seahawks

The Seattle Seahawks defeated the New England Patriots 29-13 in Super Bowl LX.

This is the second time the Seahawks hoisted the Lombardi Trophy in four visits to the NFL’s championship game.

After joining the NFL as an expansion team in 1976, the Seahawks didn’t make it to the big game until Super Bowl XL following the 2005 season. Coached by Mike Holmgren and led by quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, Seattle went 13-3 during the regular season and defeated Washington and Carolina in the playoffs.

In the Super Bowl, the Seahawks gave up a 75-yard touchdown run to Pittsburgh Steelers running back Willie Parker to fall behind 14-3 early in the third quarter. Seattle closed the gap with a 16-yard touchdown pass from Hasselbeck to Jerramy Stevens, but Pittsburgh got a touchdown on a trick play — a 43-yard pass from Antwaan Randle El to fellow receiver Hines Ward — midway through the fourth quarter to help seal a 21-10 win.

The Seahawks’ next visit to the big game came following the 2013 season. They went 13-3 and defeated New Orleans and San Francisco in the playoffs before facing the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII.

It was no contest. Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch had a touchdown run. Quarterback Russell Wilson had touchdown passes to Jermaine Kearse and Doug Baldwin. Malcolm Smith had a pick-six. Percy Harvin scored on a kickoff return. And coach Pete Carroll led Seattle to a 43-8 victory and its first Super Bowl championship.

The Seahawks came painfully close to becoming back-to-back champions. They went 12-4 during the 2014 season and defeated Carolina and Green Bay in the playoffs before facing the Patriots in Super Bowl XLIX.

After a 14-14 halftime tie, the Seahawks took a 10-point lead in the third quarter, only for the Patriots to score two touchdowns in the fourth for a 28-24 advantage just before the two-minute warning. Wilson led the Seahawks 79 yards on the ensuing drive — but they needed 80 yards.

On first and goal from the Patriots’ one-yard line with 26 seconds remaining, Wilson’s pass for Ricardo Lockette was intercepted by Patriots rookie Malcolm Butler to seal the win for New England.

The Seahawks didn’t return to the Super Bowl until this year. Coach Mike Macdonald and quarterback Sam Darnold led Seattle to a 14-3 record and wins over San Francisco and the Rams in the playoffs.

Kicker Jason Myers was responsible for all of the scoring in the first three quarters, connecting on four field goals for a 12-0 Seattle lead. The Seahawks scored on a 16-yard touchdown pass from Sam Darnold to AJ Barner for a 19-0 lead early in the fourth quarter. Myers made Super Bowl history with his fifth field goal, and teammate Uchenna Nwosu scored on a 45-yard interception return.

SANTA CLARA — Sam Darnold did not really know what to say.

So as the Seattle Seahawks quarterback stood on stage at Levi’s Stadium after becoming a Super Bowl champion, he made a few comments thanking teammates and fans before ultimately boiling it down to this:

“Just a job well done,” he said.

The words were simple. Concise. And captured the essence of a player who traveled a road filled with disappointments and setbacks but always believed in himself.

On Sunday, Darnold was far from spectacular. But the former San Clemente High and USC star played error-free, tossed a touchdown pass and let running back Kenneth Walker III, kicker Jason Myers and a dominating defense do the rest in a 29-13 victory over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX.

It was the Seahawks second Super Bowl title, their first since 2014.

That Seahawks team featured the legendary “Legion of Boom” defense.

This year’s defense dubbed itself the “Dark Side.” All-Pros do not abound. Individual personalities lean more toward quietly confident rather than brash.

And on Sunday, it lit up the stadium by harassing Patriots quarterback Drake Maye into three turnovers and sacking him six times.

Linebacker Derick Hall forced a third-quarter fumble that turned the momentum. Safety Julian Love ended any real chance of a comeback with a fourth-quarter interception. And, after cornerback Devon Witherspoon hit Maye’s arm on a blitz, linebacker Uchenna Nwosu returned an interception for a touchdown.

Patriots quarterback Drake Maye throws an interception as he is hit by Seahawks cornerback Devon Witherspoon in the fourth quarter of Seattle’s 29-13 win in Super Bowl LX on Sunday.

(Adam Hunger / Associated Press)

“They lived up to the ‘Dark Side’ today,” Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said as he held the Vince Lombardi Trophy on the winner’s stage. “It’s going to go down in the history books.”

Myers made history by kicking a Super Bowl-record five field goals. Walker rushed for 135 yards and was voted the game’s most valuable player, the first running back to win the award since Terrell Davis in 1998.

