SANTA CLARA, Calif. — From the opening kickoff, each team displayed its biggest fears and vulnerabilities; the parts of themselves they loved and the parts of themselves they couldn’t wish away.
The Patriots blitzed like madmen, hurling themselves toward Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold in batches like rum-corked marauders. Not to establish some identity or set some kind of tone, but knowing that without forcing Darnold into a catastrophic mistake, there was no chance they could level a drastically lopsided playing field. This is what they couldn’t say during the week. Underneath the house-money cool, underneath all the individuality, underneath all of the love, the Patriots stumbled into this place far too early. They arrived without reinforcements.
