#Seahawks will see different Patriots team since Super Bowl loss

There is history between the two teams that play in the Game of the Week — the Patriots and Seahawks.

The most recent history between the two was Super Bowl history, with the Patriots winning Super Bowl XLIX in January 2016, when Seahawks coach Pete Carroll opted not to run Marshawn Lynch at the goal line for the potential winning touchdown in the game’s waning moments and instead had Russell Wilson throw a pass that was intercepted by Malcolm Butler, clinching a New England victory.

That was the last time the teams met. Sunday night in Seattle marks the first time the Patriots will have played in Seattle during the regular season since 2012, when they lost to the Seahawks, 24-23, in Wilson’s rookie year.

Since 2012, when the Patriots and Seahawks have met, the dominant storyline has been the quarterback matchup between Wilson and Tom Brady.

When the two 1-0 teams meet Sunday night in Seattle, that storyline shifts to Wilson, the Seahawks quarterback of the past nine seasons, and Cam Newton, the Patriots quarterback of one game — having been signed to replace Brady, who departed to Tampa Bay in the offseason.

Newton, in his New England debut last week in a win over Miami, rushed 15 times for 75 yards and two TDs and threw for 155 yards on 15-of-19 attempts.

The Seahawks are familiar with Newton, having played against him eight times before when he was with the Panthers, but that isn’t the Newton the Seahawks are expecting to face in a Patriots uniform.

“They adapt as well to their opponents as anybody in the game,” Carroll told reporters this week about the Patriots. “We do have a real good background with Cam, but we don’t know what they’re going to do with him. We have to go into this game with a wide open-look. It’s almost like a first game.’’

Seattle linebacker Bobby Wagner said the Seahawks “have to approach it with fresh eyes.’’

“We have a lot of history with playing Cam,’’ Wagner told reporters. “We understand the type of runs that they want to implement with Cam. We also understand that the Patriots have a history — they can run the ball 42 times one game and in the next game throw it 42 times.’’

The Patriots must deal with Wilson, who threw for 344 yards and four TDs on 31-of-35 attempts in a 38-25 win over the Falcons.

“He’s more than a good quarterback, he’s one of the top players in the league and has been for his entire career,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. “He’s just really good at everything. You have to defend the whole field with him.’’

The coaching matchup, too, is one to watch. Belichick and Carroll are two of most tenured coaches with their respective teams in the league. Belichick is in his 21st season with the Patriots and Carroll, who coached the Patriots from 1997-99 before Belichick took over, is in his 11th season in Seattle.

Carroll spoke with reverence about Belichick, lauding his “marvelous consistency.’’

“He knows exactly how he wants to do it,’’ Carroll said. “He’s a very, very good game planner.’’

Belichick will be coaching with a heavy heart after having lost his mother, Jeannette, this past week at age 98. Usually known for his emotionlessness, Belichick spoke from his heart about his relationship with her this past week.

“She was a very unselfish person and sacrificed a lot for her family, and so, of course, me personally, and I appreciate and love her for that and many other things,” Belichick told reporters. “My dad was away a lot on scouting trips, and so I always kind of grew up with her on the weekends, on football weekends, at home. So, we watched hundreds of games together.’’

Belichick’s players wanting to win this game for him and his mother could be an added motivation from inside the New England locker room Sunday night.