But the story of the Seahawks’ season revolved around Darnold.

The third pick in the 2018 draft endured tough times with the New York Jets and Carolina Panthers before he spent a season as the backup for the San Francisco 49ers. In 2024, he led the Minnesota Vikings to 14 victories but the team did not re-sign him.

The Seahawks welcomed him with open arms, and he became the first former USC quarterback to start a Super Bowl.

Is this what the Seahawks envisioned when they signed Darnold to a three-year deal with $55 million in guarantees?

Seahawks coach Mike MacDonald holds the Vince Lombardi Trophy on stage in front of Sam Darnold and Kenneth Walker III following a 29-13 win over the New England Patriots on Sunday.

(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)

“Yeah, absolutely,” general manager John Schneider said in a celebratory locker room filled with cigar smoke and champagne. “The person, the leader — he’s the ultimate competitor.”

On Sunday, Darnold was not nearly as sharp as he was in a pivotal Week 16 overtime victory over the Rams, and the NFC championship game against the Rams.

But early in the fourth quarter, he connected with tight end AJ Barner for a touchdown that gave the Seahawks a 19-0 lead. He completed 19 of 38 passes for 202 yards. He did not have a pass intercepted. He did not fumble.

“I feel like I could have been a lot better,” he said. “Feel like we could have scored more points, to be quite frank. But again, we got the job done.”

A job well done by Darnold all season, teammates said.

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold throws a pass during the second half against the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX on Sunday.

(Charlie Riedel / Associated Press)

“That’s the heartbeat,” linebacker Ernest Jones IV said. “Truly the heartbeat of our team.”

Receiver Cooper Kupp marveled at Darnold’s “redemption story.”

“I don’t know if there’s a quarterback in NFL history that’s done what he’s done,” Kupp said after catching six passes for 61 yards.

Kupp and Jones can speak with authority about redemption.

Last March, the Rams released Kupp, the 2021 NFL offensive player of the year and most valuable player of Super Bowl LVI at SoFi Stadium. He signed with his home state Seahawks and instantly became a veteran leader.

Now he’s a two-time Super Bowl champion.

“Sounds pretty good,” Kupp said, grinning. “That’s unbelievable, man.

“The story that’s been written, my story, I don’t know if I could have written a better ending to this year. Some really tough times this year, and to be in this place, be able to go through this year with these guys, it’s one of the most fun years I’ve had.”

Jones started for the Rams in Super Bowl LVI as a rookie but rather than extending him after his third year, the team traded him to Tennessee before last season. The Titans later traded him to the Seahawks, who gave him a three-year extension last spring.

“It’s amazing, man,” Jones said of being a two-time champion. “Those California Super Bowls — I like those.”

After Darnold’s touchdown pass, it appeared the Seahawks were on their way to the first shutout in Super Bowl history. But Maye came back and fired a touchdown pass to Mack Hollins, pulling the Patriots to within 12 points.

Patriots fans perhaps envisioned a repeat of Super Bowl LI in 2017, when Tom Brady led the Patriots back from a 28-3 deficit to beat the Atlanta Falcons.

But the Seahawks made sure that was not going to happen.

Love picked off a Maye pass, and Myers kicked his final field goal to increase the lead to 22-7. Late in the fourth quarter, Witherspoon hit Maye, and Nwosu grabbed the ball in the air and returned it 45 yards for a 29-7 lead.

The Seahawks were on their way to finishing the season with their 10th consecutive victory.

Maye, runner-up to Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford for the NFL most valuable player award, completed 27 of 43 passes for 295 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions.

“They had applied some pressure where they got us a few times,” Maye said, “and we’ve got to be better with the football and make better decisions and I’ve got to make better throws when the game goes like that.”

When it was over, Darnold was holding the Vince Lombardi Trophy on stage.

Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold, left, and running back Kenneth Walker III celebrate on stage after a 29-13 win over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX on Sunday.

(Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)

“I was like, ‘This thing’s a lot lighter than I thought it was,’” he said. “But it was great just to be able to hold that trophy and finally enjoy it.”

Darnold will enjoy something else: He will now forever be known as Super Bowl-champion Sam Darnold.

“It’s special, man,” he said. “I’m not going to lie — it’s a dream come true. It really is.

“Just going to continue to lean in to that, and soak it all in.”

The Seattle Seahawks defence put on a clinic to lead their team to a 29-13 victory over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl 60.

How does the saying go? Defence wins championships – and that’s exactly what happened at Levi’s Stadium on Sunday.

