Patriots Replay: Key plays from New England’s loss to Seattle

Here’s our weekly look at the key plays in the Patriots’ game after reviewing the film.

Seahawks defense

The Seahawks were a much faster, much tougher defense than the Patriots have faced this year.

Martellus Bennett should have been in line for a big gain. He streaked open across the middle, and James White was in position to set a legal pick.

But Kam Chancellor showed great recognition in jumping the route and tackling Bennett before he could reach the corner.

Defending the Seahawks

The Patriots were worried about the deep pass all night.

Here they played seven defenders at least 10 yards off the line of scrimmage.

The Patriots often had good coverage, but no pass rush.

Without the threat of a pass rush, Russell Wilson and his receivers had plenty of time to work their way open, like on this 10-yard throw to Doug Baldwin

And Wilson was fearless, taking several shots deep. He had Baldwin wide open over the middle, but instead went up top to Tyler Lockett for a 36-yard gain.

The Patriots rarely got a hand in Wilson’s face. Note Trey Flowers spying Wilson more than rushing him.

But the Patriots couldn’t get pressure on Wilson when they blitzed, either.

Go deep

In Super Bowl XLIX, the Patriots emphasized running short, quick routes, not verticals. Sunday, they reversed course and ran myriad vertical routes throughout the game.

Missed opportunities

The play on which Rob Gronkowski suffered a chest injury, Tom Brady didn’t see Martellus Bennett streaking wide open up the left seam. This could have been a touchdown.

Blocking the run

Fullback James Develin played 22 snaps and had a nice game run blocking, here setting the edge well on LeGarrette Blount’s 13-yard touchdown.

And Blount did a nice job beating Bobby Wagner around the corner.

Offensive snapcounts

	ARI (71)	MIA (80)	HOU (64)	BUF (56)	CLE (80)	CIN (64)	PIT (57)	BUF (69)	SEA (67)	Season (608)	%
G Joe Thuney	71	80	64	56	80	64	57	69	67	608	100%
C David Andrews	71	80	64	56	80	64	57	65	67	604	99%
T Marcus Cannon	71	80	64	56	0	64	57	65	67	524	86%
OT Nate Solder	0	65	64	56	80	64	57	69	67	522	86%
G Shaq Mason	14	39	64	56	80	64	57	69	67	510	84%
QB Tom Brady	0	0	0	0	71	64	57	65	67	324	53%
TE Rob Gronkowski	0	0	14	39	65	57	52	63	57	347	57%
WR Julian Edelman	61	63	48	50	59	58	51	61	53	504	83%
TE Martellus Bennett	69	80	63	44	55	36	30	42	44	463	76%
RB LeGarrette Blount	42	51	46	30	31	25	31	36	37	329	54%
WR Chris Hogan	55	63	57	52	49	56	32	64	32	460	76%
RB James White	26	28	16	21	38	39	25	33	29	255	42%
WR Danny Amendola	19	19	13	13	21	26	19	32	27	189	31%
FB James Develin	17	24	24	5	22	8	11	7	22	140	23%
WR Malcolm Mitchell	39	31	17	20	25	11	31	0	20	194	32%
T Cameron Fleming	71	16	15	0	80	0	0	5	7	194	32%
WR Matt Slater	4	14	2	0	11	1	1	6	7	46	8%
QB Jacoby Brissett	0	38	64	56	0	0	0	0	0	158	26%
QB Jimmy Garoppolo	71	42	0	0	9	0	0	4	0	126	21%
G Ted Karras	58	41	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	103	17%
TE AJ Derby	20	0	0	1	11	3	0	0	0	35	6%
TE Clay Harbor	0	22	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	25	4%
RB DJ Foster	0	4	0	0	12	0	0	0	0	16	3%
RB Brandon Bolden	3	0	2	5	0	0	3	0	0	13	2%

Defensive snapcounts

	ARI (61)	MIA (65)	HOU (71)	BUF (76)	CLE (63)	CIN (68)	PIT (73)	BUF (78)	SEA (70)	Season (625)	%
S Devin McCourty	61	65	71	76	63	67	72	70	70	615	98%
S Patrick Chung	60	57	68	76	63	63	71	70	70	598	96%
LB Donta Hightower	58	0	0	69	29	66	68	57	70	417	67%
CB Malcolm Butler	61	64	71	76	55	66	73	70	68	604	97%
CB Logan Ryan	61	57	71	68	63	66	31	51	68	536	86%
DE Trey Flowers	21	37	43	42	33	21	20	21	61	197	32%
LB Elandon Roberts	0	6	0	0	31	50	13	28	58	186	30%
DT Malcom Brown	30	39	31	63	42	44	35	50	49	383	61%
DT Alan Branch	31	37	36	57	41	53	40	43	48	386	62%
DE Rob Ninkovich	0	0	0	0	24	46	56	62	46	234	37%
CB Justin Coleman	40	59	0	29	0	0	17	33	44	222	36%
DE Chris Long	39	46	55	58	47	41	50	54	37	427	68%
S Duron Harmon	29	31	69	16	22	49	52	29	29	326	52%
DT Vincent Valentine	20	17	20	23	0	0	0	17	18	115	18%
DE Jabaal Sheard	44	45	53	58	48	48	35	57	16	404	65%
LB Shea McClellin	24	39	25	25	0	0	10	20	16	159	25%
S Nate Ebner	0	0	0	0	1	4	0	8	2	15	2%
LB Jamie Collins	61	65	71	76	52	0	65	48	0	438	70%
CB Eric Rowe	0	0	0	0	0	26	73	47	0	146	23%
LB Jon Freeny	6	36	41	15	0	0	0	0	0	98	16%
DT Anthony Johnson	20	0	23	0	0	10	21	0	0	74	12%
CB Cyrus Jones	5	8	33	9	18	0	0	0	0	73	12%
DT Woodrow Hamilton	0	0	0	0	22	20	0	0	0	42	7%
CB Jonathan Jones	0	0	0	0	32	0	0	0	0	32	5%
LB Barkevious Mingo	0	5	0	0	7	8	0	9	0	29	5%
S Jordan Richards	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	8	0	11	2%
DE Geneo Grissom	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	6	0	7	1%

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