SANTA CLARA – Add a Super Bowl victory to the Seattle Seahawks’ chest of accomplishments at Levi’s Stadium, home of the rival 49ers.
The Seahawks held the New England Patriots scoreless in the fourth quarter and eventually won 29-13 before a crowd of 70,823 in the second Super Bowl game since the 2014 Super Bowl.
The win came with bigger stakes than any of Seattle’s eight wins at Levi’s Stadium, including the regular-season finale on Jan. 3 for the NFC West title and the NFC’s No. 1 seed.
The Seahawks defense that suffocated the 49ers in that Week 18 game, as well as in the 41-6 playoff sweep Jan. 17 in Seattle, was on full display Sunday night.
Most of the Seahawks’ points came on Jason Myers’ Super Bowl-record five field goals.
But the final touchdown, fittingly, came from Seattle’s defense: Uchenna Nwosu returned Drake Maye’s interception 45 yards for a touchdown with 4:17 left, before running back Riq Woolen hit Maye’s arm as the Patriots quarterback backed away from the NFL logo at midfield.
The Seahawks’ other touchdown came on a fourth-quarter pass from Sam Darnold, who called the field home two years ago as Brock Purdy’s backup.
Even before the game started, 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan reminded everyone about the dominance of Seattle’s defense. Appearing on NBC’s pregame show, Shanahan was asked his expert opinion on the matchup and replied: “Expert opinion? I haven’t scored a touchdown in the last two times we’ve played so I don’t know how good that is. But it’s playing against these guys.”
Seattle’s shutout bid ended with 12 ½ minutes left, when Patriots quarterback Maye completed a 35-yard touchdown strike to Mack Hollins, one play after Hollins’ 24-yard completion.
Less than a minute earlier, the Seahawks broke through with their first touchdown of the game — a 16-yard run from Darnold to AJ Barner for a 19-0 lead.
That Seahawks score was set up by the first gain of the game, when Derick Hall created a third-down sack against Maye, who went into a four-man rush. Byron Murphy II recovered at Seattle’s 37-yard line on a third-quarter penalty kick.
Another gain came when Seahawks safety Julian Love intercepted Maye’s 30-yard rush to Seattle’s 27-yard line with 8 ½ minutes remaining. Love’s 35-yard punt return set up Myers’ fifth field goal.
Both of the Seahawks’ Lombardi Trophies in their 50 seasons have come after an NFC home victory over the 49ers, from the NFC Championship Game of the 2013 season to the divisional round 41-6 three weeks ago.
After opening the season with a 17-13 home loss to the 49ers, the Seahawks went on a 10-game winning streak, including four of the last five games before the Super Bowl against the 49ers and the Los Angeles Rams. That week the loss to the 49ers was the biggest loss to the Seahawks.
It was the Patriots’ NFL-record sixth Super Bowl loss; they were tied with the Denver Broncos at five. The Patriots remain tied with the 49ers for most NFL playoff wins (40).
With their end down, the Patriots held a quiet celebration after Maye’s second pass, a 7-yard flip to Rhamondre Stevenson with 2:21 left for the final margin.
Darnold became the first quarterback to win a Super Bowl while on his fifth career team. He joined Trent Dilfer (2000 Ravens), Tom Brady (2020 Bucs), and Matthew Stafford (2021 Rams) as starting quarterbacks to win a Super Bowl in their first year with a team.
The Seahawks took a 9-0 lead on Bad Bunny’s play at halftime, and Jason Myers’ fourth goal came on their opening drive of the second half. Darnold got them out of their own 9-yard line by mixing big completions (16, 16 and 20 yards) with an 11-yard scramble to get into Myers’ range.
Darnold set up Myers’ first touchdown on the opening drive with a 23-yard completion to Cooper Kupp, who appeared to roll the ball as he stepped out of the 12-yard line. (The Seahawks entered Sunday 11-0 when scoring first.)
Seattle doubled its lead to 6-0 with a 39-yard field goal in the second quarter before Myers scored his first-half hat trick with a 41-yarder 11 seconds before halftime.
Although Darnold didn’t score in the playoffs after an NFL-high 20 in the regular season, the Seahawks’ offense revolved around Kenneth Walker III, who had 135 rushing yards and a 49-yard run that was nullified by a holding penalty in the final minutes. Walker had 30 and 29 runs to set up the Seahawks’ second field goal.
Stunned by the Seahawks defense, the Patriots had 51 yards and five first downs in the first half, after punting on their first five possessions. Maye was sacked three times and completed 6-of-11 passes for 48 yards, his final attempt coming out of bounds on a shot to Hollins at midfield.
It was the fifth Super Bowl in history without a first half touchdown.
Cornerback Christian Gonzalez was the savior of the Patriots in the first half by breaking up two passes to prevent a possible touchdown – on Darnold’s bomb to Rashid Shaeed to open the second series, and on a 23-yard target to Jaxon Smith-Njigba who was almost open at the goal line 16 seconds before halftime.
Teams that held their opponents scoreless before the Super Bowl at halftime improved to 15-0 thanks to the Seahawks game.
