Pats v Seahawks Full Time Report

Matt Cassel's fourth quarter heroics rescued the Patriots as they beat the Seahawks 24-21 at Qwest Field.

The Seahawks led going into the fourth 21-13 but a field goal from Stephen Gotakowski and a 1 yard run from Sammy Morris gave New England the win.

The Pats went into the game at 7-5 and needed a win to make a push for the playoffs in an increaslingly tough division. With the 'Hawks at 2-10 the win seemed assured against a weak opposition.

New England received the ball to start the game but five plays and 16 yards later they were forced to punt the ball all the way down to the 'Hawks 13 yard line.

Seattle didn't struggle on this drive as they went 87 yards in seven minutes to take the lead. The 'Hawks backup QB Seneca Wallace found ex-patriot Deion Branch in the endzone with a 14 yard pass.

On the Patriots next possession they improved on their first drive by coming away with a field goal. After a 9 play drive New England set up a 50 yard field goal which Gotakowski nailed to record his longest kick this season.

The Patriots defence stuttered once again as Seattle's defence flourished and they scored their second touchdown in as many drives. The 'Hawks started from their own 26 and Wallace finished the drive with a 10 yard pass to John Carlson.

The Patiots scored their first touchdown of the game in the second quarter when Cassel threw to Benjamin Watson in the back of the endzone.

The Patriots defence finally had an answer for the 'Hawks offence as they forced two punts on their next two possessions. Seattle led going into the half 14-10.

After both teams exchanged punts the Patriots scored first in the second half when Gotakowski kick a 42 yard field goal.

On the very next drive the 'Hawks went 62 yards in three plays which ended in Wallace throwing to Branch again for their third and second touchdowns respectively. This took the score to 21-13 going into the final quarter.

The Pats scored an early field goal to put some pressure on Seattle and put the score to 21-16 to the Seahaws with 12 minutes in the game remaining.

The 'Hawks offence again couldn't drive against a stout New England defence and were forced to punt.

New England's next drive lasted fourteen plays and took over six minutes off the clock. The drive also included three third down conversions. After getting the ball all the way down to the Seahawks' one yard line Sammy Morris jumped over the pile to score the vital touchdown which Cassel converted to make the score 24-21.

with 2:44 left on the clock and 'Hawks needing just a field goal to take the game to overtime, Richard Seymour recovered a fumble forced by Brandon Meriweather to seal the game.

With Oakland next week the Patriots will be optomistic about another win and moving ever closer to playing football in January.
Quick hits:

• Welker caught a season high 134 yards
• Randy Moss went over 13,000 career receiving yards with his 56 yards this Sunday

For all the stats follow the link: http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter?game_id=29734&season=2008&displayPage=tab_gamecenter