Halftime Observations: Defenses Dominate as Seahawks Lead Patriots 9-0 in Super Bowl LX
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Seattle Seahawks cornerback Devon Witherspoon (21) and Seattle Seahawks safety Nick Emmanwori (3) celebrate a stop against the New England Patriots in the first half in Super Bowl LX at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images [/caption]
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - With the Lombardi Trophy hanging in the balance, points will apparently be at a premium in Super Bowl LX as the Seattle Seahawks went into halftime nursing a slim 9-0 lead over the New England Patriots behind three Jason Myers field goals and a stingy, suffocating defensive effort.
Here are three quick takeaways from the first two quarters at Levis Stadium:
1. Ken Walker III runs like a Lamborghini on the Levis grass, but the Seahawks can’t get the car into the garage.
Playing in what could be his final game in a Seahawks uniform as free agency approaches next month, a motivated Walker revved up his engine and turned on the accelerators early and often, regularly leaving Patriots defenders in his wake after smooth, explosive cuts and filthy jump cut moves. On the first play from scrimmage, he bounced an inside zone run out wide to the perimeter, out-running multiple defenders towards the sideline before cutting upfield for a 10-yard gain to move the chains, helping start off a successful opening series that ended with Myers’ first field goal from 33 yards out.
Following two quick possessions that ended in Michael Dickson punts, he struck again, taking a shotgun buck sweep handoff to the left and exploding to the perimeter as he managed to sprint the tightrope for a 30-yard gain before stepping out of bounds. Two snaps later, he cut back on an inside zone behind a strong block from center Jalen Sundell, turning on the jets to pick up 29 yards and advance the Seahawks into the red zone. Unfortunately, however, both drives featuring explosive runs netted just six points as the offense sputtered inside the Patriots’ 25-yard line on each occasion and had to settle for field goals, failing to truly capitalize on his 86 first half rushing yards.
2. With one massive miss standing out, Sam Darnold and Seattle’s passing attack can’t get untracked.
Silencing remaining critics with over 340 passing yards in the NFC Championship Game win over the Rams two weeks ago, Darnold looked poised to pick up where he left off, completing 15-yard and 23-yard passes to AJ Barner and Cooper Kupp on the Seahawks’ opening series. The completion to Kupp was dropped right over the top of the defender’s shoulders and the veteran receiver demonstrated strong hands holding onto the pass through contact as he managed to get both feet down inbounds, and Seattle had 1st and 10 at the New England 17-yard line. But he misfired on two passes on the next three plays, forcing Myers to come on for a short field goal.
On the next series, Darnold did a masterful job avoiding an unblocked Patriots blitzer and stepping up in the pocket on 3rd and 6, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba came wide open with nobody near him as the quarterback extended the play. But New England managed to deliver a big hit on Darnold as he lofted a throw on the run to his star receiver, and the pass wound up carrying too far downfield and just out of Smith-Njigba’s reach for an incompletion on what would have easily been an 86-yard touchdown, leading to a punt instead of six points. With several questionable throws to well-covered receivers sandwiched around that play, he completed only nine out of 22 throws for a 40.9% completion rate, hurt to an extent by a couple uncharacteristic drops by Walker and Smith-Njigba as well.
3. Bringing pressure from every direction, Drake Maye can’t get comfortable against a vicious Seattle defense.
Prior to Sunday’s big game, Mike Macdonald had created nightmares for every young quarterback he has coordinated plays against in 2025, as Seattle went 6-0 against signal callers with three or fewer years of experience in the regular season. That trend continued in emphatic fashion in the first 30 minutes against Maye, as the Seahawks made life a living hell for the second-year talent right out of the gate. After the Patriots had picked up two first downs on the opening series, Derick Hall bullied tackle Will Campbell with a powerful bull rush before shedding the blocker and getting a shoestring sack from behind on Maye for a 10-yard loss that led to a punt. Getting creative mixing up pressures, Macdonald sent Devon Witherspoon and Nick Emmanwori on 3rd and 15 as blitzers and the former came through untouched for his first sack of the postseason to force yet another punt.
While Hall and Witherspoon might have been on the BINGO card for potential sacks on Sunday, however, nobody could have expected rookie defensive tackle Rylie Mills - who missed most of the season recovering from a torn ACL - to join them in the party getting to Maye. But the former Notre Dame standout turned in the most impressive play of the entire half, driving guard Jared Wilson back into the quarterback’s lap on a second down rush before tackling both the blocker and Maye for the first sack of his young career. The Patriots punted again two plays later, and all five of their possessions before taking a knee ended in the same fashion as the Seahawks held them to 51 yards and two yards per play in one of the most dominant defensive showings in a half in Super Bowl history.
