Super Bowl 2026 winners and losers Seahawks defense Kenneth Walker soar Drake Maye flops for Pat

Super Bowl 2026 winners and losers Seahawks defense Kenneth Walker soar Drake Maye flops for Pat

Defense still wins championships. How can you argue that now? The defeated the 2913 in Super Bowl 60 at Levis Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Sunday in a dominant defensive performance that eclipsed their 438 demolition of the in Super Bowl 38. The Seahawks won their second Super Cameron Payne Jersey Bowl in franchise history and coach Michael MacDonald capped a fantastic second season with quarterback Sam Darnold. The Patriots who returned to the Super Bowl in Mike Vrabels first season with quarterback Drake Maye were not quite ready for this stage. Seattle won a defensive struggle with three secondhalf turnovers, and that will be the lasting legacy of Super Bowl 60. Here is a look at the biggest winners and losers in Super Bowl history. SUPER BOWL 60 HQ : | | Winner: Seattle defense Six sacks, three turnovers, and eight tackles marked one of the best collective defensive efforts in Super Bowl history. New England had 331 total yards, but keep in mind the Patriots had just 78 total yards heading into the fourth quarter. The Seahawks' defense set the tone early. Seattle recorded three sacks from Derick Hall, Devon Witherspoon, and Rylie Mills. The Patriots managed just 51 total yards in the first two quarters, trailing 9-0 at halftime. That dominance continued in the second half. Hall's strip sack of Maye with 16 seconds left in the third quarterrecovered by Byron Murphyled to a touchdown for Seattle. New England didnt advance past the Seattle 43-yard line until the fourth quarter, when Maye broke the shutout with a 35-yard TD pa s to Mack Hollins with 12:27 left in the game. Maye threw an interception to Julian Love on the next po se sion, effectively ending any hope of a comeback. On the following drive, Devon Witherspoon pre sured Maye, and Uchenna Nwosu intercepted the pa s for a defensive touchdown that capped the Seahawks dominant performance. SEAHAWKS DEFENSIVE TOUCHDOWN FOR UCHENNA NWOSU OMG Super Bowl LX on NBC Stream on + Peacock NFL (@NFL) For the second straight season, . Seattle made its mark. Loser: Drake Maye Maye, the No. 3 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, flopped in his Super Bowl debut. The New England QB finished 27 of 43 pa sing for 295 yards, two TDs and two interceptions, but those statistics are misleading. He was 8 of 18 for 61 yards heading into the fourth quarter, and he committed three turnovers in a game where those mistakes were the difference in the second half. New England had just one play of 20 yards or more in the first half. Mayes efficient play during the regular season led to a hotly contested MVP vote with winner Matthew Stafford, but the Super Bowl was a different story. Maye struggled on third down where the Patriots were just 6 of 15 for the game. Where will Maye go from here? Chalk it up as a learning experience, but the Super Bowl always follows quarterbacks throughout their careers, especially the ones that are in that MVP race. Kansas Citys Patrick Mahomes and Cincinnatis Joe Burrow were not in the playoffs. Buffalos Josh Allen will have a new coach. There are no guarantees of getting back on this stage. MORE: Winner: Kenneth Walker III Walker the Super Bowl MVP finished with 27 carries for 135 yards for the Seahawks. Seattle out-rushed New England 14179. That running game turned out to be a difference on a week where MacDonald was questioned repeatedly for Pete Carrolls decision to throw on the goal line instead of giving Marshawn Lynch the ball in Super Bowl 49. Walker had 14 carries for 94 yards in the first half. That included back-to-back runs of 30 and 29 yards, respectively, that helped set up a field goal for a 60 lead in the second quarter. Walker also had two catches for 26 yards. Jaxon Smith-Njigba had four catches for 27 yards, so Walkers physical running style and ability to get to the edge was the surprise game-breaker on offense in a defensive struggle. Walker will be a free agent which should lead to a significant payday for the 