FOXBORO, Mass. (AP) – New England’s defenders let Seattle march down the field. Just 12 seconds remained and the Seahawks had a first down at the Patriots 2-yard line.

In the defensive huddle, the message was clear: “No score. We don’t care what they do, we’re not going to let them in,” linebacker Tedy Bruschi said.

And they didn’t.

Matt Hasselbeck threw two incompletions, a penalty moved the ball to the 1, and the Patriots stopped Mack Strong for no gain on the final play then ran off the field with a 30-20 win Sunday, their NFL record 20th consecutive victory.

It didn’t matter to the Patriots that Seattle couldn’t have won the game even with a touchdown on the last drive. The end zone is their territory and they’ll defend it no matter what the situation.

On their five trips into the New England red zone inside the 20, the Seahawks managed just three field goals and a touchdown.

“That last red zone stand on the goal line was huge for us,” strong safety Rodney Harrison said. “It just showed people that, regardless of the score, we’re going to continue to play to the end.”

The Patriots defense started brilliantly with interceptions on Seattle’s first two series that led to a 10-0 lead. It was 17-0 early in the second quarter and 20-6 at halftime.

But with 11:05 left in the game, New England couldn’t stop Seattle after the Seahawks’ Michael Boulware intercepted Tom Brady’s pass. That drive ended in Shaun Alexander’s 9-yard touchdown run and a two-point conversion that made it 20-17.

It was 23-17 when Seattle started at its 26-yard line and moved all the way to a first down at New England’s 13. Then a 2-yard loss on a complete pass and two penalties forced the Seahawks to settle for a field goal.

The Patriots held Seattle to field goals on three series that went inside the 20 and another that reached the 22. So the Seahawks scored just 12 points on the kicks rather than 28 had each drive ended in a touchdown and extra point.

“That’s the difference of 16 points,” Harrison said. “That definitely changed the outcome of the game.”

New England (5-0) has allowed just 16.1 points per game this season and played well defending its goal line.

“We weren’t very good last year in the red zone so that was a point of emphasis in the offseason,” Harrison said. “If you can’t stop them from scoring, at least hold them to three points.”

The Patriots have allowed opponents to convert only 38 percent of their third-down plays into first downs.

Bruschi said it’s a matter of pride for the Patriots to keep teams out of the end zone, even, as with the Seahawks, it doesn’t affect the outcome.

“I guess they thought we were just going to let them have six points so we could get out of there,” Bruschi said. “But, no. We’re not going to do that.

“We don’t care when it is, what the situation is. Getting in our end zone is going to be tough to do, and we want to send a message to everyone that it’s going to be tough.”

AP-ES-10-18-04 1803EDT