As the New England Patriots head to the half of their Sunday night showdown with Seattle trailing 19-14, here are some first half thought.

A Hot Start- Seattle won the coin toss and deferred to the second half, forcing the Patriots to start the game on offense. Though if they had it their way, they would have kicked off, the Pats seemed to be unfazed by Seattle's decision and quickly made the Seahawks regret it. New England promptly moved the ball 75 yards down the field on nine plays to get on the board first. A combination of nicely designed pass plays to pass-catching back James White and solid running from power back LeGarrette Blount allowed the Pats to move like water through a sieve on the stingy and skilled Seahawks defense.

A Rough Skid- After the hot start, the New England offense was cooled off quickly by the Seahawks defense. The Patriots went 75 yards for a score on their first nine plays, then hit a skid over their next three drives. On the 10 plays over those three series, New England gained just 16 total yards of offense, punting twice and turning the ball over once.

The 1st INT- Tom Brady had been nearly perfect through his first four games of the 2016 season, not turning the football over once. In fact, all three Patriots quarterbacks that had played so far on the season (Brady, Jimmy Garoppolo and Jacoby Brissett) had been interception-free entering Sunday night. While they set a record for most plays to open a season without a pick, the streak came to an unwelcome end in the second quarter when Brady sent an ill-advised pass long down the field after scrambling away from pressure. Brady's pass was badly under-thrown and picked off by Seattle's DeShawn Shead.

Getting Back In The Groove- Though the Patriots hit a bit of a skid in the middle of the first half, the offense got back on track with their final drive of the second quarter. Similar to their first drive of the game, the Pats started with the ball deep in their own zone and methodically moved down the field, covering 81 yards on 11 plays. Aided by a couple of defensive penalties, Brady used a couple of nice connections a piece with Julian Edelman and Martellus Bennett to move the ball deep into the red area where LeGarrette Blount powered the ball over the goal line for his second score of the night.

Bending 'Til They Broke- The New England defense started the game as they usually play each game, by bending but holding strong in the red area and forcing a field goal attempt. While the old adage of bend but don't break seemed to be holding up in the early going, the Seahawks were able to put together to touchdown drives in the second quarter, including one that closed out the half to give them the lead.

Coming Out Of Nowhere- After being the team's Achilles heel through the first half of the season and struggling mightily to help the offense consistently move the ball down the field, the Seattle offensive line has come out of nowhere to take over this game. The line, which is mainly made up of misfits and spare parts both opened up holes and kept quarterback Russell Wilson relatively free of pressure to help the Seahawks gain 248 yards of offense and score 19 first half points.

On The Flip Side- Entering the second half, the Pats find themselves on the flip side of a spot the normally have their opponent in. With Seattle getting the ball to start the third they have a chance to double dip on the Pats and create space for themselves. The New England defense cannot allow that to happen, because Seattle's defense is tough to come back against when trailing by double digits.

 

 

 

 

 

 

first drive for Pats= Brady 3-4 46 yds, White 2-2 24yds, Gronk 1-1 22 yds, Blount 5 carries for 20 yds.

 

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