Seahawks find some balance, toughness in win over Patriots

[.] Our ball security is not what it needs to be.

Not only was Sunday night’s game a thrilling rematch of Super Bowl XLIX, but it was also a long-awaited homecoming for Pete Carroll, who amazingly had not coached a game in Foxborough since he was sacked as New England Patriots coach in 1999. Who could stop the Patriots?

The pass was intercepted by Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler to preserve a 28-25 Patriots win. He threw his first interception of the season, against 12 touchdowns, for the Patriots (7-2).

The Patriots took the kickoff and moved the ball inside the Seahawk’s 5-yard line with 1:29, but failed to score on four attempts.

Coming into the week, the Patriots ranked 18th in defense, according to Football Outsiders.

After the game, Patriots coach Bill Belichick said that the secondary, which was torched by Russell Wilson and the Seahawks’ receivers, had more trouble in man coverage than zone coverage, suggesting there were individual struggles, not team struggles. A rematch is definitely not out of the question, and it’d be a strategic and psychological masterpiece: These teams know each other all too well. This is not a play Chancellor would have made had he been at all rusty following his four-game absence. Pete Carroll and his players spoke about how they successfully defended this play in one of their final practices of the week, with Chancellor matched up against 6-foot-4 practice squad TE Marcus Lucas, and how Chancellor disrupted the route with contact.

They’re also going to be fine because every team in the NFL is flawed this year, and the Patriots still have the best offense in the league. They still might be the best team in the NFC, and that’s a scary proposition for the Pats. Two plays later, Palmer hit Larry Fitzgerald on a 14-yard completion to put the Cardinals into field goal range for Catanzaro, who redeemed himself following two big late-game misses (against New England and Seattle) that gave the Cardinals a loss and a tie.

So what exactly accounts for Seattle’s transformation from one of the least intimidating offenses in the league to one of the most unsafe?

But 10 weeks into the season, Jones’ absence is palpable. Defensive end Jabaal Sheard was expected to fill that role, but he’s been invisible for the bulk of the year.

Rookie Elandon Roberts did little to impress in Collins’ place. The trades seemed to be grounded in reason.

More importantly, Seattle sent a message.

“They play good football, and we knew it was going to come down to, [we knew] it was going to be a 60-minute game, that’s one of the things we knew was going to happen”, Bennett said. Belichick has always employed a bend-don’t-break gameplan.

Yet over the past few weeks, Wilson has begun to show signs that his signature elusiveness could return. They had to feature their third-string running back.

The big issue here was the play of the secondary. He chooses solid over spectacular. Julian Edelman took more than a half to get going, heading to intermission with 2 grabs for 11 yards.

One of the most significant factors in the Seahawks’ 31-24 win over New England was the impact that strong safety Kam Chancellor had on Seattle’s defense in his return to the starting lineup.

Prosise provided a missing spark, along with a solid night by Seattle’s maligned offensive line. Give both of us a chance. But weak points can metastasize and strike at the worst moments.

“They haven’t won all those games for nothing”, said Sherman.

The concern over the Patriots’ defense should not be at that level, at least not yet. But the Patriots do have a flaw, and half a season to make sure it will not be fatal.