The Seahawks rode their defense to the first Super Bowl title in franchise history, and they followed a similar script for the second.
Seattle sacked Patriots quarterback Drake Maye six times, and Maye turned the ball over three times during the second half of the game. The Seahawks turned those giveaways into 17 points, including linebacker Uchenna Nwosu’s 45-yard interception return for a touchdown with 4:27 left to play. That score made it 29-7 Seahawks, and the celebrations could really get underway at that point.
The Patriots were able to make the final score a bit more respectable on a touchdown pass to Rhamondre Stevenson, but they failed to convert a two-point conversion, and the Seahawks ran out the clock on a 29-13 win.
It was a fitting end to the season for a unit that allowed the fewest points in the league under second-year head coach Mike Macdonald. Macdonald made his way up the coaching ladder as a defensive coordinator, and Sunday’s outing will push the 38-year-old into a higher echelon of coaches early in his career.
Derick Hall had two sacks and a forced fumble, Devon Witherspoon had a sack and pressured Maye into the Nwosu interception, and a host of other Seahawks defenders contributed to crushing the Patriots’ hopes. The offensive side of the ball didn’t feature quite as many highlights for the Seahawks, as they failed to reach the end zone until the start of the fourth quarter.
Running back Kenneth Walker was their most consistent performer throughout the night, and he finished with 27 carries for 135 yards, along with two catches for 26 yards. It looked like he might get a touchdown to cap the night’s festivities, but his 49-yard score was wiped out by a holding penalty. Quarterback Sam Darnold was 19-of-38 for 202 yards and a touchdown to tight end AJ Barner, and, unlike Maye, he avoided the turnovers that wound up turning this one into a lopsided win for the Seahawks.
Maye ended the night 27-of-43 for 295 yards, and the disappointing ending won’t overshadow all of the growth he showed in his second NFL season. The Patriots should feel confident that they’ll remain a winning team as long as Maye continues to develop, but a look at Dan Marino’s career offers a stark reminder that continued individual growth does nothing to guarantee team success in the future.
Those were not gaudy numbers for Darnold, but simply hoisting the Lombardi Trophy makes for a storybook moment for him. The third overall pick of the 2018 draft washed out with the Jets and bounced around the NFL before finally finding success with the Vikings. That success ran out in the most meaningful games of the 2024 campaign, and Darnold moved on to the Seahawks — his fifth team — this season. He got over the hump in big games and is now established as the starter of a Super Bowl champion.
Darnold’s teammates can call themselves the same, and Seattle will head into the 2026 season trying to complete the repeat they couldn’t pull off after winning their first title more than a decade ago.