Here are some of the best pictures from a memorable night as the Seahawks got their hands on the Lombardi trophy for the second time in franchise history.

The Seattle Seahawks produced a devastating defensive display to beat the New England Patriots and claim their second Super Bowl victory.

Two of the NFL’s strongest defences battled it out in Sunday’s showpiece and the Seahawks emphatically came out on top to win 29-13 at Levi’s Stadium.

It was a defensive performance for the ages and Briton Aden Durde played a pivotal role, becoming the first overseas coach to win America’s biggest game.

Seattle’s 46-year-old defensive coordinator has helped create the most-feared defence in the NFL, which has become known as ‘the Dark Side’, and they showed why on American football’s biggest stage in Santa Clara, California.

New England’s second-year quarterback Drake Maye narrowly missed out on this season’s Most Valuable Player award but was stifled by the Seahawks, who claimed six sacks, forced three turnovers and scored a defensive touchdown.

After Seattle led 9-0 at half-time, Maye’s first turnover resulted in the game’s opening touchdown for tight end AJ Barner early in the fourth quarter.

Linebacker Uchenna Nwosu then returned an interception for a 45-yard touchdown, while Jason Meyers kicked a record five field goals.

“We were the better team, we’re the best team. We loved each other, we believed in each other and now we’re champions,” said Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald.

“We went to the dark side tonight, we love our players, they made it happen. They made it come to life and we won the game.”

I like Seattle. The Seahawks were the NFL’s most complete team this season and can present problems in all three phases.

While Seattle’s defense doesn’t scare New England — the Patriots prevailed against the solid Chargers and elite Houston and Denver defenses — the Seahawks likely will give Drake Maye’s blockers problems.

As good as he was this season, Maye fumbled six times in the playoffs, losing three. New England’s run defense was among the league’s best early in the season, then fell off, but has snapped back with the return of Milton Williams.

Establishing the run is huge for the Seahawks, who need that for their play-action passing game. Seattle needs some stepped-up production from running back Kenneth Walker III, who was so-so in the championship game.

It hurts the Seahawks that they don’t have running back Zach Charbonnet, who was excellent in short yardage and pass protection.

The Patriots have really good defensive backs who will have their hands full with Jaxson Smith-Njigba and the Super Bowl-seasoned Cooper Kupp.

Sam Darnold has proven time and again that he has turned the corner in his career and is legitimately sharp, reliable and poised under pressure. It feels like this game will be close for awhile, and Seattle will pull away just enough in the second half.

Pick: Seahawks 28, Patriots 23

SAN FRANCISCO — Neither team began the season among the favorites to reach the Super Bowl.

The Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots both were regarded as long shots.

But not by their coaches and players.

On Sunday, the Seahawks and Patriots will play in Super Bowl LX at Levi’s Stadium.

After the Seahawks defeated the Rams in the NFC championship game, Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald was asked during a postgame broadcast about being an “afterthought” behind the Rams and San Francisco 49ers in the NFC West.

“We did not care,” Macdonald proclaimed, making public an attitude players adopted throughout Macdonald’s two seasons.

The Seahawks reflect their second-year coach, safety Julian Love said, by keeping an intense but “matter-of-fact” approach.

“He tries to keep the main thing, the main thing,” Love said. “He doesn’t like to make … grandeur out of everything.

“Like, he’ll say, ‘Who do we play next, and what time do we play?” And then we’ll all say in a team meeting, constantly, just like every meeting, ‘We don’t care!’ That mindset and his quote … that’s just how he’s been all year, all the past two years and that shows who we are as a team now.”

The Seahawks won their last seven regular-season games and finished 14-3 to capture the top seed in the NFC. After a first-round bye, they routed the 49ers and beat the Rams to advance to the Super Bowl for the first time since 2015, when they lost to the Patriots and fell short of repeating as champions.

Quarterback Sam Darnold, cast aside by the Minnesota Vikings after he led them to a 14-win season in 2024, played well throughout the season and spectacularly in the playoffs.

Running back Kenneth Walker III leads the rushing attack, and George Holani has stepped into a complementary role that Zach Charbonnet filled before suffering a knee injury in the divisional round against the 49ers.

Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba runs with the ball during a win over the Rams in the NFC championship on Jan. 25.

(Ben VanHouten / Associated Press)

Receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba was voted the NFL offensive player of the year after catching 119 passes, 10 for touchdowns. Darnold also relies on receiver Cooper Kupp, the 2021 NFL offensive player of the year and Super Bowl LVI most valuable player when he played for the Rams, and the electric Rashid Shaheed, along with tight end A.J. Barner.

