The Patriots will host the Seattle Seahawks in their 2024 home opener after an upset road win in the season opener at Cincinnati in first year head coach Jerod Mayo’s NFL debut on the sideline.
New England may be returning to Gillette Stadium this weekend, but it remains an underdog even playing on its home turf. The season-opening win against the Bengals did little to squelch national skepticism about the Patriots 2024 prospects.
The series between New England and Seattle dates back to 1977 – one season after Seattle joined the NFL – with the Patriots winning that inaugural meeting, 31-0, at Schaefer Stadium. The Seahawks lead the all-time series, 10-9, courtesy of wins in three of the last four meetings.
The one Patriots win during that span came in Super Bowl XLIX – a 28-24 comeback win sealed when Malcolm Butler intercepted Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson at the goal line with 20 seconds left in the game – a play that might be the greatest in Super Bowl history. Patriots quarterback Tom Brady led the Pats back from 10 down in the fourth quarter to set up Butler’s remarkable goal line play. Twenty-eight members (coaches and players) of that championship team, including Butler, will be back this weekend to celebrate the 10th anniversary of that Super Bowl victory, which came on Feb. 1, 2015.
Following Super Bowl XLIX, the teams next met on Nov. 13, 2016 – a game Seattle won 31-24 with its own goal line stand at Gillette Stadium. The Patriots faced a first-and-goal situation with 43 seconds left and were stopped on four consecutive downs to fall short in an ironic finish given the way the Super Bowl ended.
The Patriots traveled to Seattle on Sept. 20, 2020 – the last meeting between the teams – when the league was playing in empty stadiums because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Patriots took a 17-14 third quarter lead behind quarterback Cam Newton before Seattle scored two touchdowns to push ahead 28-17. The teams then traded touchdowns with Seattle winning, 35-30.
Five of New England’s nine wins in the series came in the first six meetings. The Patriots are just 4-9 since. This will mark the third time in franchise history that the Patriots have hosted Seattle in a home opener.
New England won the first, 38-23, on Sept. 16, 1984, at Sullivan Stadium and lost the second, 10-6, on Sept. 20, 1992, at Foxboro Stadium.
The series:
- The Patriots trail the all-time series, 10-9
- The Patriots longest winning streak against the Seahawks is 3 games (1977-1982)
- The Seahawks longest winning streak against New England is five games (1989-1993)
- The Patriots are 4-6 at home, 4-4 on the road and 1-0 at a neutral site in the series
- The teams have never played an overtime game
- New England has lost three of the last four vs. Seattle but is 3-3 in the last six.
- The series dates back to Oct. 9, 1977 (a 31-0 Patriots win in Foxborough)
- The Seahawks largest margin of victory is 21 (24-3 road win on Sept. 24, 1989)
- The Patriots largest margin of victory is 31 (31-0 home win on Oct. 9, 1977)
