“The Seattle Seahawks are your new world champions,” echoed through Levi’s Stadium late Sunday evening in Santa Clara, Calif. Sam Darnold, Kenneth Walker and — most importantly — the Seattle defense took care of business in Super Bowl LX, defeating the New England Patriots 29–13 to hoist the second Lombardi Trophy in franchise history.
The NFL’s ultimate game was packed with star power, with big names scattered throughout the stadium’s luxury suites. From Kim Kardashian to MrBeast to Roger Federer, Levi’s Stadium was loaded with celebrity talent. The day kicked off with major festivities, highlighting just how much of a spectacle the Super Bowl has become.
After multiple current and future Hall of Famers such as Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Joe Montana were honored in celebration of 60 years of Super Bowls, Green Day took the stage for a pregame hype performance. The California natives ran through hits from their catalog, including “Holiday” and “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” before closing with “American Idiot.”
The stadium was rocking before turning its attention to actor Chris Pratt, who welcomed the Seattle Seahawks as their 12th Man. Jon Bon Jovi followed, introducing the New England Patriots as Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train” blasted over the loudspeakers. With both teams on the field, Brandi Carlile performed “America the Beautiful,” followed by Charlie Puth singing the national anthem, and then it was finally time for kickoff.
After the Patriots won the coin toss, Seattle was set to receive the opening kickoff. “Off we go from Santa Clara,” exclaimed NBC’s Mike Tirico as Patriots kicker Andy Borregales sent the ball sailing into the Seattle end zone. Quarterback Sam Darnold and the Seahawks’ offense took the field against a New England defense that had been dominant throughout their entire playoff run.
Seattle’s opening drive started slowly until Darnold connected on a 23-yard completion to former Super Bowl MVP Cooper Kupp along the Seahawks’ sideline. While it appeared Kupp may not have gotten both feet in bounds, New England elected not to challenge the call so early in the game. Later in the drive, Darnold missed wide receiver Raheed Shaheed on third-and-seven, setting up Jason Myers for a 33-yard field goal attempt. Myers split the uprights, giving the Seahawks an early 3–0 lead.
Patriots quarterback Drake Maye’s first drive was mediocre, with the Patriots able to pick up two first downs before punter Bryce Baringer gave the ball right back to the Seahawks’ offense. That was the story of the first half of the game, great defense and not a lick of offense. The next four drives resulted in punts for both sides. Darnold blew throws, Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez played lockdown defense on Offensive Player of the Year Jaxon Smith-Njigba and the Seattle edge rushers had their way with the Patriots’ offensive line.
Maye was by no means good in the first half, but nearly all of the Patriots’ issues stemmed from the lack of protection they were able to give him. The left side of the line was anchored by two rookies, left tackle Will Campbell (the No. 4 pick in the 2025 draft) and left guard Jared Wilson. This marked the first Super Bowl in history in which two rookies started on the offensive line. While that is an impressive statistic, their vulnerability was heavily exposed throughout the game and, in reality, the entirety of their playoff run.
Campbell was truly awful throughout the game, especially in the first half, allowing a career-high 14 pressures — the most by any lineman in a single game all year. Yes, the Seahawks put themselves in a great position to make Maye uncomfortable, and cornerback Devon Witherspoon played a significant role in that, but Campbell and Wilson simply didn’t look like they belonged on the field. If only Patriots legend David Andrews, who was in the crowd, could’ve suited up at center — maybe Maye would have had more than a second before the pocket collapsed and wouldn’t have taken three sacks in the first half.
Seattle running back Kenneth Walker III had a few breakaway runs, including a 30-yarder in the second quarter that set up a field goal, but the Seattle offense was otherwise quiet. The Patriots had a few chances to sack Darnold, from which he narrowly escaped, but aside from that, he wasn’t particularly impressive either. If there was an MVP of the first half for the Seahawks, it was punter Michael Dickson who time and time again dropped punts inside the Patriots’ 10-yard line, leaving New England with awful field position.
Heading into the half, Myers kicked his third field goal of the game, giving Seattle a 9–0 lead. To say it was a boring two quarters of football would be an understatement — punt after punt after punt, with almost zero offensive production from either side. It looked even bleaker for the Patriots and Maye, who finished the half 6-for-11 for 48 yards, well below his regular-season completion percentage of 72%. Regardless, they were only down nine points, with a whole lot of football left to be played.
The players jogged off the field, and within five minutes fans were immersed in the world of halftime performer Bad Bunny. He came out swinging with “Tití Me Preguntó” as he walked through a cornfield made up of people in bush costumes. As he journeyed through the set, we got a cameo from Lady Gaga, who put a Latin jazz twist on her Grammy-nominated song “Die With a Smile.” Cardi B, Pedro Pascal, Alix Earle and Ronald Acuña Jr. were also spotted as support dancers throughout the performance. Bad Bunny concluded his evening with the message that “the only thing more powerful than hate is love,” naming every country in the Americas before exiting to his iconic “DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS.”
New England received the second-half kickoff and immediately went three-and-out, with two more incompletions from Maye. The Seahawks got back to their ways as well, moving down the field but only being able to score a field goal, once again thanks to the foot of Myers. Both teams remained stagnant on offense for much of the third quarter. Maye continued to get sacked, and Darnold was average at best.
With 16 seconds left in the quarter, Seahawks linebacker Derick Hall sacked Maye, forcing a fumble. Defensive tackle Byron Murphy recovered the ball at the New England 37-yard line. Darnold finally capitalized, throwing a 16-yard strike to a wide-open tight end A.J. Barner to open up a 19-point lead.
Head coach Mike Vrabel and the Patriots were in need of a touchdown as it was pretty much do or die at this point. Remarkably, Maye connected with wide receiver Mack Hollins on a 24-yard pass, and on the very next play went back to Hollins for a miraculous 35-yard touchdown. Just like that, there was hope, as New England cut the deficit to 12 points with 12 and a half minutes left in the game.
Darnold stalled out on the next drive, giving the Patriots the ball back with a chance to make it a one-score game. It seemed like New England had found a bit of rhythm while moving down the field, before Maye threw an interception that was returned 35 yards by safety Julian Love. This set up Myers for his fifth field goal of the game, giving him the record for most field goals in a Super Bowl. Down 22–10, it was truly crunch time for the Patriots if they wanted any chance of storming back.
Seahawks linebacker Uchenna Nwosu put the final nail in the coffin. Maye was hit by Witherspoon and the ball popped right into Nwosu’s hands, which he took all the way to the end zone for a touchdown. At 29–7 with four minutes to go, that was it for New England. Maye was able to pad his stats slightly with a garbage-time touchdown, but the game was completely out of reach. After a final pass was caught by Patriots running back TreVeyon Henderson, the clock hit triple zeros, and the Seattle Seahawks were back atop the NFL.
The Patriots’ offense did not play well by any means, but the Seattle defense was incredible. Yes, the offensive line struggled mightily, but the Seahawks anticipated that weakness and schemed to exploit it. Walker finished with 135 rushing yards and 26 receiving yards, which was good enough to earn Super Bowl MVP honors. Walker became the eighth running back to receive the prestigious award and the first since Terrell Davis in 1998.
As for the Patriots, it was still a remarkable season. Vrabel won Coach of the Year and rebuilt the team from the inside out. The Patriots improved by leaps and bounds from their four-win season last year, finishing 17–4 including the playoffs. While they are still a ways away from winning a Super Bowl, continued aggression in the offseason could pay off, as the foundation is clearly in place with Maye, Vrabel and Gonzalez.
