Seahawks’ ‘Dark Side’ Defense, Kenneth Walker Power Seattle to Super Bowl LX Win Over Patriots

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — By the time Uchenna Nwosu rumbled 45 yards the other way with Drake Maye’s late-game mistake cradled in his arms, Levi’s Stadium no longer felt like neutral ground.

Blue and green jerseys drowned out the rest as the Seattle Seahawks’ defense — a unit that proudly calls itself the “Dark Side” — finished off a 29-13 victory over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX on Sunday night, clinching the franchise’s second Lombardi Trophy and closing a 12-year loop in its history.

Seattle, which lost a memorable Super Bowl to New England on a last-minute goal-line interception in February 2015, never trailed this time. A relentless defense, a throwback performance from running back Kenneth Walker III and mistake-free play from quarterback Sam Darnold gave the Seahawks their first title since the 2013 season and their first of the post–Russell Wilson, post–Pete Carroll era.

“This is surreal,” Walker said on the field. “This doesn’t happen without my teammates. The MVP, all that, it’s for all of us.”

Walker delivers MVP night

Walker carried 27 times for 135 yards and added two catches for 26 yards, finishing with 161 yards from scrimmage and earning Super Bowl MVP honors. He became the first running back to win the award since Terrell Davis did it for Denver in January 1998, a rare distinction in a league increasingly dominated by quarterbacks and spread passing attacks.

Field goals, then the knockout

The Seahawks led 12-0 after three quarters on the strength of Jason Myers’ right leg and a defense that kept Maye, New England’s second-year quarterback and regular-season MVP runner-up, off the scoreboard until the fourth quarter. Myers went 5-for-5 on field goals, from 33, 39, 41 and 41 yards plus a late kick, setting a Super Bowl record for most made field goals in a game.

Seattle broke the game open early in the fourth. After edge rusher Derick Hall strip-sacked Maye and cornerback Byron Murphy II fell on the loose ball at the New England 37, Darnold found tight end AJ Barner on a 16-yard touchdown pass. Myers’ extra point made it 19-0 with 13:22 to play.

New England finally responded with a 35-yard touchdown pass from Maye to wide receiver Mack Hollins and later a short scoring toss to running back Rhamondre Stevenson, but the Patriots never got closer than nine. Nwosu’s 45-yard return of a Maye turnover — initially ruled a fumble, later credited as an interception after review — restored a two-score lead and effectively ended the Patriots’ hopes of a comeback.

“I just saw the ball and green in front of me,” Nwosu said. “Our mentality all year has been attack. That was just another chance to finish.”

Seattle’s defense sets the tone

Seattle’s defense did most of the finishing. Under 38-year-old head coach Mike Macdonald, in his second season, the Seahawks allowed the fewest points in the NFL during the 2025 regular season. On Sunday, they sacked Maye six times, forced three turnovers and held New England scoreless for three quarters, limiting the Patriots to 79 rushing yards and controlling the line of scrimmage.

“They disguised a lot and brought pressure from everywhere,” Maye said. “That starts with me — I’ve got to be better. I’m so proud of this team, but there are plays I wish I could have back.”

Maye completed 27 of 43 passes for 295 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions, with one lost fumble. Much of his production came after Seattle had built a multi-score lead. The 23-year-old was sacked 21 times during New England’s postseason run, the most for any quarterback in a single playoff year since the AFL-NFL merger.

After the game, Maye revealed he received a pain-killing injection in his right shoulder before kickoff, an injury he said dated to the AFC championship game in Denver. He insisted it was not a factor.

“Everybody is playing through something this time of year,” he said. “That’s not an excuse.”

First-year Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel, a former New England linebacker who won three Super Bowls as a player under Bill Belichick, pushed back on any attempt to pin the loss on his young quarterback.

“We can try to put it on one guy,” Vrabel said. “That’ll never happen here. It starts with us as coaches. We didn’t protect him well enough, and we didn’t play well enough around him.”

What it means for both franchises

The loss ended a resurgent season for New England, which improved from back-to-back 4-13 records to 14-3 and its first AFC East title since 2019. It was the Patriots’ 12th Super Bowl appearance, extending their own league record, and their sixth defeat in the game. They remain tied with Pittsburgh for most Super Bowl wins, at six.

For Seattle, the win capped the best regular season in franchise history, a 14-3 campaign that earned the NFC’s No. 1 seed and returned the team to the league’s upper tier in its 50th year. General manager John Schneider rebuilt the roster around a deep, versatile defense and an offense that leaned on Walker and asked Darnold to avoid the mistakes that plagued his earlier stops.

Darnold, the No. 3 overall pick by the New York Jets in 2018, arrived in Seattle after stints with the Carolina Panthers, San Francisco 49ers and Minnesota Vikings. In the Super Bowl, he completed 19 of 38 passes for 202 yards and the touchdown to Barner, with no interceptions.

“It’s been a journey,” Darnold said during the postgame trophy presentation. “We did it. That’s all I can say. We did it.”

Closure after Super Bowl XLIX

The victory resonated in Seattle not only as a championship but as a measure of closure. The Seahawks’ previous Super Bowl against New England, Super Bowl XLIX on Feb. 1, 2015, ended with Wilson’s pass from the 1-yard line intercepted by cornerback Malcolm Butler, preserving the Patriots’ 28-24 win and igniting years of second-guessing over why Seattle did not hand the ball to Marshawn Lynch.

On Sunday, with Walker pounding out first downs and the defense dictating terms, the Seahawks needed no late heroics — and no controversial calls — at the goal line.

“This is a different team and a different time,” Macdonald said. “But we know what this means to our fans. Our guys have earned the right to have their own story now.”

A Super Bowl stage beyond football

Around the game, the Super Bowl once again doubled as a cultural and economic showcase. Green Day, the Bay Area punk band, headlined an on-field opening ceremony that brought generations of former Super Bowl MVPs back to the spotlight. Puerto Rican star Bad Bunny led the Apple Music Halftime Show with an all-Spanish set featuring guest appearances by Cardi B, Karol G and others, a performance that streaming services said produced a record spike in global listens for a Latin artist during the game.

California officials projected that hosting Super Bowl LX would generate roughly $500 million in economic activity for the Bay Area, part of a broader wave of major sports events expected to bring billions to the state in the coming years, including 2026 World Cup matches and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

Back in Seattle, fans poured into the streets Sunday night, celebrating a second title 12 years after the first. The city is planning a downtown parade later this week, echoing the massive gathering that followed the team’s blowout of Denver in Super Bowl XLVIII.

In Foxborough and across New England, the mood was more complicated. Maye left the field in tears, then stood at a podium and answered every question.

“It hurts,” he said. “But we’ll be back.”

For the Seahawks, the message was simpler. A franchise long defined by the one play it didn’t make against New England finally left a Super Bowl against the Patriots with nothing unfinished — only confetti, a silver trophy and a new chapter written on its own terms.