The Seattle Seahawks much-lauded defense was as good as advertised Sunday in Santa Clara, completely dominating the game as they imposed their will on the New England Patriots, winning Super Bowl LX 29-13.
The Seahawks defense swarmed all over the Patriots throughout, with New England quarterback Drake Maye barely having time to breathe in the pocket.
Seattle forced Maye into three turnovers, a fumble and two interceptions, including one that was returned for a 45-yard touchdown by Uchenna Nwosu in a play that snuffed out any chance of a miracle Patriots’ comeback.
The Seahawks pass rush also racked up six sacks, completely stifling the Patriots’ offense, which only managed five first downs through the first three quarters of the game before adding a couple late touchdowns when the game was out of reach.
“I’m not surprised. It’s what they do,” Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald told CNN Sports about the Pats powerhouse defense after the game.
“The guys pick each other up every time. It’s what we’ve been doing since last year. It’s awesome to do it on this stage.”
New England’s defense played its part, keeping the Seattle offense largely under wraps for most of the night.
Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold didn’t light up the scoreboard, but the journeyman signal-caller managed the game well, passing for 202 yards and one touchdown.
He gave credit to his parents for leading him to this moment.
“Some people called me crazy throughout my career for believing in myself so much and having so much confidence,” Darnold said after the victory.
“But it was because of my parents, because of the way that they believed in me throughout my entire career. It allowed me to go out there and play free and have a ton of confidence.”
Darnold didn’t have to try to take more than the Patriots’ defense gave him, thanks to a MVP-winning performance from running back Kenneth Walker III, who ran for 135 yards and had two catches for another 26 yards.
Walker was forced to shoulder nearly the entire load for the Seattle run game after the team lost half of its rushing attack when Zach Charbonnet suffered a season-ending knee injury against the San Francisco 49ers in the divisional round of the playoffs.
Seattle’s other secret weapon was its place-kicker, Jason Myers, who set a Super Bowl record with five field goals.