Seahawks-Patriots predictions: Seattle Times writers make their picks for Week 2

Bob Condotta

Seahawks 24, Patriots 16. Seattle won’t have its vaunted home-field advantage in the traditional sense. It’ll be really interesting to see what tweaks Bill Belichick has in store for Seattle in Game 2 with Newton at QB, and the Patriots defense will be a much stiffer test for the Seahawks. But the sense here is the Seattle defense matches up much better with what the Patriots figure to do. Throw in a little more balanced offensive attack — yep, Seattle may want to run the ball more in this one — and the Seahawks should get to 2-0 for the second straight year.

Adam Jude

Seahawks 24, Patriots 23. The Seahawks won’t have it as easy as they did in Atlanta, where the Falcons admitted they were caught off-guard by the prolific passing of Russell Wilson. That won’t happen to a Bill Belichick defense, particularly with a New England secondary that ranked as the best in the NFL last season. Expect a more balanced approach from Seattle’s offense on Sunday, and a big night from Chris Carson.

Larry Stone

Seahawks 24, Patriots 17. In their CenturyLink Field opener, the Seahawks won’t have anything close to the home-field advantage to which they’re accustomed without actual fans. But they should have enough juice to slip past the Patriots. This New England team is still something of a mystery with Cam Newton replacing Tom Brady at quarterback. Any Bill Belichick team is a concern, however. The Seahawks showed in their opener against the Falcons just how good they can be this year, though they gave up an alarming amount of yards on defense. They’ll need tighter play to beat the Patriots, and I expect they’ll get it.

Matt Calkins

Patriots 27, Seahawks 24. Incredible as Tom Brady was for the Patriots, coach Bill Belichick has shown that he can win without him in the past. And now with a more-than-solid signal caller in Cam Newton, plus one of the league’s best defenses, New England will have the upper hand against a Seahawk team lacking its top-of-the-league fan base.

Week 1 (Seahawks 38, Falcons 25)

Condotta: Seahawks 27, Falcons 21.

Jude: Seahawks 30, Falcons 27*.

Stone: Seahawks 30, Falcons 20.

Calkins: Seahawks 30, Falcons 23*.

* – closest score