The “Dark Side” defence carried Sam Darnold and the Seattle Seahawks to a Lombardi Trophy.
Devon Witherspoon, Derick Hall, Byron Murphy and the rest of Mike Macdonald’s ferocious unit pummelled Drake Maye, and the Seahawks beat the New England Patriots 29-13 on Sunday to win the franchise’s second Super Bowl.
“We never waver, man. We believe in each other. We love each other, and now we’re world champions,” Macdonald said.
Darnold threw a touchdown pass to AJ Barner, Kenneth Walker III ran for 135 yards and Jason Myers set a Super Bowl record by making all five of his field-goal tries.
“To do this with this team, I wouldn’t want it any other way,” Darnold said. “So proud of our guys, our defence. I mean, I can’t say enough great things about our defence, our special teams.”
Walker became the first running back to win the Super Bowl MVP award since Hall of Famer Terrell Davis did it with Denver 28 years ago.
Uchenna Nwosu punctuated a punishing defensive performance by snagging Maye’s pass in the air after Witherspoon hit his arm and running it back 45 yards for a pick-6.
“We went through a lot, but we believed,” Witherspoon said. “All of you all doubters out there who said all that other stuff, you all don’t know what’s going on in this building. We’re one of one over here.”
Seattle won its first Super Bowl a dozen years ago behind its “Legion of Boom” defence, then was denied a repeat when New England’s Malcolm Butler intercepted Russell Wilson at the goal line. The Seahawks hadn’t been back to the Super Bowl since.
Darnold become the first quarterback in the 2018 NFL draft class to win a Super Bowl, ahead of Josh Allen, Baker Mayfield and Lamar Jackson.
Labelled a bust, dumped by two teams and considered expendable by two others, Darnold proved his doubters wrong while helping the Seahawks go 17-3.
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After leading the NFL with 20 turnovers in the regular season, Darnold didn’t have any in three playoff games. He wasn’t particularly sharp against a solid Patriots’ defence but protected the ball and made enough plays, finishing 19 of 38 for 202 yards.
“I know we won the Super Bowl, but we could have been a little bit better on offence, but I don’t care about that right now,” Darnold said. “It’s an unbelievable feeling, man. I’m just so happy for the guys in the locker room and the coaches that put in so much effort throughout the whole season.”
The Seahawks sacked Maye six times, including two apiece by Hall and Murphy. Hall’s strip-sack late in the third quarter set up a short field and Darnold connected with Barner on 16-yard scoring toss to make it 19-0.
Julian Love’s interception set up another field goal that made it 22-7 with 5:35 left.
The Patriots (17-4) punted on the first eight drives, excluding a kneel-down to end the first half.
“Just reminding them that we’re 307 days into what hopefully is a long, successful relationship and program, and it’s OK to be disappointed,” New England coach Mike Vrabel said.
Down 19-0, Maye and the Patriots’ offence finally got going. He hit Mack Hollins over the middle in traffic for 24 yards and then lofted a perfect 35-yard TD pass to Hollins down the left side to cut the deficit to 19-7.
Tom Brady once led Bill Belichick’s Patriots to the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history, when New England rallied from a 28-3 deficit against Atlanta for a 34-28 overtime victory.
But Maye, who was runner-up to Matthew Stafford for the AP NFL MVP award in the closest race in two decades, didn’t come close. He had a chance to narrow the gap, but his ill-advised pass into triple coverage was picked by Love and the Patriots trailed by 15 when they got the ball back with 5:35 left.
Maye said after the game that he had a pain-relieving injection in his right shoulder, which he injured in the AFC championship win at Denver, but said it didn’t affect his play.
Then came Nwosu’s touchdown, a fitting way to cap an overwhelming effort by the NFL’s stingiest defence.
“Definitely hurts. They played better than us tonight,” Maye said.
Maye’s 7-yard TD pass to Rhamondre Stevenson late in the game only made the margin smaller.
The Seahawks took a 3-0 lead on Myers’ 33-yard field goal on the game’s opening drive. Myers connected from 39 and 41 yards to extend the lead to 9-0 at halftime. He was good from 41 on Seattle’s first drive of the third quarter to make it 12-0.
Cornerback Christian Gonzalez made two outstanding plays to prevent potential touchdowns in the second quarter. He raced back and leaped in the air to slap away a deep pass to Rashid Shaheed that could have been a 76-yard TD.
On Seattle’s last drive in the first half, Gonzalez knocked down a pass to All-Pro wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba that would have been a 23-yard TD.
Rylie Mills pushed left guard Jared Wilson into Maye and took both of them down on one of Seattle’s sacks.
Bad Bunny headlined a visually stunning halftime performance that also featured guest appearances by Lady Gaga and Ricky Martin. The Grammy-winning Puerto Rican artist performed entirely in Spanish.
The Patriots failed to win the franchise’s seventh Super Bowl, which would have set an NFL record. They’re tied with the Steelers with six championships.
Vrabel, the AP NFL Coach of the Year, was aiming to become the fifth person to win a Super Bowl as a player and head coach and the first to do both with the same team.
The 23-year-old Maye became the second-youngest QB to start a Super Bowl, but couldn’t become the youngest to win it. Ben Roethlisberger still holds that mark.