POLL RESULTS: Stopping Newton is the highlight moment so far

There’s nothing quite like stopping a 6-foot-5, 245-pound elite athlete at the goal line with the result in the balance. At least that’s what the readers think.

With the Seattle Seahawks having their bye last weekend, it seemed a good time to reflect on Seattle’s season to date. The Seahawks began the season 5-0 and are now one of three NFL teams that remain undefeated, the other two being the Pittsburgh Steelers and Tennessee Titans.

Seattle may be 5-0, but there’s been no shortage of drama in the Seahawks’ season so far. The first five games were characterized by tightly contested affairs that could have gone either way, only for Seattle to find a way to win it at the end.

Therefore, this week’s Seattle Sidelines poll asked readers to pick what they thought was the biggest pre-bye moment for the team.

POLL: What was the biggest pre-bye moment for the 5-0 Seattle Seahawks? Full context, including a closer look at some of the contenders, here: https://t.co/RL5Qghhz7p
— Nick Patterson (@NickHPatterson) October 19, 2020

The voting wasn’t unanimous, but it was definitive. The Seahawks stopping New England Patriots quarterback Cam Newton on the game’s final play to preserve a 35-30 victory in Week 2 was the clear winner, receiving 55% of the votes. DK Metcalf’s game-winning touchdown catch on fourth down in a 27-26 victory over the Minnesota Vikings in Week 5 was a solid second at 36%. David Moore’s 57-yard reception that sparked a 75-yard, 21-second touchdown drive at the end of the first half of a 31-23 victory against the Miami Dolphins in Week 4 was a distant third at 5%. The “other” option received 4%, without any of those voters specifying what they thought the biggest moment was.

Stopping Newton wasn’t just the voters’ pick for the moment of the season thus far for the Seahawks, it’s one of the defining moments of the entire NFL campaign at this point. That was a prime-time matchup, pitting what have arguably been the league’s two best franchises the past decade. It was also an early chance for everyone to get a good look at the Patriots with a quarterback not named Tom Brady for the first time since 2001.

The game lived up to the hype, and then some. Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson was immaculate, throwing five touchdown passes as Seattle went ahead 35-23 with 4 minutes, 38 seconds remaining. However, Newton came to life, leading New England on a quick scoring drive, and after the Patriots held Seattle to a three-and-out Newton drove again, taking New England down to the Seattle 1-yard line with 3 seconds remaining. One play and one yard to determine the outcome.

But a Seahawks defense that allowed 464 yards in the game came up big when it needed to most. Newton kept the ball on a keeper, a play that worked multiple times earlier in the game and countless times during Newton’s time with the Carolina Panthers. But Lano Hill and L.J. Collier combined to send Newton airborne, flipping him down for a 1-yard loss to save the victory for Seattle.