Recap: Seattle vs. New England

By Sports Network

Seattle, WA (Sports Network) - Sammy Morris scored the game-winning touchdown late in the fourth quarter as the New England Patriots fought back to down the Seattle Seahawks, 24-21.

Matt Cassel went 26-for-44 with 268 yards and a score while Wes Welker had 12 catches for 134 yards for the Patriots (8-5), who bounced back from last week's loss to Pittsburgh.

Coupled with the Jets' loss and Miami's win on Sunday, there is now a three- way tie between the clubs for the top spot in the AFC East.

Seneca Wallace went 20-for-28 with 212 yards and three touchdowns while Deion Branch has four catches for 88 yards and two touchdowns for the Seahawks (2-11), who have dropped their past six games.

Wallace started the game in place of Matt Hasselbeck, who was inactive for the game with a back injury along with offensive tackle Walter Jones.

The Patriots faced a five-point deficit when they got the ball back with 8:47 to play in the game. New England used 10 consecutive passing plays to get to a 1st-and-goal situation at the six-yard-line. Cassel was then sacked, but Kevin Faulk got the ball to the one-yard line on a six-yard carry. Morris was then stopped, but he dove over the pack on fourth down and Cassel hooked up with Welker on the two-point conversion for a 24-21 lead with 2:44 to play.

Seattle drove in an attempt to get into field goal range, but on the play after the two-minute warning, Brandon Meriweather timed the play perfectly and he sacked Wallace, causing the quarterback to fumble the ball and the Patriots recovered.

Cassel then took three straight knees to kill off the remainder of the clock.

Seattle's first possession of the game was fruitful as the team efficiently marched down the field and Wallace capped the 13-play, 87-yard drive with a 14-yard pass to Branch for a 7-0 lead with 5:25 to play in the first.

New England responded with a drive of its own and made it a 7-3 game on Stephen Gostkowski's 50-yard field goal in the final minute of the first. A defensive holding call on Seattle after Morris was stuffed on 3rd-and-1 earlier in the drive helped the team get into field goal position.

The Seahawks, though, again put together an impressive drive to increase their lead. A nine-play, 74-yard drive that took just 3:18 off the clock was finished when Wallace found John Carlson in the end zone on a 10-yard play for a 14-3 lead with 12:30 remaining in the first half.

However, the Patriots quickly answered to make it a four-point game. On the kickoff, Ellis Hobbs took it 55 yards to get the ball to the Seattle 43. Six plays later, Cassel found Benjamin Watson in the end zone from two yards out to make it a 14-10 game with 9:09 left in the first half.

Neither team was able to put up more points as the game went into the locker room with Seattle holding a four-point lead.

Trailing by four points, New England started a drive with 7:23 left in the third and made it a 14-13 game on Gostkowski's 42-yard field goal with 2:40 to play in the third quarter.

Seattle, though, quickly answered to pad its advantage. On 1st-and-20, Wallace scrambled and hit Branch near the right sideline on a short pass. Branch then ran all over the field in an effort to find blockers and open space and eventually found both, racing the ball 63 yards down the left sideline to set up a 1st-and-goal. Two play later, he made a bobbling catch in the left corner of the end zone to give Seattle a 21-13 lead with just 41 ticks left on the third quarter clock.

New England responded with a nice drive and got into the Seattle red zone, but had to settle for a 27-yard field goal from Gostkowski to make it a 21-16 game with 12:19 to play in the game.