{"id":74696,"date":"2026-09-09T04:30:27","date_gmt":"2026-09-09T08:30:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/?p=74696"},"modified":"2026-09-09T09:34:21","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T13:34:21","slug":"morse-patriots-at-seahawks-opening-night-matchup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/2026\/09\/09\/morse-patriots-at-seahawks-opening-night-matchup\/","title":{"rendered":"MORSE: Patriots at Seahawks – Opening Night Matchup"},"content":{"rendered":"

We really don\u2019t know anything about either team going into the NFL Season Kickoff game.\u00a0 Neither team played any of their starters in the Pre-Season.\u00a0 This probably is the result of playing so deep into the season last year reaching the Super Bowl.\u00a0 Both teams played 21 games and got a late start into their off-season programs.<\/p>\n

Seattle<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Seattle had many losses from their Super Bowl championship team.\u00a0 First, they lost Offensive Coordinator Klint Kubiak.\u00a0 He has been replaced by Brian Fleury, who previously served as the San Francisco 49ers\u2019 tight ends coach and run game coordinator, bringing strong familiarity with the Kyle Shanahan offensive system.\u00a0 I would expect to see a lot of motion in this offense.\u00a0 Fleury has never called an Offensive Play in the NFL.<\/p>\n

In the backfield, they lost Kenneth Walker to Free Agency and replaced him with rookie 1st-round\u00a0pick Jadarian Price.\u00a0 He is a slasher with good speed to the outside.\u00a0 However, we don\u2019t know what we will see from him.\u00a0 He is completely unknown as a Pro.<\/p>\n

On defense, they were hit hard by Free Agency, losing DE Boye Mafe, CB Riq Woolen, and S Coby Bryant.\u00a0 Big Nickel S Nick Emmanwori has been sidelined with an ankle injury and is Questionable to play.\u00a0 \u00a0If he can\u2019t play, they don\u2019t have another Safety on the 53-Man roster. \u00a0\u00a0Emmanwori played a rover position and has the size of a Linebacker and the cover skills of a cornerback. \u00a0\u00a0That could take them out of their two-deep safety zone defense.\u00a0 Mafe was terrific in the Super Bowl, putting pressure on Drake Maye.\u00a0 \u00a0S Ty Okada is also on the injury report and ruled out.\u00a0 He is one of the two starting Safeties.\u00a0 Emmanwori was listed as LP and is listed as questionable, but several sources have stated that he will be out as well.\u00a0 Looks like Seattle is playing games with the injury report.<\/p>\n

The Seahawks still have Sam Darnold at QB.\u00a0 The Patriots Defense held him to 50% completion % in the Super Bowl and a 57 QB Rating.\u00a0 He led the league with 20 turnovers.\u00a0 He is not that good.\u00a0 The journeyman has flopped around the league and has failed at every stop.<\/p>\n

Patriots<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The Patriots have improved on the Offensive Line with the addition of LG Alijah Vera-Tucker. \u00a0AVT gives the two second-year linemen Will Campbell and Jared Wilson a veteran to lean on.\u00a0 Will Campbell has recovered from his knee injury.\u00a0 He should be much better than the 14 Pressures he gave up in the Super Bowl.\u00a0 Wilson\u2019s play this Pre-Season, especially in the two Joint Practices against Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis, was very encouraging.<\/p>\n

The Patriots also added one of the best Fullbacks in the league, Reggie Gilliam.\u00a0 If the Patriots can establish a run game, that will force the Seahawks to abandon the two-high shell and bring a Safety into the box.<\/p>\n

The Patriots added two legitimate outside receivers in AJ Brown and Rome Doubs.\u00a0 Add this to the fact the Seahawks lost 2 DBs and possibly a 3rd<\/sup> should make a big difference.\u00a0 Stefon Diggs was blanketed and a non-factor in the game.\u00a0 Seattle plays a lot of simulated pressure and dropped into a heavy zone Defense.\u00a0 They also blitzed from the cornerback position. \u00a0Drake Maye has seen this trick and will be ready for it.\u00a0 In the Super Bowl, the Seahawks got a lot of Pressure from their base front 4 pass rushers.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t be surprised if the Patriots come out with three Defensive Tackles (Williams, Barmore, and Durden).\u00a0 I am also interested in seeing how the Patriots utilize Jaylen Reed.\u00a0 I wouldn\u2019t be surprised to see a Big Nickel\/ Dime package with Reed playing all over the field.<\/p>\n

The Patriots added Kevin Byard at Safety.\u00a0 The 32-year-old has not slowed down, as he led the NFL with 7 Interceptions last year.\u00a0 Byard replaces Jaylinn Hawkins, whom the Patriots let walk in Free Agency.<\/p>\n

The biggest loss the Patriots have is NT Khyris Tonga.\u00a0 They have not replaced his girth and run-stuffing ability on the DL.\u00a0 I think this will show up in short-yardage situations on the goal line and on 4th-down plays.<\/p>\n

