Sunday night, much of the nation had their eyes on San Francisco as the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots competed in a much-anticipated rematch of Super Bowl XLIX in 2015.
Many NFL fans hoped for the Seahawks to win, as the Patriots dominated the NFL for much of the 2000s, winning a record six Super Bowls since then. They are all too familiar with the big stage, having made the championship game nine times since the year 2000. The Seahawks, conversely, have only appeared in three, with a singular win in 2014.
The Patriots entered the game with a 14-3 record and boasted a top-ten defense, but that still pales in comparison to Seattle; the Seahawks also went 14-3 and had a top-ranked scoring defense. That means Seattle gave up the fewest points defensively all season.
Although Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels won the league’s award for assistant coach of the year, Seahawks defensive coordinator Aden Durde received high marks for his effort captaining the league’s most productive defense. On the other side of the ball, the Patriots had the second-best scoring offense in the league, while the Seahawks finished just one spot behind them.
The game kicked off at 5:30 p.m. CT, with Seattle listed on most betting sportsbooks as 4.5-point favorites, signaling that most bettors expected a close game but still favored the Seahawks to win overall. The Patriots won the coin toss and started on defense, meaning they would receive the opening kickoff in the second half.
The Seahawks started on offense and drove down the field, ending up kicking a field goal to make the score 3-0. The Patriots then got their first offensive possession and punted after eight plays. The teams traded punts for the rest of the first quarter.
The first period ended with the Seahawks still leading 3-0. Seattle’s kicker, Jason Myers, added another two field goals in the second quarter, thanks to a couple of long runs by running back Kenneth Walker, to make the score 9-0 at halftime.
After a halftime performance by Bad Bunny with guest appearances from Lady Gaga and Ricky Martin, the Patriots began the second half on offense.
New England once again punted after only three plays, and the Seahawks drove the ball down the field, kicking another field goal and extending their lead to 12-0. The Patriots still could not get anything going against an aggressive Seattle defense, and continued to punt frequently, although Seattle faced the same difficulties throughout the third quarter.
On the last possession of the quarter, Seahawks defensive end Derick Hall sacked Patriots quarterback Drake Maye, who finished second in the MVP voting this season. Maye fumbled the football, and it was recovered by Seattle’s Byron Murphy.
The fourth quarter began on the next play, with the Seahawks and quarterback Sam Darnold starting on the Patriots’ 37-yard line. They didn’t have to go very far before Darnold found and connected on a throw to tight end AJ Barner in the back of the end zone for the first touchdown of the game, giving Seattle a comfortable 19-0 lead.
The Patriots, facing a desperate situation, answered only three plays later, when Maye threw a long pass to receiver Mack Hollins for a touchdown. With only a twelve-point lead, the Seahawks got the ball back and punted it away just four plays later.
Suddenly, with all of the momentum on their side, New England drove the ball down the field, but Maye would wind up throwing an interception to Seahawks safety Julian Love. Back on offense, Myers added another field goal for Seattle, making it 22-7.
Running out of time, the Patriots got the ball back and weren’t able to do much before Maye threw another interception, this time to Uchenna Nwosu. Nwosu ran back the interception for a defensive touchdown, giving the Seahawks a 29-7 advantage. A garbage-time touchdown and failed two-point conversion from New England pushed the final score to 29-13, with Seattle emerging victorious.
When the smoke had finally cleared, the Seattle Seahawks avenged their previous Super Bowl loss to the Patriots and claimed their second Super Bowl victory in franchise history and first since 2014. Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker III was named the MVP of the game, with 135 rushing yards and averaging five yards per carry, propelling the offense for Seattle.
The Seahawks’ defense dominated for the vast majority of the night, racking up six sacks and three takeaways, including the Nwosu pick-six in the fourth quarter.
Although the game started slow — it was only the second Super Bowl to date with no touchdowns through the first three quarters — it ended up being a high-quality defensive performance from the Seahawks, the champions of Super Bowl LX.
