FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — A rematch of one Super Bowl looked like it suddenly could be a preview of another.
The Seahawks answered emphatically any questions about just where it stands among the NFL’s elite, beating the Patriots here 31-24 in as dramatic a game as can be had in the regular season.
Seattle stopped the Patriots on four plays from inside the 2-yard line with under a minute left, with a final pass from Tom Brady to Rob Gronkowski going incomplete on fourth down.
The game featured seven lead changes to that point. But it was the Seahawks getting the last turning points, scoring the last nine points of the game to improve to 5-2-1 and send the Patriots to 7-2.
Seattle came in as a 7.5-point underdog, the biggest spread against the Seahawks in four years.
Seattle was powered by the best performance of the season for an offense that indeed appears to be finding itself now that Russell Wilson is shaking off injuries that have nagged him all season, while the defense came up big in the fourth quarter.
The Patriots stayed alive when Brady hit Edelman for 30 yards on a third-and-nine that put the ball at the 24 at the two-minute warning. A 26-yard pass from Brady to Gronkowski, who made the catch under tight coverage by DeShawn Shead, put the ball at the 2.
But a LeGarrette Blount dive on second down and another by Brady on third down did not get in, setting up the climatic final play, which ended with Chancellor laying on the ground in celebration.
It didn’t make up for the Super Bowl XLIX loss but showed that maybe the two teams could well meet again in the postseason.
Seattle took a 31-24 lead on a 15-yard pass from Wilson to Doug Baldwin with 4:24 left. That score came after Richard Sherman’s recovery of a Julian Edelman fumble. The Seahawks, though, then went for two and Wilson’s throw to Baldwin was a bit high, leaving the Patriots within seven points.
The Seahawks finished with a season-high in yards while the defense came up big when it had to, and also forced two turnovers that proved decisive.
What was one of the Seahawks’ best halves of the season gave Seattle a 19-14 lead at halftime. Seattle outgained the Patriots 248-147 and outrushed the Patriots 67-36.
The negative was Seattle allowed the Patriots to score touchdowns on what were their only two extended drives of the half, each aided by penalties on coverage in the end zone that set up 1-yard touchdown runs by Blount.
Seattle thought it had scored a touchdown to retake the lead with 9:03 left in the game on a 1-yard plunge by Prosise. After officials ruled that he was barely short of the goal line, the Seahawks challenged the ruling. But the call was confirmed.
Disaster then struck when Jimmy Graham jumped on third down (though it appeared two other Seahawks also may have joined him) moving Seattle back to the 5.
Wilson then overthrew an open Tyler Lockett in the flat and Seattle had to settle for a 23-yard Steven Hauschka field goal that made it 25-24 with 8:56 left.
The Seahawks made the break they needed to hold on when Kam Chancellor forced a Julian Edelman fumble that Richard Sherman picked up and returned to the Patriots 48 with 8:29 remaining.
Seattle then moved methodically down the field to set up the 15-yard touchdown pass from Wilson to Baldwin, who tied a career-high with three scores.
