Patriots vs. Seahawks: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Patriots Game 13: Patriots 24 - Seahawks 21

The Good:

QB Matt Cassel directed his second career fourth-quarter comeback, helping to rally the Patriots to a 24-21 victory following a 21-13 deficit entering the fourth quarter.

Safety Brandon Meriweather ties for a team high with seven tackles, and surges up the middle for a strip sack, recovered by Richard Seymour, that seals the win.

Receiver Wes Welker totals a season-high 12 catches and totals 134 receiving yards, bouncing back from last week's performance against the Steelers when he was knocked out of the game in the third quarter on a Ryan Clark hit.

Linebacker Mike Vrabel plays every snap but one, finishes tied for a team high with seven tackles, and is the glue on a defense that lost starters Vince Wilfork, Tedy Bruschi and James Sanders in the first half.

RB Sammy Morris plunged into the end zone on a 1-yard scoring run to give the Patriots their first lead of the game with 2:44 left in the game.

Safety Brandon Meriweather caused a fumble on a blitz, stripping the ball from quarterback Seneca Wallace. Defensive lineman Richard Seymour recovered. The turnover will seal the win for the Patriots, 24-21.

The Bad:

The Seahawks total 134 rushing yards on 26 carries (5.2 avg.)

The Ugly:

Nose tackle Vince Wilfork (shoulder) Safety James Sanders (shoulder) and linebacker Tedy Bruschi (knee) left the game due to injury.


Final Thoughts:

"It was a great example of 60 minutes. I thought our team really did a good job of hanging in there today. We didn’t get off to a real good start, but they hung in there, they kept fighting. Just plugged away for 60 minutes and came out of there with a win." -- Patriots Coach Bill Belichick

The Patriots (8-5) withstood injuries to three other defensive starters, a rare two-touchdown receiving day by former teammate Deion Branch and a 21-13 deficit early in the fourth quarter to improve to 21-2 in December since 2003.

Bill Belichick earned his 150th career win, including the playoffs, becoming the 17th head coach in NFL history to win 150 games

Wes Welker had 134 receiving yards, the highest single-game total by a Patriot this season.

On an 11-yard completion to Kevin Faulk in the fourth quarter, Matt Cassel exceeded 3,000 passing yards for the season, becoming the seventh player in Patriots history to throw for 3,000 yards or more in a campaign.

Veteran linebackers Junior Seau and Rosevelt Colvin each made their 2008 debuts on a second-and-six play with 13:43 left in the second quarter. Colvin was signed by the Patriots on Wednesday, Dec. 3 and Seau was signed on Friday, Dec. 5.