Seahawks overcome Sam Darnold's injury, rally to win Super Bowl rematch vs. Patriots

Bob Condotta, The Seattle Times on Sep 9, 2026

Published in Football

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SEATTLE — A night that began in celebration of last season ended in celebration of the beginning of a new one.

In between came a lot of angst as the Seahawks lost Sam Darnold to a hip injury five plays into the game and were held scoreless for most of the first three quarters.

Backup Drew Lock led a rally from a 10-0 deficit, aided by interceptions by Nehemiah Pritchett and Julian Love on consecutive series.

The Seahawks clinched the game with a third interception by Josh Jobe in the end zone with 21 seconds left on an inexplicably thrown pass by Maye, who had led the Patriots 72 yards into range of a seemingly sure field goal and overtime, to steal a 13-10 win.

Neal Khosla, part of the new ownership group, watched the pick from the sidelines as the Seahawks moved to 1-0 and 2-0 in games when they unveil a Super Bowl banner, beating Green Bay, 36-16, to open the 2014 season.

The night began with the banner unfurling and Richard Sherman raising the 12 flag, all a few hours after the Khosla family was introduced as the new owners.

But the vibes turned ominous just five plays into the game when Darnold went down with a hip injury suffered on a sack by former Seahawk Dre’Mont Jones.

Darnold was injured when he tried to maneuver in the pocket and find an open receiver on a third-and-6 play from the New England 46.

He fell awkwardly on his right side and limped off the field.

Initially it didn’t look like much as Darnold stood on the sidelines and chatted with coaches and teammates.

A few plays into New England’s following series, Darnold headed into the blue medical tent to be examined. After a few minutes in the tent, he headed into the locker room accompanied by a Seahawks team doctor.

It was officially announced he was questionable to return.

But there was no more signs of Darnold, and late in the first half the team announced that he would not return to the game.

That put the offense in the hands of Lock, who had last seen meaningful action late in the 2024 season while playing for the New York Giants. He threw only three passes last season, completing two for 15 yards.

The game remained scoreless until early in the second quarter when the Patriots concluded a 10-play, 77-yard drive with a two-yard scoring pass from Maye to rookie tight end Eli Rairdon.

The TD came a play after Jobe was called for pass interference when he ran through Patriots receiver A.J. Brown at the goal line after Brown had broken easily into the open on a flea-flicker.

The play was indicative of what appeared to be a more confident Maye than the one the Seahawks played in the Super Bowl.

The Seahawks didn’t get past the New England 46 in the first half in gaining just 120 yards.

The Seahawks appeared to have the Patriots stopped on the first series of the third quarter. But linebacker Chazz Surratt was called for a personal foul for running into Patriots punter Mitch Wishnowsky.

That led to a 50-yard field goal by Andy Borregales and a 10-0 Patriots lead with 11:49 remaining in the third quarter.

And the way the game was going, it was tempting to think the Patriots were going to get some revenge for the Super Bowl loss in February.

But the Seahawks used special teams and defense to get back into it.

Jason Myers then made a 30-yard field goal to get them on the board for the first time with 3:13 left in the third quarter.

Rodney Thomas II, playing safety in place of the injured Ty Okada, tipped the pass into the hands of teammate Nehemiah Pritchett, who caught it at the 3-yard line and returned it 30 yards.

The Seahawks faced a fourth-and-1 at the Patriots' 45 shortly after.

The Seahawks eschewed the Barn Yard tush push play and Lock hit Smith-Njigba at the 41 with a play-action pass. JSN was off to the races against a Patriots defense that was expecting a run. Barner helped lead a convoy for Smith-Njigba into the end zone and the game was tied at 10 with 11:28 remaining.

The Seahawks were helped on New England’s next series when Doubs dropped a pass for a gain that would have gotten the Patriots near midfield.

On the next play, Maye stepped up and tried to hit Douglas over the middle. But Love stepped in front of it at the Patriots 47 and down by contact at that spot with 9:20 remaining.

Lock completed three straight passes of 9, 11 and 11 yards to Barner, Smith-Njigba and Cooper Kupp to take it to the Patriots 12.

After a penalty moved the Seahawks back 5 yards, Lock dropped back in play-action and finding no one open but the middle of the field wide open, sprinted into the open for 14 yards to the 3.

After a delay, and two incompletions, the Seahawks had to settle for a 26-yard field goal by Myers to take the lead for the first time with 5:50 remaining.

The Patriots converted two fourth downs to move to the Seattle 16 facing a third-and-five. Instead of playing it safe for the field goal, Maye lofted a pass to Hollins into the end zone.

He overshot his target and Jobe was able to make the catch just inside the end zone and seal the win.