By Greyson Potter, ’29

Staff Writer

I’m just starting to recover.

The Super Bowl is arguably the biggest event in sports every year. It shatters ratings records for sporting events and draws viewers not only for the game but also for the outstanding halftime performances and even the legendary commercials. But, as a Patriots fan, this year’s Super Bowl was hard to watch. We came in with so much hope, and then everything just came crashing down.

Those Seahawks fans out there, they all got their revenge for 2014, despite some amazing play from a different Patriots cornerback by the name of Christian Gonzalez. If you happened to miss the biggest sporting event of the year, then you came to the right place. Even if you watched every minute, it might help to drown your sorrows in reading this Super Bowl recap, or it might make you feel even more victorious if you happen to be a Seahawks fan.

From the get-go, it looked like Super Bowl LX was going to be a defensive slugfest. Both defenses were highly touted coming into the game, with Seattle boasting the league’s best scoring defense, allowing a mere 17 points per game. Neither team could get much going, with Seattle leading 3-0 after the first quarter. The ‘Hawks were sending lots of blitzes from their secondary, with their standout corner Devon Witherspoon getting a drive-ending sack on third down on one of New England’s first drives in the quarter.

The second quarter was no different. The Patriots’ offense was really struggling, and they ended up getting shut out in the first half. Their defense was doing the best they could, limiting Seattle to only two more field goals, putting the Pats in a 9-0 halftime hole. Not a big difference by any means, but any lead feels big when you’re getting shut out.

In the third quarter, it was more of the same. The Seahawks kicked another field goal, and the Patriots continued to struggle putting up any numbers.

The fourth is really where things started to heat up. The Seahawks scored the first touchdown of the game a minute and a half into the final quarter, giving them a 19-0 lead over New England. But the Pats weren’t done yet. Drake Maye, who Seattle’s defense had silenced so far, orchestrated a quick 3-play touchdown drive with two beautiful deep balls to Mack Hollins. Their defense stopped Seattle again, forcing a punt. New England was marching down the field again, until Maye, a finalist for the league’s MVP, threw an ugly interception over the middle of the field, giving Seattle the ball. It was really a terrible pick; the ball was multiple feet behind Maye’s intended receiver. This set up Seattle for a field goal and put them up by 15 with five and a half minutes left. New England needed a quick score, and probably a two-point conversion, to make this a game again. Instead, the Seahawks got a quick score, with Maye throwing a pick-six on the fourth play of the drive. This was the nail in the coffin, putting New England in a 29-7 deficit with four and a half minutes left. The Pats scored a touchdown just before the two-minute warning, but it really didn’t matter; Seattle could have started celebrating pretty much after they took the Maye interception to the house.

And so it was complete; Seattle gets revenge for Malcolm Butler’s goal-line interception in 2014, and wins the Super Bowl. Running back Kenneth Walker III took home the Super Bowl MVP honors after racking up 135 yards on 27 carries, plus two catches for 26 yards. Walker really powered Seattle’s offense, running all over the Patriots’ stout run defense.

Takeaways

Seattle: The Seahawks’ defense showed why they were a contender for the best in the league. Their standout defensive line, consisting of Leonard Williams, DeMarcus Lawrence, and Byron Murphy II, crushed the Patriots’ offensive line and kept Drake Maye on his for seemingly the whole game. The ‘Hawks put up 6 sacks, 8 tackles for loss, and 11 QB hits. Their whole defense really had talent at every level. I already mentioned their D-line, but they had Ernest Jones IV in the middle as their game-managing linebacker with five interceptions in the regular season, and an elite secondary that featured do-it-all, All-Pro corner Devon Witherspoon and standout rookie safety Nick Emmanwori. The Patriots’ offense was overpowered by this unit, especially the D-line, which calls itself “The Dark Side.”

