5 Things You Need to Know About Sunday's Patriots Game at Seattle

The New England Patriots (3-2) will be on the road for the fourth time in the first six weeks of the 2012 season when they travel west to face the Seattle Seahawks (3-2) at CenturyLink Field Sunday. The game will feature the Patriots’ top ranked offense against Seattle’s top ranked defense.

Tom Brady will play at Seattle for the first time in his career. Brady has played an away game against every NFL team except San Francisco and Seattle. (Brady’s only visit against Tampa Bay on the road in the regular season was played in London in 2009).

The Seattle game is the second meeting of four contests against the NFC West this year. The Patriots lost the home opener on September 16, 20-18, to Arizona. New England will face St. Louis on Oct. 28 in London and will play San Francisco in a Sunday Night matchup on Dec. 16 at Gillette Stadium.

Sunday’s trip to Seattle will be New England’s second trip to the Pacific Northwest since the 1993 season and will be the 16th meeting between the two teams in the regular season. The Patriots leads the series 8-7.

Under the league’s scheduling rotation introduced after realignment in 2002, the two teams will play every four years with New England winning in 2004 and 2008.

The series began in 1977, with the teams playing 13 times in 17 years, including two matchups in 1993 and six straight road games with Seattle heading to Massachusetts from 1986-93.

Here’s five things you need to know about today’s game.

1. Today's Broadcast (TV and Radio)

TV: This week’s game will be televised on CBS at 4:05 p.m. Ian Eagle will provide play-by-play while Dan Fouts will serve as the broadcast analyst.

RADIO: Legendary play-by-play man Gil Santos will be joined by former Patriots quarterback and current 98.5 The Sports Hub personality, Scott Zolak. Tune in to 98.5 The Sports Hub to listen to Sunday's game.

2. Patriots-Seahawks Series at a Glance

The New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks will meet for the 16th time. This will be the second time the Patriots have played at Century Link Field following a 24-21 victory on Dec. 7, 2008. The Patriots and Seahawks played 12 times in a 14-year span from 1980-93, but have played only twice since then (2004 and 2008). The 2008 victory pushed the Patriots in front, 8-7, in the all-time series.

The Patriots have had the upper hand in road games against the Seahawks as they own a 4-2 record in games played in Seattle. The Patriots were 3-2 at the Kingdome (1976-1999) New England won six of the first eight games in the series, which began in 1977.

New England Leads All-Time Series 8, Seattle 7

Home Record .................................................................... 4-5

Gillette Stadium ................................................................ 1-0

Foxboro Stadium ............................................................... 0-3

Sullivan Stadium ............................................................... 2-2

Schaefer Stadium .............................................................. 1-0

Away Record ..................................................................... 4-2

Kingdome ......................................................................... 3-2

Qwest Field....................................................................... 1-0

Total Points in the Series ....................... Patriots 298, Seahawks 271

Bill Belichick vs. Seattle ............................. 3-1 (2-0 in New England)

Pete Carroll vs. New England ..................................................... 1-1

3. The Last Time the Patriots and Seahawks Met ...

The Patriots beat the Seahawks, 24-21 on Dec. 7, 2008.

The Patriots rallied from a 21-13 fourth-quarter deficit to defeat the Seattle Seahawks 24-21. Wes Welker had a season high 12 receptions for 134 yards, and Sammy Morris’s touchdown run with 2:44 remaining gave the Patriots their first lead of the day and provided the winning margin. Seattle was driving for a potential game-tying field goal or go-ahead

touchdown in the game’s final minutes, but Brandon Meriweather sacked Seahawks quarterback Seneca Wallace and forced him to fumble near midfield on the first play after the 2-minute warning. Richard Seymour recovered the loose ball to preserve an exciting New England victory and keep pace in a tight AFC East race.

4. What to Watch for Sunday

• With one touchdown pass against Seattle, Tom Brady will extend his streak to 38 straight games with at least one touchdown pass and continue his third longest streak all-time, behind Drew Brees (48-current) and Johnny Unitas (47).

• Brady has 48 career 300-yard games in the regular season and needs one more to tie Warren Moon (49) for 7th place all-time.

• Stephen Gostkowski (7-of-10) needs one more 50-yard field goal to tie Adam Vinatieri (8-of-17) for most 50-yard field goals in Patriots history. Gostkowski has two 50-yarders so far in 2012 and can become the first Patriots player with three 50-yard field goals in a single season.

• Wes Welker has three straight 100-yard games and can tie a team mark if he reaches 100-yards receiving at Seattle. Randy Moss has the Patriots record with four straight 100-yard games in 2007. Welker (15) needs one more 10-plus catch game to break a tie with Andre Johnson (15) of Houston and Reggie Wayne (15) of Indianapolis for the most 10-plus reception games among active players.

• Welker needs one reception to extend his streak to 83 straight regular-season games with at least one reception as a member of the Patriots to extend his franchise record. Welker has an overall streak of 99 straight regular season games with at least one reception, including his time with the Miami Dolphins.

• Welker needs one more game with 10 catches and 100 yards to tie Jerry Rice (15) for the most such games in NFL history. Welker is tied with Andre Johnson (14) and Marvin Harrison (14) with 14 such games.

• Stevan Ridley has rushed for 100 yards in two consecutive games and can become the first Patriots player to rush for 100 yards in three straight games since Curtis Martin closed out the 1995 season with five straight 100-yard games.

• The Patriots have had two straight games with 200 yards or more rushing. If they reach 200 yards rushing at Seattle it will be the first time they have had a stretch of three straight games with 200 yards rushing since having a stretch of four straight 200-yard games in 1978.

5. Patriots-Seahawks Connections

Former Patriots

• Seahawks Head Coach Pete Carroll served as the Patriots Head Coach from 1997-99. Carroll led the Patriots to an AFC East title in his first year as head coach and helped the team return to the playoffs the following season.

• Seahawks Quarterbacks Coach Carl Smith spent time in New England during Carroll’s tenure as Patriots Head Coach and served as the Assistant Head Coach/Quarterbacks Coach in 1997 and the Tight Ends Coach from 1998-99. Under Smith’s tutelage Patriots quarterback Drew Bledsoe was named to the AFC Pro Bowl team in 1997 and set career highs in touchdown passes (28) and passer rating (87.7).

Former Seahawks

• Patriots receiver Deion Branch was traded from the Patriots to Seattle for a first-round draft selection on Sept. 11 following the first regular-season game of the 2006 season. Branch played for the Seahawks until 2010 when he was traded back to the Patriots on Oct. 12 in exchange for a fourth round draft pick.

• Patriots linebacker Niko Koutouvides was originally drafted by Seattle in the fourth round of the 2004 NFL Draft. Koutouvides produced 60 special teams tackles during his four seasons with the Seahawks (2004-07) and was part of the Seahawks’ 2005 NFC Championship team.

Area Connections

• Seahawks Offensive Coordinator Darrel Bevell coached wide receivers at the University of Connecticut from 1998-99.

• Seahawks guard John Moffitt is a native of Guilford, Conn. and attended Notre Dame High School in West Haven, Conn. Moffit was a member of the New England Top 20 team on Rivals.com and earned first-team All-State honors from the Hartford Courant.

• Seahawks tackle Breno Giacomini is a native of Malden, Mass. and was a three-year starter at Malden High School. Giacomini earned Greater Boston league all-star honors as a senior and played both defensive end and linebacker.

• Seahawks kicker Steven Hauschka is a native of Needham, Mass. and attended Middlebury College in Middlebury, VT. Hauschka played soccer and lacrosse at Middlebury before attending graduate school at North Carolina State where he kicked for the Wolfpack.