Curran: Pats’ Week 2 effort suggests this crew has actual potential initially appeared on NBC Sports activities Boston

Two video games into the 2020 season, you may already take this to the financial institution concerning the Patriots.

They’re method, method, method forward of schedule.

With all the attrition, no offseason, an offense that was swiftly put in after a castoff famous person was signed and gained the beginning job, the Patriots didn’t determine to seem like the Patriots till round Columbus Day. Or perhaps Halloween. If in any respect.

Sunday evening in Seattle, they confirmed their DNA stays intact.

Three takeaways from Patriots’ 35-30 loss to Seahawks

“We discovered lots tonight from these guys,” stated Julian Edelman, who caught eight Cam Newton passes for a career-high 179 yards in a spectacularly enjoyable 35-30 loss. “Down two scores with two minutes to go, throughout the nation in opposition to an excellent soccer crew. It actually got here all the way down to the final play however (I’m) actually pleased with how we performed as a crew.”

“We have got an excellent group,” stated Devin McCourty, who took a room-service deflection off the fingers of Seahawks tight finish Greg Olsen again for a landing within the sport’s opening levels. “I feel once you lose an offseason and are available again in coaching camp and every thing’s totally different, we’re nonetheless studying about ourselves.

“We fell brief tonight, we didn’t get the end result we wished however I feel we gotta maintain bettering, we gotta maintain at it. Video games like this let you bought a shot. You bought a shot to be a extremely good crew however we gotta get higher.”

Each week is its personal check. And this one was a complete lot totally different than what the Patriots took in Week 1.

As a substitute of taking part in in opposition to a constructing crew with a journeyman quarterback within the Dolphins, Sunday evening they confronted a capital P Program that featured the league’s finest participant (relying on the week) on the top of his powers on offense (Russell Wilson) and a protection with superstars.

They weren’t in a defensive rockfight however a bona fide shootout. They weren’t rolling up yards on the bottom and masking up perceived deficiencies at wideout, they had been ripping off chunks of yards via the air and utilizing these wideouts because the hammer.

There are a number of losses within the Patriots’ previous that served as springboards for future success. The 24-17 regular-season loss to the Rams in 2001 is a major instance. It’s too early to inform simply what this loss to Seattle foretold, however the Patriots know extra about themselves than they did once they received on the airplane to the Pacific Northwest on Friday afternoon.

“I feel the crew took an enormous step the way in which we competed,” stated Invoice Belichick. “I feel our crew stepped up collectively. They competed proper all the way down to the tip, the final 4 minutes of the sport. We did a whole lot of issues proper there. Sadly it was not fairly sufficient.”

Not sufficient to safe the non-conference win. Appropriate. However they did a lot to announce to a nationwide viewers that they’re not going anyplace.

Simply as final week’s win in opposition to Miami was graded on the curve as being, properly, fantastic. A begin. Good however not trigger to interrupt out the sheetcake within the breakroom. This week’s loss must be graded on the curve.

Belichick reacts to Wilson’s unimaginable efficiency vs. Pats

Olsen’s early stone fingers gave them seven, certain. However Wilson took touchdowns that few different quarterbacks would have the ability to. His two long-distance landing passes – one to D.Ok. Metcalf and the opposite to David Moore – got here on throws few within the league could make.

His early landing to Tyler Lockett got here as a result of he skittered round like a salamander till protection inevitably loosened.

His different two landing passes – sure, there have been 5 of them – got here on performs the Patriots might have executed higher defensively, however these busts are up to now the exception and never the rule. I don’t find out about you, however I assumed the training curve for a remade linebacker crew and a secondary with out Patrick Chung was going to be a complete lot steeper than it seems to be.

The Patriots received lit up on the bottom (Seattle rolled up 154 yards speeding) and that’s one thing they’ll have to shore up in a rush. They usually benefited a bit from Seattle rolling up 9 penalties for 68 yards. However the constructing blocks seem like in place for them to get higher over there.

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And the offense? As eye-opening as Newton was final week when he took over in opposition to Miami along with his legs, his arm power and accuracy in opposition to Seattle made eyeballs stretch the sockets.

His 49-yard dime to Edelman when the Patriots completely, positively wanted to stem the Seahawks’ tide was the play of the evening, coming after Seattle had turned a 17-14 deficit right into a 28-17 lead with consecutive touchdowns.

However different performs sprinkled in – refined and apparent – demonstrated simply how multifaceted and harmful the Patriots offense may be with Newton.

A refined one? On a second-and-7 play late within the first quarter, Newton wriggled out of a would-be sack and threw incomplete to the sideline. As a substitute of third-and-12 or worse, the Patriots had a manageable third-and-7 and Newton picked that up with a dart to Damiere Byrd for 14.

On a fourth-and-Three later within the drive, he hit N’Keal Harry for a 13-yard acquire. Harry took a helmet-to-helmet hit on the play that resulted within the ejection of Seattle security Quandre Diggs. Three runs later – two by Newton – and it was 14-7 New England.

An apparent one? The following time the Patriots had been on the Seattle objective line, they had been in a position to make use of the Seahawks’ worry of Newton bulldozing into the tip zone to unencumber fullback Jakob Johnson for a easy little 1-yard throw for a landing.

The top-of-game sequence goes to be second-guessed as a result of it’s the regulation. However there actually was nothing else for offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels to do on the ultimate play of the sport besides put it in Newton’s fingers.

Shocking stat places Seahawks’ objective line stand on Newton into context

You place the ball within the fingers of your finest participant and let him do one thing. You don’t draw up a fade to Ryan Izzo even in case you’re fully sure he’s going to be standing bare and alone in the long run zone.

The red-eye flight residence from Seattle figured to be lengthy sufficient if Newton didn’t get in. If the Patriots fought for 59:57 to get in place to win then put all their chips on somebody aside from Newton making a play? That flight would have felt like they had been circling the globe.

Newton self-flagellated concerning the play.

“It’s humbling to have the respect of the crew to have the ball in my fingers,” he stated. “I might’ve made it proper by simply bouncing it (outdoors) or diving excessive. The play was there. The play’s been there all sport. Put in that state of affairs once more I hope we will have a greater final result.”

Chalk that as much as a studying expertise. Considered one of many Sunday evening. The most important lesson, although? These Patriots are actual. And whereas they may not but be spectacular, they have a shot.