Santa Clara – There was no doubt this was a complete team. The Seattle Seahawks finished the regular season with the best record in the NFC at 14–3 and carried that dominance into the postseason, overpowering every opponent in their path to the Super Bowl.
Super Bowl LX lived up to its billing, featuring the league’s two best teams on football’s biggest stage. On Sunday, Seattle showed why it belonged there, delivering a commanding 29–13 victory over the New England Patriots to capture the Lombardi Trophy.
Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker was named Super Bowl MVP, becoming the first running back to earn the honor since Terrell Davis in Super Bowl XXXII. Walker rushed for 135 yards on 27 carries, controlling the tempo and wearing down the Patriots’ defense despite not scoring a touchdown. Throughout the season, Walker proved to be the engine of Seattle’s offense, and on the game’s biggest stage, he was once again unstoppable.
“If I would tell myself as a kid right now, I wouldn’t have guessed I’d be the one to win MVP, so this is a surreal moment,” said Walker. “It doesn’t happen without the guys in the locker room.
Defense has been a problem all season. We knew what they were capable of and they knew what they were capable of. They held us in the game when we were struggling to get a touchdown, the defense picked up the slack and special teams as well.”
From the opening kickoff, Super Bowl LX unfolded as a defensive battle, with the Seahawks asserting control through discipline, consistency, and execution. Seattle leaned heavily on its defense and special teams, converting opportunities into points while keeping the Patriots out of the red zone for most of the game. New England struggled to generate offense and failed to establish sustained momentum early.
Jason Myers was a steady presence, connecting on five field goals from 33, 39, 41, 41, and 26 yards. Seattle carried a 12–0 lead into the fourth quarter in a hard-hitting, defense-first contest that remained tight despite the physical nature of play on both sides.
The game turned decisively in the fourth quarter when Seattle capitalized on a forced turnover. Derrick Hall sacked Patriots quarterback Drake Maye late in the third quarter, forcing a fumble that shifted momentum. Moments later, Sam Darnold went deep and connected with AJ Barner for a 16-yard touchdown, extending Seattle’s lead to 19–0 and igniting a surge that put the game firmly in the Seahawks’ control.
The Patriots answered immediately with their first points of the night, as Maye went deep to Mack Hollins for a 35-yard touchdown, cutting Seattle’s lead to 19–7 and briefly swinging momentum in New England’s favor.
Any hope of a sustained Patriots rally was short-lived. Seattle’s dominant defense quickly stole the spotlight once again when Devon Witherspoon burst through traffic, disrupted Maye’s passing attempt, and knocked the quarterback to the turf. Uchenna Nwosu recovered the loose ball and returned it 45 yards for a touchdown, restoring control for Seattle.
The play was emblematic of a Seahawks defense that has been stellar all season, aggressive, opportunistic, and decisive on the game’s biggest stage.
“They said we handled our business the way we did all year,” Witherspoon said. “Like I said, talking about a group of guys who play together out there and give each other everything they need and have each other’s backs out there, don’t let another person down. It’s everything you want in a defense.”
“When we came here as a collective of coaches, one of our main focuses were to enhance the players and make them play as well as they possibly can,” said Defensive Coordinator Aden Durde. “We you have players like Leo (Leonard Williams), Byron (Murphy), Nick (Emmanwori), Spoon (Devon Witherspoon), DLaw (DeMarcus Lawrence), Chena (Uchena Nwosu), D Hall (Derick Hall), once they start playing with great fundamentals, it gives you the ability to do a lot of those things like play the run in split safety, stop explosive plays.
Suddenly what happens is like tonight is just about rush and covering. We had some good blitzes dialed up and we executed them well, but you saw a time someone had a quick win, they got to the quarterback. At times, they made the quarterback hold the ball and we sacked the quarterback. That collective and that connection as a defense really took us to the next level.”
Darnold now stands among the league’s elite quarterbacks, leading a team built on discipline, balance, and defensive dominance. Just a decade ago, he was winning Pac-12 Offensive Freshman of the Year honors at USC in 2016 and capturing the Archie Griffin Award. Now, he adds Super Bowl champion to his résumé, a full-circle moment and a dream realized on football’s biggest stage.
“It’s special. I shared a great moment with my parents and my fiancée Katie after the game and I think that’s what kind of got me a little bit,” Darnold said. “Me and my dad don’t really cry very often (laughter) and I told my dad and my mom, I’m here because of their belief in me. They believed in me throughout my entire career, and I think that’s why I was able to believe in myself almost at nauseum (laughter).
Some people called me crazy throughout my career for believing in myself so much and having so much confidence, but it was because of my parents. Because of the way that they believed in me throughout my entire career, and it allowed me to go out there and play free and have a ton of confidence.”
Photo by Seahawks/Twitter
