Seahawks stuff Newton on final play, outlast Patriots
SEATTLE— Russell Wilson continued his sizzling start by throwing five more touchdown passes. Unheralded second-year defensive end L.J. Collier made the play that assured those five TDtosses cameinavictory.
Collier stuffed Cam Newton at the 1-yard line on the final play, and the Seattle Seahawks held off the New England Patriots 35-30 Sunday night.
Wilson and Newton — two of the premier quarterbacks in the NFL — claimed the spotlight in a wild prime-time showcase. Wilson was masterful, leading Seattle to a 35-23 lead with less than five minutes remaining.
But Newton took over the final minutes, and yet another Seahawks-Patriots matchup was decided in the closing moments on a play snapped at the1.
This time, it wastheSeahawks erupting off the sideline in celebration.
“It’s an extraordinary moment for football players and for a team. You either come through or you don’t,” Seattle coach Pete Carroll said. “There’s so much intensity in that moment. The guys on the field will never forget it.”
Newton led New England 80 yards in the closing moments. The Patriots reached the 1 on a pass to N’Keal Harry with 3 seconds left. On the final play, Newton tried to run power to the left, but was upended by Collier in the biggest play of his young career. Newton, who had two rushing touchdowns in the game, never got close to the goal line.
Collier and Jamal Adams said from the formation, it was clear where the Patriots were going with the play.
“Just to finish it off, it’s a hell of a play. Imagine if we had fans here today. It would still be shaking,” Collier said.
Newton was excellent in his first road game with the Patriots, throwing for 397 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
He ran for another 47 yards, but couldn’t get the last three feet to give New England a victory.
“We put ourselves in position to win. When you do that, you’ve just got to finish, and we didn’t do that,” Newton said.
Wilson was masterful on the other side, completing 21 of 28 passes for 288 yards. It was the Richmond native’s fourth NFL game with five touchdown passes. Tyler Lockett, D KM et calf, David Moore, Fred die Swain and Chris Carson all took turns celebrating in the end zone.
The entire night in a normal setting would have left CenturyLink Field shaking with delirium, especially after the final play. But the stadium built for noise was empty due to the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving fans at home to celebrate Seattle improving to 2-0 for the second straight year.
“You missed the fun of it all. This game is meant to be played in front of thousands and thousands of people. It’s so special,” Wilson said.
Rare touchdown
Metcalf’s 54-yard TD catch came against Stephon Gilmore, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year. It was the first TD allowed by Gilmore as the primary defender since 2018. Gilmore shadowed Metcalf most of the night, and at one point the two tussled into the Seattle bench.
“Like I said, it’s a physical game,” Metcalf said.
Family tragedy
New England played without running back James White after his father was killed Sunday in a car crash in Florida, authorities said.
The wreck that killed Tyrone White happened around 1 p.m. in Cooper City, Florida, the Broward County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release. White, the captain of the Miami-Dade Police Department, was pronounced dead at the scene.