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Rapid Reactions: Seahawks Win Super Bowl LX Behind A Dominant Defensive Performance

The Seahawks are Super Bowl champions once again thanks to a dominant defensive performance.

Feb 08, 2026 at 07:35 PM

John Boyle

Seahawks.com Senior Reporter

SANTA CLARA, Calif.—The Seahawks are Super Bowl champs once again after beating the Patriots 29-13 in Super Bowl LX.

Seattle's defense was dominant, the Seahawks did enough on offense led by a big game from Kenneth Walker III, and special teams came through once again as the Seahawks finished off their season with a complete victory that was punctuated by blue and green confetti falling from on the Levi's Stadium turf.

1. The Dark Side defense ended the season with a statement performance.

Seattle's defense, which goes by The Dark Side, was one of the best in the league all season, giving up the fewest points in the NFL.

A standout defense leading the Seahawks to the Super Bowl, of course, came with Legion of Boom comparisons. Current players have tried to stay away from those comparisons, saying they respect the past champions, but are their own, unique defense, but it will be a little harder to avoid the comparison now that The Dark Side defense also turned in an all-time performance in a Super Bowl victory.

The Patriots managed two fourth-quarter touchdowns after the Seahawks built a three-score lead, but it was an overall great performance for Seattle's defense.

The Seahawks sacked Drake Maye six times, forced three turnovers, including a 45-yard Uchenna Nwosu pick-six, and before New England got going in the fourth quarter, the Seahawks forced punts on New England's first eight possessions, other than a one-play kneel-down drive to end the first half, then on the next possession, Seattle got a turnover, its first of three in the second half.

2. Seattle's pass rush, and Mike Macdonald's excellent playcalling, made life miserable for Drake Maye.

Drake Maye had been sacked 15 times in three playoff games heading into the Super Bowl, and the Seahawks were able to keep that trend up in the Super Bowl, sacking Maye six times, and hitting him 11 times, with two of those hits resulting in turnovers, a Derick Hall forced fumble that was recovered by Byron Murphy II, and a Devon Witherspoon hit that knocked the ball right into Nwosu's hands, a play initially ruled a sack and forced fumble before it was ruled a forward pass intercepted by Nwosu.

Seattle's front-four did plenty of work, with Murphy and Hall each recording two sacks and rookie Rylie Mills adding another, a very impressive bull rush that took out the guard blocking him and Maye. But another huge factor was the blitzes Mike Macondald drew up, especially with Witherspoon, with the third-year cornerback recording one sack and three quarterback hits, the last of which led to Nwosu's touchdown. Witherspoon also had multiple other rushes that led to rushed incompletions.

3. Devon Witherspoon was a menace.

As outlined above, Macdonald send his three-time Pro-Bowl cornerback on a lot of blitzes, and Witherspoon was very effective from New England's first possession, which ended on an incomplete pass with Witherspoon closing on Maye.

Witherspoon later added a sack, had three quarterback hits and helped make the game-clinching defensive touchdown happen.

Simply put, one of the Seahawks' best players stepped up on the game's biggest stage.

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4. Kenneth Walker III was the offensive star on a day dominated by defenses.

Sunday's game was, for the most part, a story of two great defenses making life tough on their opponents, but one reason why the Seahawks were able to do enough, offensively, to win was the play of Kenneth Walker III and their rushing game.

Walker, who had over 100 scrimmage yards in three straight games and four of his last five heading into the Super Bowl, hit the century mark by halftime, rushing for 94 yards on 14 carries while adding six yards on his one catch, which allowed the Seahawks to convert on third down. Walker had runs of 30 and 29 yards on one drive to set up one of Seattle's first half field goals, and his 94 first-half yards were the second most rushing yards in the first half of a Super Bowl behind Timmy Smith, who had 131 on 10 carries for Washington in 1988.

Walker finished with 135 yards on 27 carries, and added 26 more receiving yards on two catches. His dominant offensive performance led to being awarded the Super Bowl LX MVP.

5. The Seahawks have won with great special teams all season, and did it again with big performances from Michael Dickson and Jason Myers.

In a low-scoring, defensive battle, special teams play takes on even more significance, and on Sunday kicker Jason Myers and punter Michael Dickson both served up a reminder that they are two of the very best in the NFL at what they do.

Myers' contributions were obvious, with the veteran kicker making all five of his field goal attempts to set a Super Bowl record, a necessary big game given the Seahawks' struggles to finish in the red zone.

Dickson, meanwhile, averaged 47.9 yards on seven punts, and had one second-quarter punt go out of bounds at the 2-yard line, setting up the defense for a quick stop, which in turn led to good field position that the offense turned into a field goal just before halftime. In the fourth quarter, Dickson had a punt downed at the 4-yard line, and another that went out of bounds at the 6-yard line.

6. Seahawks fans turned out in a big way.

Maybe it was the buildup after more than a decade to get to the Super Bowl, or maybe it was the relatively close proximity with the Super Bowl on the West Coast, but mostly, it was that Seahawks fans turn out everywhere the team plays.

The first SEA-HAWKS! chants could be heard in Levi's stadium more than an heard before kickoff, and continued throughout the game as 12s made Levi's Stadium feel like a home game.