Noah Fries | staff writer

The Seattle Seahawks defeated the New England Patriots 29-13 in Super Bowl LX on Sunday, giving Seattle its second Super Bowl victory in franchise history and its first since it defeated the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII in 2014.

Seattle head coach Mike Macdonald brought the Seahawks to the pinnacle of the sport in just his second season, becoming the third-youngest head coach to win the Lombardi Trophy.

“That’s a shared memory we’ll have forever,” Macdonald said about his team after the win on ESPN. “Said an awesome team prayer and just felt the spirit of our team. It’s gonna be a fun night.”

The final score is not completely indicative of how the game truly went — it was dominated by the Seahawks’ defense that stymied almost every New England possession before they could get 30 yards.

The Patriots went eight consecutive drives without tallying 10 yards after their first drive went for 28. Seattle’s defense had six sacks on regular-season MVP runner-up Drake Maye while forcing three turnovers as well.

Seattle running back Kenneth Walker III was named Super Bowl MVP after rushing for 135 yards and snagging 26 more through the air on 29 total touches. Walker, just the fifth running back in league history to achieve this award, became the first running back to win Super Bowl MVP since the Broncos’ Terrell Davis in 1998.

“If I would have told myself as a kid, I wouldn’t have guessed that I would be the one to win the MVP,” Walker said. The Seahawks were able to put points on the board on their first drive, with kicker Jason Myers hitting a field goal from 33 yards out. The rest of the first quarter had no scoring, with each team punting twice on the next four total possessions.

Maye was sacked twice in the first quarter, with linebacker Derick Hall and cornerback Devon Witherspoon stifling any momentum that the Patriots looked to build on each of their first two drives.

Walker was a force on the Seahawks’ first drive of the second quarter, notching runs of 30 and 29 yards on the drive before having to settle for another Myers field goal to make the score 6-0 with 11:16 remaining in the first half.

Seattle was able to get another field goal before halftime as the Patriots continued to struggle to get any momentum going, with the Seahawks taking a 9-0 lead into the long break.

With hopes of flipping momentum on its head after halftime, the Patriots offense took the field at the start of the second half and promptly went back to the bench after just 58 seconds of game time. Two incompletions from Maye, with a 7-yard rush from running back Treveyon Henderson in between, gave Seattle the ball back right away.

The Seahawks made the Patriots pay with another field goal before four consecutive three-and-out drives, two from each team. On the Patriots’ last drive of the third quarter, Maye was strip-sacked by Hall — his second sack of the game — and Seattle defensive tackle Byron Murphy II recovered the ball for the game’s first turnover.

Darnold made New England pay with a 16-yard strike to tight end AJ Barner for the game’s first touchdown that gave the Seahawks a 19-0 advantage with just 13:24 left to play.

New England would strike back immediately, with Maye completing consecutive passes of 24 and 35 yards to wide receiver Mack Hollins to put the Patriots on the board.

After a Seattle punt, Maye would throw his first interception of the night, as Seattle safety Julian Love jumped in front of New England wide receiver Kyle Williams. Seattle would take another field goal before Maye would throw another interception on his next drive, with Seattle linebacker Uchenna Nwosu taking it to the house for a pick-six that would put the final nail in the coffin.

The Patriots would tally a garbage-time touchdown with a miraculous Maye toss to running back Rhamondre Stevenson, but the Seahawks had already done enough to become Super Bowl champions.

Seattle kicker Jason Myers set Super Bowl records for field goals made (5) and points scored (17). Myers also set the NFL record for most points in a season, surpassing Chargers running back LaDanian Tomlinson (198) with 206 points.

To continue with a tradition that began in 1987 with New York Giants quarterback Phil Simms after he won Super Bowl XXI, Darnold and Walker were asked what they were going to do next after winning the big game.

“I’m going to Disneyland!”

Noah Fries can be reached at friesn@duq.edu