Linebacker Ernest Jones, linemen Leonard Williams, Byron Murphy and DeMarcus Lawrence, cornerback Devon Witherspoon and safety Nick Emmanwori are among the standouts for the Seahawks “Dark Side” defense that gave up a league-best 17.2 points per game in the regular season.

Jason Myers is the kicker, All-Pro Michael Dickson the punter and Shaheed the dynamic kick returner.

Like the Seahawks, the Patriots and their fans were similarly inspired by a speech receiver Stefon Diggs made before a preseason game, when he proclaimed “We all we got. We all we need.”

After finishing 4-13 last season, Patriots owner Robert Kraft fired first-year coach Jerod Mayo and hired Mike Vrabel, a former Patriots linebacker and three-time Super Bowl champion who coached the Tennessee Titans for six seasons.

“We were intentional about making sure that when the players returned there was a program in place that they could look at, that they could believe in, that they wanted to be a part of and that they wanted to protect,” Vrabel said. “That’s what we set out to do.”

Vrabel, the NFL coach of the year, led the Patriots to a 14-3 record and their first AFC East title since 2019. The Patriots then defeated the Chargers and the Houston Texans before beating the Denver Broncos in the AFC championship game to advance to the Super Bowl for the first time since the 2018 season, when they defeated the Rams in Super Bowl LIII.

Quarterback Drake Maye is a dual threat who became an MVP finalist while leading an offense that averaged 28.8 points a game.

Diggs is Maye’s top target — he eclipsed 1,000 yards receiving for the seventh time — and tight end Hunter Henry plays a prominent role. Receivers Kayshon Boutte, Mack Hollins and Demario Douglas and tight end Austin Hooper also have made plays.

New England Patriots wide receiver Stefon Diggs runs with the ball against the New York Jets on Dec. 28.

(Adam Hunger / Associated Press)

Running backs Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson combined for 13 rushing touchdowns during the regular season.

Defensive lineman Milton Williams, linebackers K’Lavon Chaisson and Robert Spillane, cornerback Christian Gonzalez and safety Jaylinn Hawkins are among the key players for a defense that gave up 18.8 points a game during the regular season — the league’s fourth-best mark. Sack leader Harold Landry III is questionable because of a knee issue.

Andy Borregales is the kicker, Bryce Baringer the punter, and Marcus Jones is a second-team All-Pro punt returner.

SAN FRANCISCO — Matthew Stafford’s name is already all over the NFL record book.

Add another milestone to the Rams quarterback’s achievements.

On Thursday night, Stafford was announced as the NFL most valuable player during NFL Honors at the Palace of Fine Arts.

The 17-year veteran finished ahead of New England quarterback Drake Maye in balloting by a panel of 50 journalists who regularly cover the NFL. The panel is assembled by the Associated Press. Los Angeles Times reporters do not participate in voting for awards.

During his acceptance speech, Stafford thanks his wife, Kelly, and daughters along with teammates, who he pointed at some in the audience and said he looked forward to playing with them again next season.

Stafford, who turns 38 on Saturday, passed for a league-best 46 touchdowns and 4,707 yards.

Stafford led the Rams to a 12-5 record and directed an offense that led the league in scoring and yards per game. He was voted first-team All-Pro.

“He’s the epitome of an igniter,” Rams coach Sean McVay said this week. “He’s just this incredibly humble superstar that has the ability to make everybody feel better when you’re around him. … I know I’m biased, but I can remove my bias and say I think he was the best player in the NFL this year.”

Stafford also engineered late winning drives in playoff victories over the Carolina Panthers and the Chicago Bears before the Rams suffered a 31-27 defeat by the Seahawks in the NFC championship.

Stafford, the top pick in the 2009 draft, played 12 seasons for the Detroit Lions before he was traded to the Rams in 2021 for Jared Goff, two first-round draft picks and a third-round pick.

In his first season with the Rams, Stafford led them to victory in Super Bowl LVI at SoFi Stadium.

Stafford ranks sixth all-time in completions (5,562), yards passing (64,516) and is seventh in touchdown passes (423).

Maye, 23, is a second-year pro who will play against the Seahawks on Sunday in Super Bowl LX. Maye led the Patriots to a 14-3 record — including an 8-0 road mark — and completed a league-leading and franchise record 72% of his passes. He passed for 31 touchdowns, with eight interceptions, and also rushed for 450 yards and four touchdowns.