They say that defense wins championships, and the Seattle Seahawks proved just that en route to hoisting their second Vince Lombardi Trophy in Super Bowl LX. Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold completed quite the redemption story as a Super Bowl champion.

In the first half, the New England Patriots couldn’t buy yardage. New England completed just six out of 11 passes for 48 yards in the first half for a 2.2 average gain on each of their plays. Meanwhile, Darnold completed nine of 22 passes for 88 yards.

For Seattle, the scoring wasn’t done in the end zone but through the uprights, scoring three field goals for nine points in the first half. Including the Super Bowl, this season the Seahawks are 12-0 when they score first.

This is the first Super Bowl since LIII, when the Patriots took down the Rams 13-3, where a touchdown was not scored in the first half of the game.

The second half was not much better for New England, during which they gained only one first down in the entire third quarter as Seattle’s defense continued to apply pressure on Drake Maye. The Seahawks’ 52.8% pressure rate was the highest in any Super Bowl since 2018.

The New England offensive line was made of swiss cheese, with rookie offensive tackle Will Campbell playing very poorly, allowing 14 QB pressures: the most pressures allowed by a player in a game this season.

The Seattle defense suffocated Maye: Four Seahawks edge rushers created at least five pressures each in the victory. Devon Witherspoon alone recorded four tackles, a sack, a tackle for loss, a forced fumble and three pass deflections.

While the Seahawks’ defense is the talking point many will discuss in the years to come, some credit should go to the Patriots defense that played hard despite their offense failing them.

Darnold finally broke through the New England defense early in the fourth quarter. He threw a 16-yard completion to A.J. Barner for the game’s very first touchdown, giving Seattle a 19-0 lead.

Maye responded with a 35-yard touchdown to Mack Hollins to bringing the game to 19-7. But the Seahawks’ defense yet again had Maye seeing ghosts when he threw an interception to Uchenna Nwosu that resulted in a 44-yard Seahawks touchdown, all but sealing the deal for Seattle.

Seahawks’ Head Coach Mike Macdonald’s defensive formula for his squad was all but perfect, reminiscent of the Seahawks “Legion of Boom” that led them to their first Super Bowl victory 12 years ago. The Seahawks only allowed 331 yards, most of which came in the fourth quarter for New England.
While the Seahawks offense left much to be desired during the game, running back Kenneth Walker III came to play running for a staggering 135 yards. Walker generated a season high +42 rushing yards over expected during the Super Bowl. He forced nine missed tackles for 79 extra yards.

Walker was the motor that kept the Seahawks’ engine running throughout the game, and he deservingly took home the Super Bowl MVP.

The Seahawks didn’t play the prettiest or most action-packed game, but did enough to get the win. The Vince Lombardi trophy will sit in the Seahawks’ trophy case and the banner hanging from the rafters at Lumen Field for the rest of time will read Super Bowl LX champions.