Short drive, big problem

"It was not good enough," said Hasselbeck, who completed 27 of 50 passes for 349 yards and nearly led the Seahawks to a comeback victory over New England in the final minutes.

What will haunt the former Xaverian High and Boston College star quarterback will be the interceptions he threw on the Seahawks' first two possessions that led to Patriot scores.

On third and 7 from the Patriots' 41, Hasselbeck saw a wide-open receiver, but 6-foot-6-inch Richard Seymour deflected his pass.

The ball landed in the hands of Willie McGinest, who returned it 27 yards for a Patriot first down. Five plays later Corey Dillon ran in from the 1.

On the next Seahawk possession, on third and 11, Hasselbeck lined up Darrell Jackson on the sideline, just in front of the first-down marker. He fired, but Ty Law swooped in front of Jackson and picked it off. Seven plays later, Adam Vinatieri booted a 40-yard field goal to make it 10-0.

"We had turnovers early and we knew we couldn't do that because they are so good," said Hasselbeck. "Two interceptions early, we just gave them. Seymour batted the ball and Willie McGinest made a real good play. On the other interception, Ty Law, a smart player, knows the splits, knows it was third and 11 or whatever it was. He knew we were trying to get 11. We're not a good enough team to do that stuff and beat the New England Patriots. I don't know if anybody is good enough to do that and beat the New England Patriots. That was a tough way to start."

This was Hasselbeck's first professional game at New England and the Patriots were everything he expected.

"It was weird. It would have felt better if we won the game," said Hasselbeck. "I grew up here being a Patriots fan. It wasn't in this stadium, so that helped. These guys are a good football team and the people in this area are real passionate about their sports teams. Everyone was very friendly, very nice. I saw a lot of familiar faces. It's just too bad we didn't get the win.

"I felt very prepared. We worked really hard," said Hasselbeck. "I have a tremendous amount of respect for Coach Belichick and his staff. They do a really good job and you can tell out on the field that his players buy into it. It's probably one of the many reasons why they are so successful. As a quarterback, you have a certain amount of respect for the teams you go against and I have a tremendous respect for the Patriots."

He said intelligence and versatility make the Patriots so good.

"They have a tremendous bunch of guys who can rush the passer who are not technically defensive linemen, like Willie McGinest. They are very talented and played us well," said Hasselbeck. "They're smart. They know some of the things we like to do and they know the guys we like to give the ball to and they made it difficult on us."

Hasselbeck believes the Seahawks will someday be in the Patriots' class. "It's one of the great things about their team," he said. "They have the intangibles. But we are not there yet. I think everyone on our team believes we can be that good, but we've got to show we can get it done with our actions."

He disagreed with his coach, Mike Holmgren, who said Hasselbeck looked jittery in the first half.

"He probably feels that way and my statistics will probably back that up," said Hasselbeck. "But I didn't feel that way. If Seymour doesn't tip that pass, it would have been a great play for us. We don't really know these guys that well, you've got to get a feel for them. I think our coaches prepared us well. I thought the emotion and energy was there. We just didn't execute the way we needed to, especially in the first half."

One reason for their failure was the Patriots' secondary.

"They are going to bang you, they are going to hold you," said Hasselbeck. "They say you can do it for 5 yards, but it's a long 5 yards. They did it just enough so that it's legal."