The Seattle Seahawks are winners for a second-straight week to begin their 2024 campaign. The latest win in the Mike Macdonald era has come at the expense of the New England Patriots, led by fellow rookie head coach Jerod Mayo. Funny how football works, the Seahawks and Patriots went from the two oldest coaches in the NFL to the two youngest.

By no means was it as sloppy as the first half last week, but it still wasn't a work of art either. Fortunately, that hardly matters. Style points don't count in the NFL. Only wins do.

There's plenty to takeaway from Seattle's 23-20 overtime victory, and without further ado, we'll get started.

No. 1 - Geno Smith is still the comeback king

Last season, Geno Smith led the NFL in game-winning drives. He had five of them, ripping the hearts out of the Lions, Browns, Commanders, Titans and Cardinals in the final minutes. Now, he has another addition to his comeback collection: the Patriots.

Smith was sublime against New England, and could not have been more clutch. On Seattle's two final possessions, Smith navigated the offense to two clutch field goals, nailed by Jason Myers.

Smith routinely proves he is more than up to the task when the game is on the line, playing his best football in the biggest moments.

No. 2 - The absence of Kenneth Walker was felt

When Kenneth Walker is running loose, the Seahawks' offense is one of the more difficult units in the league to slow down. So much of what Seattle wants to do is set up by establishing the run, even with Macdonald taking over for Pete Carroll. Last week, Walker rushed for 103 yards and a touchdown, but was inactive against the Pats due to an oblique injury.

They say one of the best ways to judge someone's impact is how things look without them, and without Walker, the Seahawks' rushing attack was stuck in the mud. Seattle struggled to sustain drives, especially in the second half, because they could not move the ball on the ground. Zach Charbonnet was curiously the only ball carrier aside from Geno Smith (eight rushing yards) but could only manage 38 on 14 carries. As a team, the Seahawks had only 46 rushing yards.

As for their opponent...

No. 3 - Seahawks rush defense shows cracks

...the Patriots did not have similar issues running the ball. In fact, they were outright dominant on the ground. New England bullied Seattle's defensive front to the tune of 185 yards on 36 carries. Leading the way were Rhamondre Stevenson (21 carries, 81 yards, one touchdown) and Antonio Gibson (11 carries, 91 yards).

In fairness to Seattle, the only way New England's offense is going to seriously threaten teams this year is by running the ball. It is their specialty, and the Seahawks aren't going to be the only defense they bowl over. Still, this was a far cry from how well Seattle kept the Broncos in check last week. The Seahawks still have plenty to clean up in order to truly evolve from being the worst rush defense in the league from the last few years.

No. 4 - Seahawks pass rush struggled to get home

On the opening drive of the game, the Seahawks forced a punt from New England thanks to linebacker Boye Mafe bringing Jacoby Brissett down on a sack. For a large portion of the game, that was the last highlight Seattle's pass rush had. The Seahawks' defensive front shockingly struggled to find a way to get home to Brissett, but not for a lack of trying. They were constantly in the backfield, but somehow could not seal the deal with sacks.

Seattle did manage to get a sack of Brissett - courtesy of Leonard Williams and Bryon Murphy II - late in the fourth quarter. On the following field goal attempt, the Seahawks blocked the kick.

The Seahawks made Brissett uncomfortable, but could not find a way to record more sacks. Encouraging amounts of pressure generated, but the totals could have been considerably higher for Seattle.

No. 5 - Jason Myers remains reliable

A quality kicker in the NFL never truly gets the due he deserves. Fans sometimes take for granted a good kicker, but they certainly notice when there's a bad one. Fortunately for the 12th Man, they have an excellent one. After Seattle took a 14-10 lead, they were not able to find the end zone again. Their points all came from kicker Jason Myers, whose three field goals helped propel the Seahawks to victory.

Jason Myers is now 5-for-5 on the young season, and Seattle has needed every single point he's kicked for them through two games.

Bonus takeaway: Seahawks spoil Pat's Super Bowl XLIX celebration

Under no circumstance is a Week 2 regular season victory the equal to a Super Bowl championship, especially one as painful as Seattle experienced in Super Bowl XLIX. But for the 12th Man, the fact the Seahawks were able to defeat the Patriots on the road on the day they chose to honor the 10-year anniversary of their fourth title should bring some smiles in the Pacific Northwest.

Since XLIX, Seattle has defeated New England in the last three-straight meetings - including two of them in Foxboro. Interestingly, this is the only game that was not decided by a heroic goal line stand.

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This article originally appeared on Seahawks Wire: 5 takeaways from Seahawks' 23-20 overtime win over the Patriots