Foxboro, MA—Cam Newton and the New England Patriots put up a fight on the road against the Seattle Seahawks but came up a little short: the Seahawks edge the Patriots 35-30 with the final play of the game — a rushing attempt from the 1-yard line — being the difference between at CenturyLink Field in Seattle.
Seattle allowed two rushing touchdowns by quarterback Cam Newton on Sunday night matchup and almost came away with the win for the Patriots.
Newton, who passed for 397 yards on the night, made them work. He started a drive on the Patriots’ 19-yard line with 1:42 ticks on the clock. He completed 5 of 7 passes for 63 yards, scrambled for 12 more and was the definitely was going to take it in if giving the opportunity to do so.
After Newton’s second score, in which the QB just walked into the end zone on a run from the left side, a mic’d up linebacker Bruce Irvin hurled some trash talk at Newton.
“You ain’t going to be able to do that all night!” Irvin yelled at Newton. “I promise you. I promise you.”
Irvin suffered a season-ending knee injury earlier in the contest and wasn’t on the field for that play. But his teammates kept his promise and kept Newton out of the end zone when they needed to.
With the game on the line and two ticks on the clock, New England had the ball on the 1-yard line, and Newton tried to run a power play behind the left tackle and was stopped in his tracks. L.J. Collier hit Newton hard with Lano Hill, Bobby Wagner and K.J. Wright swarming to the ball.
That play saved the game for the Seahawks. The group tackle for a 1-yard loss extinguished New England’s hope to overcome a 12-point deficit in the final five minutes to bed.
“We worked too hard not to make that play,” Collier said after the game.
Some questioned the call and suggested that Newton should of fake the run and rolled out to throw the ball.
“Tried to go with our best play,” said Patriots coach Bill Belichick. “What else is there to think about?”
The Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson completed 21 of 28 pass attempts for 288 yards with five touchdowns and one interception for the day. He also ran for 39 yards on five carries.
Wilson’s five passing touchdowns are tied for the most against the Patriots in a single game since Bill Belichick took over as the team’s head coach in 2000. The only other QB to accomplish that feat versus New England over that span was Drew Brees in 2009.