Can the Patriots put pressure on Sam Darnold without blitzing?\u00a0 Elijah Ponder has replaced Anfernee Jennings, and DreMont Jones has replaced K\u2019Lavon Chaiison.\u00a0 \u00a0Jones is a much better run defender and not as good a pass rusher.\u00a0 Ponder had 4 sacks in limited snaps last year.\u00a0 A big leap is expected from him.\u00a0 Is he stout enough against the run?<\/p>\n

TreVeyon Henderson and Ben Brown have been ruled out.\u00a0 Christian Barmore (Knee) was a full participant on Monday and flew out with the team.\u00a0 \u00a0Look for Lan Larison to be elevated to fill the 3rd<\/sup> RB spot, with Corey Kiner moving up to 2nd<\/sup> RB in place of Henderson.<\/p>\n

Special Teams <\/strong><\/h3>\n

Seattle Punter Michael Dickson was a huge factor in the Super Bowl.\u00a0 He consistently put the Patriots in bad field position by often flipping field position.\u00a0 Bryce Baringer did a good job of keeping the Seahawks Punt Returner Rashid Shaheed in check.\u00a0 Marcus Jones never got the chance to return any punts either.<\/p>\n

With Bryce Baringer on the IR, it looks like Mitch Wishnowsky will get elevated from the Practice Squad. Special Teams coach Jeremy Springer would not identify who will be the Kickoff Returners.\u00a0 I think this has to do with whether or not TreVeyon Henderson will play.\u00a0 If he can\u2019t go, I expect that Lan Larison will be the 3rd RB and kickoff returner.<\/p>\n

Point Spread \u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The Seahawks are now 3.0 point favorites, down from 3.5 on Monday.\u00a0 The move must be attributed to the sharps coming in on the side of the Patriots.\u00a0 Home-field advantage is generally 3 points.\u00a0 That means the oddsmakers are making this game a toss-up. I think this a great opportunity for the Patriots to steal an early season win.<\/p>\n

BREAKING NEWS\u00a0 <\/strong><\/h3>\n

Early Tuesday morning, the Patriots and Christian Gonzalez reached an agreement on a contract extension.\u00a0 Gonzalez will receive $135M over 4 years, with $102M fully guaranteed.\u00a0 This exceeds the Devon Witherspoon contract in those two areas.\u00a0 The full structure needs to be seen to truly evaluate the contract, but it appears that it has exceeded the Witherspoon contract, making Gonzalez the highest-paid cornerback of all time (for now).\u00a0 This is according to a league source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity early Tuesday because they were not authorized to speak publicly.\u00a0 Jordan Schultz was first to report the news.<\/p>\n

This is a breakthrough contract for the Patriots.\u00a0 They have never made any player the highest-paid player at their position.\u00a0 Additionally, according the Chad Graff of the Athletic, this will be three years in a row that the Patriots will set a new team record for the highest paid player in team history.\u00a0 Milton Williams last year, Gonzalez this year, and Drake Maye next year will all set new highs for the team.<\/p>\n

I have to give Christian Gonzalez credit.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t sit out, as he was a full participant in practice, minus the short period he was out with an ankle injury.\u00a0 He handled this very professionally and wouldn\u2019t negotiate in the media.\u00a0 Robert Kraft remained true to what he said at the Opening of Training Camp that the Patriots offered Gonzalez the highest contract ever.<\/p>\n

You can no longer call the Patriots and Bob Kraft cheap.\u00a0 Last season, the Patriots were the #1 spenders on Free Agency, landing Milt Williams.\u00a0 This year they ranked 7th<\/sup> in free-agent spending and also traded for AJ Brown, another expensive contract.\u00a0 They also have Drake Maye coming due next season.\u00a0 Signing Gonzalez to an extension sends the right message to those players in the locker room that if you succeed, you will get rewarded by the Patriots.\u00a0 They have several players with expiring contracts or no guaranteed money left on their contracts.\u00a0 The last first-round selection to get a second contract from the Patriots was Donte Hightower back in 2016.<\/p>\n

This signing is right in line with the \u201cPacker Way,\u201d which Eliot Wolf professes: Draft, Develop, and Re-sign!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Previewing the Patriots-Seahawks NFL Season Kickoff, this analysis covers team changes, injuries, and Christian Gonzalez’s record contract extension.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":65556,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_pfeai_meta_description":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[10],"tags":[1980,24419,24917,24905,22492,23269,24733,796,24916,24915,23466,23446,802,24914,1679,24137,24911,23931,8,24913,33,24912,24848,1782,24219,319,1909],"class_list":["post-74696","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-patriots-news","tag-aj-brown","tag-alijah-vera-tucker","tag-and-re-sign","tag-brian-fleury","tag-christian-barmore","tag-christian-gonzalez","tag-contract-extension","tag-defense","tag-develop","tag-draft","tag-drake-maye","tag-eliot-wolf","tag-free-agency","tag-highest-paid-cornerback","tag-kevin-byard","tag-khyris-tonga","tag-nfl-season-kickoff","tag-offensive-line","tag-patriots","tag-point-spread","tag-robert-kraft","tag-rome-doubs","tag-run-game","tag-sam-darnold","tag-seahawks","tag-special-teams","tag-super-bowl"],"yoast_head":"\nMORSE: 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