Seattle's winning touchdown came after Carroll showed confidence in his defense. The Seahawks went three-and-out with 3:20 left and Carroll risked never seeing the ball again and punted.
Even though Seattle had three timeouts and the two-minute warning, it was still a risky proposition.
"I wasn't surprised. As a defense we want the game on our shoulders," Seattle linebacker Bobby Wagner said. "We have the confidence in us; we know Pete has the confidence in us."
Seattle forced the Patriots into just their fifth three-and-out of the season and only 14 seconds elapsed before Zoltan Mesko punted. Leon Washington returned the punt 25 yards and Seattle started its winning drive at its 43.
Wilson faked a handoff and looked deep. Rice was on an option route, and the coverage directed Rice to the middle. After faking to the outside, he was wide open.
"It was a heck of a throw. When I came out of my break, the whole time I was looking at the ball in the air and it was so pretty," Rice said. "I was just running, I was like 'You've got to catch up to it, you've got to catch up to it,' and I was able to track it down."
NOTES: Seattle P Jon Ryan averaged 60 yards per punt on four punts. According to the team, he is the first punter since 1946 to average at least 60 yards per kick in a game. ... Hall of Fame DT Cortez Kennedy had his No. 96 retired during a halftime ceremony. He joins Steve Largent (No. 80), Walter Jones (No. 71) and Seattle's 12th Man crowd (No. 12) as the only retired jerseys in team history. ... Hernandez finished with six receptions for 30 yards.
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