Seahawks Dominate Patriots En Route to Second Super Bowl Title
The Seattle Seahawks have now won a Super Bowl for the second time. They dominated the New England Patriots by a score of 29-13. They held the Patriots, who had the second-best scoring offense in the NFL this year, off the scoreboard for three quarters. It was an ugly game all around, but the Seahawks proved their mettle and earned their first title in over a decade.
Seahawks earn dominant victory in Super Bowl
The Seattle Seahawks may not have resembled it, but they were one of the best teams ever. They finished with the best point differential in regular season and postseason play of any champion since the NFL's realignment in 2002. In the last two decades and change, no one's beaten their opponents worse than the Seahawks have.
That now includes a 29-13 domination over the New England Patriots. They were not on the right page on offense, kicking three field goals through one half of play and adding a fourth before they could even score (off a turnover, fittingly).
The defense sealed it with an interception touchdown that put the game on ice, which was the perfect end. They forced multiple turnovers, returned the one for a touchdown, got six sacks, and had almost endless pressure on Drake Maye. By EPA, it was, by far, the worst showing of the year. This was just days after he narrowly missed out on MVP.
The Seahawks led the league in scoring defense, and that shone in this game. They were smothering. When Maye had time, he didn't have open receivers. Most of the time, though, he didn't have time. Rookie left tackle Will Campbell gave up 14 quick pressures, setting a dubious record.
"We love each other," said Julian Love via ESPN, who had an interception off of Maye. "We're constantly messing around, never taking ourselves too seriously; but when that whistle sounds and it's between the white lines, that's when it's serious. When there's work to be done, we go to work."
Went to work is exactly what they did. They played ferociously, getting to Maye at will and wreaking havoc. When he did find a receiver, the Seahawks usually flocked to the ball and made quick tackles, which was a major strength all year.
Seahawks players discuss dominance
It wasn't the most memorable Super Bowl of all time, but it will be for the Seattle Seahawks. They have now won two titles on the strength of otherworldly defenses, and they've managed to shut down some good offenses in those two games.
"That group up front, they knew they had to play the most unselfish game they've ever played," defensive coordinator Aden Durde said. "Someone was going to get a sack, and it didn't matter who." Byron Murphy, Devon Witherspoon, and Derick Hall led the charge in that facet.
"Just from watching film and studying, we kind of knew how their tackles were going to set in pass protection, and we know they were kind of struggling this postseason," Witherspoon added. "So we were going to attack them."
The Seahawks reportedly added plays to the defensive playbook until the day before the game."(Mike Macdonald) will game-plan up until whenever," Leonard Williams said. "We'll sometimes put a new play in Saturday morning. We'll sometimes put a new play in Sunday at halftime. DeMarcus Lawrence says you have to have a Harvard education to play in this defense... But I think we trust Mike and his genius, and it works."
This may have been a new experience for everyone, as most players played in their first-ever Super Bowl. But Macdonald thinks that's an edge for them. They're all in this together, and they know they have principles that guide them into these new, unfamiliar areas. "At some point, you're going to get distracted, and that's OK, but it's about how relentless can we be in coming back to center, back to being in this moment," he said.
The Seahawks were certainly relentless on Sunday night.
