As confetti rained down Levi’s Stadium following the Seattle Seahawks’ dominant 29-13 victory over the New England Patriots and MVP runner-up Drake Maye, the Seahawk’s journey to the top of the NFL world needed a little retrospective.
Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold did not have an easy road becoming a Super Bowl champion; in fact, it was far from it. Darnold, a four-star prospect coming out of high school, was a two-year starter at the University of Southern California where he went a combined 20-4 and threw for over 7,000 yards and scored 64 total touchdowns. After declaring for the 2018 NFL Draft following his sophomore season, Darnold was the third overall pick by the New York Jets; being selected before future MVPs Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson.
After a disastrous three seasons with the Jets, where he went 13-25 and threw 45 touchdowns to go along with 39 interceptions, Darnold was traded to the Carolina Panthers ahead of the 2021 season. Across two seasons with the Panthers, Darnold went 8-9 and threw 16 touchdowns against 16 interceptions. During the 2023 season, he served as the backup quarterback for the 49ers where he played in the season finale after the 49ers clinched the top overall seed. It wasn’t until Darnold signed with the Minnesota Vikings before the 2024 season he received another opportunity to start. Across 17 games, Darnold threw a career-high 35 touchdowns against 12 interceptions and led the Vikings to the playoffs. However, the Vikings were unable to come to terms with Darnold on a deal and he entered free agency where he signed a three-year, $100.5 million contract with the Seattle Seahawks.
As the game kicked off, both teams struggled offensively but the Seahawks were able to put some field goal scoring drives together to take a 9-0 lead. Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker III was the lone offensive player able to produce anything as he was able to rush for 75 yards on his first 10 carries. Meanwhile, Patriots quarterback Drake Maye was under a ton of pressure from the beginning of the game as he missed throws from the onset and was sacked three times in the first half.
After Bad Bunny’s halftime performance, both teams kept up the defensive intensity to start the third quarter as the lone score was a Jason Myers field goal to give the Seahawks a 12-0 lead. The Patriots needed their second-year phenom Maye to put some drives together if they wanted a chance at their record-breaking 7th Super Bowl. Instead, a strip sack on Maye not only added to the Seahawks’ sack count but gave them the ball in excellent field position.
This would set up the fourth quarter as the Seahawks used the field position to score the game’s first touchdown, a 16-yard pass from Darnold to tight end AJ Barner to make it 19-0. Following an official delay due to a streaker running onto the field, Maye proved why he was the MVP runner-up on the Patriots next possession as he hit a ridiculous 24-yard throw to wide receiver Mack Hollins before hitting him again for a 35-yard touchdown making the score 19-7.
The Patriots defense held up their end of the bargain and were able to give the ball back to their offense with a chance to make it a one-score game. Maye drove his team down the field before throwing an ill-advised interception in what appeared to be a desperation throw. The Seahawks with more help from Walker III were able to kick another field goal making it 22-7.
On the Patriots following possession, Maye was sacked by Seahawks cornerback Devon Witherspoon which caused the ball to get knocked up into the air and into the hands of his teammate linebacker Uchenna Nwosu who returned it for a touchdown to make it 29-7. The Patriots were able to score a late touchdown in the final minutes of a Maye pass to running back Rhamondre Stevenson but it would not make a difference. The Seahawks were the champions of Super Bowl LX 29-13!
The Seahawks were the champions of Super Bowl LX 29-13!
Walker III would go on to win Super Bowl MVP with his 135 rushing and over 20 receiving yards making him the first running back to win the award since Denver Broncos running back Terrell Davis won the award in Super Bowl XXXII. Now with the big game over, we won’t see the NFL on our screens until the 2026 NFL Draft from April 23rd-25th in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Ryan Nickerson is a junior communications major and an opinions writer for The Retriever.
Contact Ryan at ryann3@umbc.edu.