Coming off their surprising 16-10 opening week road victory over the Cincinnati Bengals, the New England Patriots found themselves in a position to go 2-0 to start the 2024 National Football League season. But the dream of that evaporated with a 23-20 overtime loss to the visiting Seattle Seahawks before a raucous sellout home crowd at Gillette Stadium.
The Pats played well enough to win the game, but credit must go to the Seahawks who rallied to tie the game before winning it on a 31-yard field goal by Jason Myers at the 4:40 mark of overtime.
Quarterbacks Jacoby Brissett and Geno Smith both produced highlight moments for their respective teams. Brissett finished the day with 15 for 27 passing for 149 yards and a touchdown, despite taking heavy hits from the Seahawks blitzing defense. The Patriots offensive line, which played so well in week one against the Bengals, struggled to protect Brissett in this game.
The Pats running game was decent with Antonio Gibson, who ran for 96 yards, and Rhamondre Stevenson, who ran for 81 yards, carrying the load. The tight ends had big games led by Hunter Henry, who caught nine passes for 109 yards — the first 100-yard receiving day for a Patriot tight end since Rob Gronkowski in 2018.
But it was the Patriots’ defense that failed to hold the Seahawks offense in check. Geno Smith was 33 for 44 for 327 passing for yards, including a 56-yard scoring strike to D.J. Metcalf. The critical moment of this game came when Smith drove his team to a game-tying field goal in the waning moments of the fourth quarter to send the contest to overtime.
The Pats got the first possession of overtime before turning the ball back over to Seattle. The veteran Smith made key plays to put his team in field goal position. Jason Myers sealed the deal from 31 yards out, propelling the Seahawks to a 2-0 record while the Patriots fell to 1-1 with a key matchup looming against the Jets in New York on Thursday. Both American Football Conference rivals will go into that contest with 1-1 records, following the Jets 24-17 triumph over the Titans in Tennessee.
Kansas City Chiefs running back Isiah Pacheco eludes Akeem Davis-Gaither of the Bengals. PHOTO: KANSAS CITY CHIEFS/NFL
The marquee NFL matchup of the week occurred in Kansas City with the two-time Defending Super Bowl Champion Chiefs finding a way to defeat the visiting Cincinnati Bengals 26-25. In a see-saw battle that produced five lead changes in the second half, the Chiefs got the last laugh thanks to a pass interference call on a fourth at 16 play with 48 seconds left in regulation. Harrison Butker’s 51-yard field goal with zero seconds left on the game clock proved to be the difference.
It must be pointed out here that the Bengals did a lot of trash-talking leading up to this game. Wide receiver Jamar Chase publicly said, “We are the team to beat for supremacy in the American Football Conference of the NFL.” Note to young Mr. Chase: The two-time Defending Super Bowl Champions reside in Kansas City — not Cincinnati. Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who threw 18 for 25 for 151 yards and two touchdowns, tied an all-time NFL record with his 76th win in 98 games. He continued his late game magic act, which includes 21 for 25 passing when trailing in the fourth quarter, including playoffs.
There is disturbing news from the NFL Injury Department. Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa suffered his third concussion in the last 714 days in his team’s 31-10 loss to the visiting Buffalo Bills. One of the ironies of this story is that the Dolphin star suffered his concussive hit from Bills defensive back Damar Hamlin, who suffered a life-threatening situation when making a tackle against the Cincinnati Bengals last season. Life support measures had to be taken to rescue the Bills defensive back. He spent weeks in the hospital as football fans across America prayed for his life. He recovered from that near-tragic moment to return to play in the National Football League. And it seemed so strange that he would be the man to lay the hit on Tagovailoa that would knock him out of the game.
Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa is tackled by Bills defender Damar Hamlin. PHOTO: ASEN VINLOVE-IMAGN IMAGES
The Dolphin quarterback’s medical condition is being discussed at the highest level of the National Football League. Everyone seems to have an opinion on whether the young man should continue to play in the NFL. Many of those people fail to realize that the two men involved in this recent Miami concussion situation are both in danger of losing their lives every time they step on a football field — the same as every other player who suits up in the NFL. Football, at all levels, is a dangerous sport. When played at the professional level, the stakes are extremely high. It is a game played by men who know the risk they take.
Back in the early 1900s, U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt once attempted to ban the sport of football due to the multitude of deaths resulting from the game. From those days of leather helmets to the present, football players have become bigger, faster and seemingly more violent in their behavior on and off the gridiron. And the injuries sustained in today’s National Football League will affect its players for the rest of their lives, many leading to their early deaths, especially from chronic traumatic encephalopathy. It is something to keep in mind for every football player and fan of the game.
