pass over the middle for DeMario Douglas, but Julian Love read the play perfectly and picked the ball off to give Seattle another opportunity.
Seattle took advantage of it with Jason Myers’ 26-yard field goal to go up by three.
That’s all the Seahawks needed, as Maye threw his final interception to lose the contest.
Maye finished 22-of-33 for 178 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions. Maye did not have a multi-interception game last year until Super Bowl LX, also against the Seahawks. He also had 47 rushing yards on seven attempts.
Lock was 16-of-22 for 187 yards with one touchdown in relief of Darnold.
Notably, Patriots receiver A.J. Brown also suffered an ankle injury early in the third quarter and did not return.
Now at 1-0, the Patriots will have a long layoff before facing the division-rival Cardinals on the road in Week 2.
The 0-1 Patriots will be at home to face the Steelers on Sunday, Sept. 20.
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