This past weekend, America all watched the biggest event in all of Football, Super Bowl 60. This year’s showdown was between the 13-3 New England Patriots, and the also 13-3 Seattle Seahawks. It had been five years since the Patriots last Super Bowl berth, where they had defeated the Los Angeles Rams, 13-3. While on the other hand, the Seahawks hadn’t been to the big game since 2014, with the Seahawks in one of the worst ways ever seen in the NFL against the Patriots. Seahawks were rewarded as 5-point favorites before the game, America was ready to see if the Patriots dynasty was back, or if the Seahawks would get their revenge after over a decade.
“Words couldn’t describe how excited I was for this game. This was one of the best NFL seasons I had seen all year and I was hoping that the biggest game would live up to the hype,” Hunter Carbone ‘27 said.
The game started quick, as Sam Darnold and the Seahawks drove down the field and kicked a quick field goal to put them up 3-0 just over three minutes into the game. And as fast as this game started, it slowed down, with five straight punts back and forth between teams. Two 30-yard rushes by Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker helped them put up another field goal and go up 6-0 with 11 minutes left in the second quarter. Teams trade one quick punt each, and the Seahawks complete one more semi-successful drive, when they got into field goal range and drilled one more field goal to end a pretty uneventful first half, with the Seahawks up 9-0.
With the end of the first half, everyone was impressed with the Patriots inability to get any momentum on offense. The Seahawks sent pressure to Drake Maye, as he got pressured on over 53% of his passes. On average, quarterbacks get pressured on 20-30% on passes. Drake Maye and the Patriots were not ready for all of this pressure, which is why the Patriots only gained four first downs the whole half and only completed 6 out of 11 passes and for 48 yards. The Seahawks weren’t the prettiest on offense either, but they got points on the board. With all eyes on how the Patriots would respond, the second half was almost underway.
“Yeah I’ve been a Pats fan forever and I’ve never seen a first half that bad. It was just the Pats having one failed run up the middle, then two dropped passes, punt, and repeat. It was ridiculous,” Ricardo Salas ‘26 said.
Patriots receive the ball to start the second half, with everyone ready to see how they respond, they punted. After they gave the ball back to Seattle, they drove down the Patriots 22-yard line and tacked on another field goal, up 12-0. And the rest of the third quarter stays the same until Drake Maye has the ball punched out and recovered by Seattle, who turns it into a quick touchdown five plays later. With 13 minutes left in the game, the Patriots got the response they needed, when Drake Maye aired out a 35-yard touchdown to his tight end Mack Hollins, with a drive which lasted 54 seconds. And New England gets a much needed stop and the ball back, but it leads to Maye to launch a reckless ball downfield to three Seattle defenders, which gets intercepted, and turned into a field goal, which put Seattle up 22-7 with 5 minutes left. And New England couldn’t catch a break, as only four plays into the drive, Maye was intercepted, and it was returned 45 yards for a Seattle touchdown, officially sealing the Super Bowl victory for Seattle.