25year-old running back. He was the first running back to win Super Bowl MVP honors since Denvers Terrell Davis in Super Bowl 32. MORE: Loser: Coin-to s controversy Did Seattle receiver Cooper Kupp says "heads" or "tails?" NFL official Shawn Smith said Kupp said "tails," and four-time Super Bowl winner Joe Montana flipped the coin, and it landed on "heads." So, the Patriots won the coin to s. ? We can't have a Super Bowl without a little controversy, right? Ultimately, Seattle scored a field on a 33-yard field goal by Jason Myers on the opening drive. MORE: Winner: Michael Macdonald Macdonald proved you can be a defensive play-caller and head coach and win a Super Bowl which was accomplished for the first time. The Seattle defense allowed a league-low 17.2 points per game in the regular season and they lived up to the billing in the postseason. MacDonald is now 2410 in two seasons, and the play-to-the-strengths game plan worked against the Patriots. Seattle plowed through a rugged NFC West that featured San Francisco and the teams Seattle beat in the NFC playoffs and this will go down as one of the more underappreciated champions in Super Bowl history. MacDonald, however, is no longer under the radar. Carroll was 11 in the Super Bowl, and Mike Holmgren was 01 with Seattle. MacDonald established his place among the franchises best coaches in the victory. MORE: Loser: Mike Vrabel We're not short-changing Vrabel's season. The Sporting News Coach of the Year is ahead of schedule in New England with a talented roster and a nasty defense, but the offense could not establish a running game against Seattle until it was too late. TreVeyon Henderson had six carries for 19 yards. Stefon Diggs had three catches for 37 yards. There was a lack of chunk plays in the offense, too. Maye's struggles will be a talking point, and a light second-gue s will come about the decision not to go for two after scoring the first touchdown in the fourth quarter. Big picture: Vrabel mi sed out on a chance to become the fifth player to win a Super Bowl as a player and head coach and it's also a mi s for owner Robert Kraft and a franchise that finished 6-3 in Super Bowls under long-time coach Bill Belichick. That will always be the standard in New England. MORE: Winner: Sam Darnold Was Darnold legendary in this Super Bowl? No, but the former No. 3 pick in the 2018 NFL Draft avoided the big mistakes and let the defense do the rest. Darnold finished 19 of 38 for 202 yards and a TD a 16-yard pa s to tight end AJ Barner that put Seattle ahead 19-7 with 13:24 left in the fourth quarter. Darnold took just one sack and did not throw any interceptions which had the knock throughout his career. In this playoff run, Darnold finished 56 of 91 (61.5%) for an average of 224 pa sing yards per game with five TDs and no interceptions. It's the kind of no-nonsense run that validated moving away from Geno Smith and taking on Darnold this season. This was the right call by Seahawks general manager John Schneider. Loser: Minnesota Vikings Did the make the right decision in the offseason? Darnold who led the Vikings to a 143 record and a postseason berth in 2024 led the Seahawks to a Super Bowl championship in his first year with the franchise. Minnesota finished 98 with secondyear quarterback JJ McCarthy, who battled injuries in his first year as a starter. He finished 64 with 1,632 pa sing yards, 11 TDs and 12 interceptions. The Vikings fired general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah on Jan. 30, and the franchise faces an uphill battle in a loaded NFC North for the foreseeable future. DECOURCY: Winner: Jason Myers and Michael Dickson Special teams were a huge part of the Seahawks' succe s. Myers broke the Super Bowl record with five field goals. Myers connected on 33, 39, 41, 41 and 26 yards, respectively. Seattle took advantage of that field po se sion throughout the game. Punter Michael Dickson had six punts for 283 yards, including two inside the 20-yard line. Dickson's 55-yard punt in the fourth quarter checked at the 4-yard line, and that set up Love's interception in the fourth quarter. Trevor Ariza Jersey

delmermollie

104 Blog posts

Comments