Seattle’s quarterback, Sam Darlond, also silenced a lot of his critics after this Super Bowl run. Darnold was the third overall pick in the draft in 2018. The fact that he was drafted by the Jets is all that needs to be said. He lasted three very bad years before getting cut. Everything culminated with him claiming to be “seeing ghosts” after throwing four picks and losing a fumble, and generating only 86 yards passing in a 33-0 loss to the Patriots. He spent some time with the Carolina Panthers, but that didn’t work out, so he went to the San Francisco 49ers and served as a backup to Brock Purdy. Not being under as much pressure as a backup and playing under a genius like Kyle Shanahan really helped Darnold improve, though he didn’t know it yet.

Darnold signed with the Minnesota Vikings before the 2024 season, expecting to back up rookie QB J.J. McCarthy. Except McCarthy tore his ACL in his first preseason game, opening the door for Darnold to be the starter. Out of the blue, Darnold had an incredible season, throwing for 4,300 yards and 35 touchdowns while leading the Vikings to an outstanding 14-3 record and the #2 seed in the NFC. However, he had some rough games down the stretch and choked in the first round of the playoffs, getting bounced by the #6 seed LA Rams. It was about as good a contract year as you could have, but there were still questions about whether Darnold could perform under pressure when it really counted. He signed with the Seahawks this offseason, and his clutch performances in the Super Bowl run this year silenced his critics. Sam Darnold is finally the player he was supposed to be.

Patriots: New England was the surprise team of this season. New head coach Mike Vrabel pressed all the right buttons and led a 10-game regular season turnaround and the two seed in the AFC just a season after getting a top-5 draft pick. They had a healthy mix of young talent and proven veterans, which took them to a Super Bowl. However, this wasn’t exactly a proven playoff squad. Only 5 players on New England’s roster had Super Bowl experience. It’s no easy feat playing on the game’s biggest stage, especially when you’ve never done it before.

There really isn’t one person or thing to blame for the Patriots’ loss. A lot of it was just inexperience. Seattle’s D-line squashed New England’s offensive line like they were stepping on a bug. The left side of the Pats’ O-line was made of two rookies, number four overall pick Will Campbell at left tackle and third round pick Jared Wilson at left guard. Campbell, in particular, was in fits the whole game, showing marginal resistance to the opposing pass-rush. But when it wasn’t him, somebody else on the line was always letting up some sort of pressure on Maye. Speaking of Maye, he didn’t exactly play to an MVP level, especially with those two costly fourth-quarter picks. He also lost a fumble at the end of the third quarter, highlighting some ball-security issues that Maye has had. He also went into the game with an injured shoulder, receiving a painkilling injection in the shoulder before kickoff. You can imagine it is hard to throw a perfectly accurate ball with an injured shoulder, especially when constant pressure is speeding you up. The defense played very well, although they had multiple sack opportunities and couldn’t finish. Kenneth Walker III also ran all over them.

Most surprising of all the Patriots’ struggles, in my opinion, was the play-calling. Josh McDaniels was in his third stint with the Patriots, won multiple Super Bowls here, and was a key part of Maye’s takeoff this year. Yet the play calling was nothing short of horrible. The offense seemed to be very vanilla, and Seattle seemed to know what was coming every time. Maye’s shoulder injury could have been limiting his options, but the whole process wasn’t very efficient. Running back Rhamondre Stevenson had only seven carries, but he put up 35 yards, coming to a good average of five yards per carry. Yet the run game was very quiet. If you are in a hole like they were, you do want to pass the ball and move down the field quickly, but you need to run the ball sometimes just to keep the defense on their toes.

Standout corner Christian Gonzalez was a bright spot for the Patriots. He was the one who kept them in the game for most of the time, locking up Jaxon Smith-Njigba and showing why he deserves a big payday on an extension this offseason.

Seattle’s defense is set and under contract for years to come, and they are young. Plus, they have arguably the best receiver in the league in JSN. New England has an MVP-level quarterback who is only going into his third season in the league, and a good, young core to build around. Both of these teams should be competing for Super Bowls for years to come. I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw a rematch in the big game in the next five years.

featured image: https://www.mininggazette.com/sports/2026/02/patriots-maye-had-pain-relieving-injection-in-shoulder-before-3-turnovers-in-super-bowl-loss/