Late in the third quarter, New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye dropped back to pass, looking for answers.
As Seattle defenders closed in on him, he tried to step up in the pocket. But defensive end Derick Hall clocked him, knocking the ball out — and a Seattle defender pounced on it.
Several Seahawks went to the end zone and started flapping their arms in celebration as Seattle coach Mike Macdonald pumped his fist on the sideline. As Maye went to get up, he hit his hand against the ground in frustration. He didn’t know it yet, but his night was about to get worse.
Seattle swarmed Maye all game, sacked him six times, forced him into three turnovers and generally gave him little room to breathe as the Seahawks beat the Patriots 29-13 in Super Bowl 60.
"It's crazy. It's a one-of-a-kind feeling," Seattle cornerback Devon Witherspoon said in a postgame interview.
The Seattle offense played more of a supporting role but did enough to win. Running back Kenneth Walker III gained 161 yards from scrimmage on 29 touches and was named the MVP. Kicker Jason Myers made five field goals, setting a Super Bowl record.
The win perhaps felt like retribution for the last Super Bowl between these teams.
About a decade ago, Seattle and New England played in Super Bowl 49, in what’s remembered as the “Malcolm Butler game.” In the final moments, Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson drove down the field all the way to the goal line. It looked as if the Seahawks would take the lead — until Butler stepped in front of a pass and picked off Wilson, snatching the game away. It was one of the most shocking sequences in Super Bowl history.
Those Seattle teams was perennially near the top of the standings, led by head coach Pete Carroll, as well as Wilson and running back Marshawn Lynch on offense and a defensive secondary known as the "Legion of Boom." The Seahawks made back-to-back Super Bowls in that era — they won Super Bowl 48 over the Denver Broncos, then lost the Malcolm Butler one. Seattle hadn’t been back since.
Now, Carroll is gone and the roster has turned over. But General Manager John Schneider has remained.
Schneider kick-started the rebuild by trading Wilson to the Broncos for a package that included a boatload of draft picks. In turn, Schneider used the draft to reload.
Over the past four drafts, the Seahawks have drafted several cornerstones: Walker, Witherspoon, receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, left tackle Charles Cross, defensive end Derick Hall, defensive tackle Byron Murphy II and safety Nick Emmanwori.
“We made a promise to each other," Witherspoon said after the game, referring to himself and Smith-Njigba. "We’re going to be able to do this. We’re going to be able to turn this program around. We’re going to be able to [bring] a Super Bowl, man.”
Schneider hired Macdonald, a defensive expert who’d spent time working under John Harbaugh in Baltimore.
The only thing missing, it seemed, was a quarterback.
This past offseason, Schneider signed Sam Darnold, a former top draft pick who had been labeled a bust and cast off by a number of teams.
In Seattle, Darnold flourished. He threw for 4,048 yards and 25 touchdowns this season and led the Seahawks to the No. 1 seed in the NFC bracket.
It helped that Darnold had a strong support system. His top target, Smith-Njigba, was named offensive player of the year, and the Seattle defense — young, athletic, homegrown drafted players — held opponents to 17.2 points a game, the best in the NFL.
In the first half of the Super Bowl on Sunday, Seattle’s defense mobbed Maye, the Patriots’ young quarterback, often sending blitzes at him. The Seahawks sacked Maye three times, including once by Witherspoon, and they killed any momentum the Patriots were building. New England punted on five consecutive possessions and finished the half with 51 total yards and four first downs.
At the time, Seattle’s offense wasn’t faring much better.
New England found a way to bottle up Smith-Njigba, Seattle’s top receiver, and made Darnold look frazzled at times, too. But Darnold also had the privilege of handing the ball to Walker, who ran 14 times for 94 yards, the second-most in a first half in Super Bowl history. If not for Walker, the first half might’ve been scoreless. Seattle led 9-0 at the break.
For the first two-plus hours, the most exciting part of the telecast might have been the halftime show, performed by Bad Bunny. He celebrated his Puerto Rican roots, at one point waving a Puerto Rican flag. He also held a football that said “Together we are America,” a message of unity at a time when the American public has been roiled by President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown and the killings of Renee Nicole Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer and of Alex Pretti, also fatally shot by federal immigration agents.
In the third quarter, the defensive tug-of-war continued until Hall sacked Maye and forced that fumble. Five plays later, Darnold found tight end AJ Barner for a 16-yard touchdown, giving the Seahawks a 19-0 lead. Given how the game had gone, it felt insurmountable.
Darnold finished the game completing 19 of 38 passes for 202 yards and that touchdown. He wasn’t spectacular, but he didn’t turn the ball over, either.
“All my teammates, all my coaches I ever had, always believing in me,” he said in a postgame interview. “And always believing in myself. ... As long as you believe in yourself, anything is possible”
To their credit, Maye and the Patriots kept fighting.
They scored a touchdown on a 35-yard pass to Mack Hollins. But playing from behind, Maye was forced to throw, and the Seahawks continued to pressure him, which led to turnovers on back-to-back possessions.
On one play, Maye lobbed a deep pass that was intercepted by Seattle defensive back Julian Love. On another, Witherspoon came on a blitz, blasted Maye as he tried to throw. Seattle’s Uchenna Nwosu caught the ball midair and returned it for a 45-yard touchdown.
Not long after, confetti fell and the Seahawks' party could begin.
“I’m [going] to have a drink, or two, or maybe three," a smiling Witherspoon said.
