Matthew Mistretta ’28
Staff Writer
The 60th “Big Game” in National Football League (NFL) history featured two teams who were far from preseason favorites, with the Seattle Seahawks, led by journeyman quarterback Sam Darnold, taking on the sophomore quarterback Drake Maye and the New England Patriots.
The last time these two teams faced off 11 years ago, Malcolm Butler intercepted Russell Wilson on a play that will live on as one of the most memorable plays in Super Bowl History. Yet this time, with almost entirely new squads, something looked different.
Both teams touted world-class defenses, with Seattle allowing the fewest points in the regular season and New England’s squad only allowing 8.6 points per postseason game (albeit against C.J. Stroud and Jared Stidham), and they showed out during the first quarter.
Following a Seattle field goal on the opening drive, neither team could put together much momentum, including both quarterbacks missing some rather routine throws.
Early on, Seahawks’ head coach Mike Macdonald sent his defensive backs after Maye frequently, which was shocking considering Seattle held the fifth-lowest blitz rate in the league. Seeming to put Maye on his toes, the defensive line was able to consistently create pressure all night long.
In the second quarter, the New England defense began to let Michigan State alum Kenneth Walker III reach the second level of defense, and while their passing attack was yet to start clicking, Seahawks’ kicker Jason Meyers was putting on a clinic, becoming the first player in NFL history to score 200+ points in a single season (including playoffs).
Down 9-0, the Patriots offense looked borderline non-functional with the left side of their line, whom fans were worried about since the preseason, completely collapsing and leaving the young Maye running for his life. The Patriots had five punts in the first half of Super Bowl LX, one less than the NFL record of six (2018 Rams).
Following halftime, there remained no real action, with the only Patriot showing up being defensive back Christian Gonzalez, who was able to render Jaxon Smith-Njigba useless up to this point for Seattle.
It didn’t seem to matter however, as Kenneth Walker continued to break outside the tackle box and pick up some big yardage. New England’s offense couldn’t say the same, only mustering 79 rushing yards on the night (some have argued Bad Bunny’s halftime performance may have racked up more yards…yikes). Drake Maye up to this point had racked up 20 sacks in the postseason, the most in the Super Bowl era.
Following a Drake Maye fumble to end the third quarter, Seattle stormed down the field as Darnold hurled a 16-yard touchdown to standout tight end A.J. Barner gave the game its first touchdown, 17-0 Seahawks.
New England was able to muster some hope on the next drive, with their hurry-up offense halting the Seattle defensive line just long enough to throw up two prayers to former Buffalo Bills wide receiver Mack Hollins, who kept New England from getting shut out with a 35-yard touchdown reception.
Following a quick three-and-out from Seattle, New England looked to be in prime position to make a charge and get themselves back in the game with a little under 10 minutes remaining in the game.
In what can only be described in Sam Darnold’s words from his rookie season, Drake Maye was “seeing ghosts” as he sent up a deep ball to absolutely nobody, getting picked off and setting up Seattle for another field goal to make the score 22-7.
The next drive was no different, with the pressure from Seattle hitting Maye as he threw, and getting picked off again by Uchenna Nwosu, who ran 45 yards for a pick-six to bring the score to 29-7.
Some garbage time points from New England, including Stefon Diggs spinning the ball after a first down (like he had done anything up to that point…he ended the game with three receptions for 37 yards) put the game’s final score at 29-13, with Seattle winning their second Super Bowl in franchise history. Kenneth Walker III won the MVP, with 161 scrimmage yards, the most by a running back in the Super Bowl since Terrell Davis in Super Bowl XXXII.
Where do both teams go from here? Seattle, whose $100 million bet on Sam Darnold paid dividends, doesn’t have much re-tooling to do, with most of their stars remaining under contract, particularly on football’s number one Defense.
The hope is that second-string running back Zach Charbonnet will heal nicely from his ACL tear in the Divisional Round, as his contributions throughout the season allowed Kenneth Walker to play the season on a relatively moderate workload, and be as efficient as he was in the postseason.
As for the Patriots, by all measures this season was a success. Yet, this loss looked so bad it raises questions about what it will take to get back here. While their defense could stifle almost any offense (regardless of Strength of Schedule), their offense looked questionable down the stretch.
First-round pick Will Campbell stated he played the entire postseason with a torn ligament in his knee, which hopefully means Pats’ fans can move on from his nightmare performance. Next Gen Stats attributed 14 QB Pressures Allowed to Will Campbell in Super Bowl LX – the most pressures allowed by any player in a game this season (including playoffs).
However, it is uncertain whether the same can be said for MVP runner-up Drake Maye. Regardless of his rather poor offensive line, Maye had eight turnovers this postseason, and now holds the worst statistical playoff run of any quarterback this century, with a -29.2 EPA (expected points added), even worse than the statue that was 2015 Peyton Manning.
Holy Cross Alum Bill Simmons said on his podcast that this was “easily the most frazzled he’s been,” and argued that Maye was so bad, perhaps he too was hurt like Campbell.
Only time will tell whether that run was a blip on the radar or a serious concern, but to conclude the 2025-26 NFL season, Seattle hoists the Lombardi after a dominant performance against the same team that broke their hearts 11 years ago.
Featured image courtesy of NBC Sports
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