By: James M. Rankin, Sportswriter
Montgomery County News
Santa Clara, California: Super Bowl Sunday has become an American tradition as millions of fans hunker down with friends and family to watch the biggest game of the year. This year pitted the AFC Champions New England Patriots against the NFC Champions Seattle Seahawks into a defensive struggle. There were a handful of plays that made the game rememberable despite the enduring and monotonous offensive play.
The Seahawks won the physical defensive element of the game defeating the Patriots 29-10. Congratulations to Head Coach Mike MacDonald who took his team to a Super Bowl victory in just two (2) years. He told the media all week that he wanted his team to dictate the terms of the game. The Seahawks did just that with a defense that shut down the young and inexperienced quarterback Drake Maye raking up two (2) interceptions. Maye’s finished the game with twenty-seven (27) completions on forty-three (43) attempts for two hundred and ninety-five (295) yards with two (2) touchdowns. Seattle had six (6) sacks that pushed the Patriots back for forty-three (43) yards.
Seattle’s place kicker Jason Myers set the tone throughout the day with his Super Bowl record setting five (5) field goals.
The Seahawks well-traveled quarterback Sam Darnold did not need to be a superstar, just to be steady. He finished the day with nineteen (19) completions on thirty-eight (38) attempts, for two hundred and two (202) yards and a touchdown. His sixteen (16) yard touchdown pass to AJ Barner early in the fourth quarter did not just stretch the lead; it signaled that Seattle was finally shifting gears and ready to clinch the victory.
Congratulations to Seattle’s Kenneth Walker III who won the Super Bowl MVP. Walker ran hard and strong all day with a whopping one hundred and thirty-five (135) yards on twenty-seven (27) carries. A side note: Walker was the second running back, since Terrell Davis in 1998, to take home the award.
The most electrifying play of the game came with 10:33 left in the fourth quarter. Patriots’ quarterback Drake Maye fired a short pass that ricocheted into the waiting arms of Seattle’s Uchenna Nwosu, who returned it forty-five (45) yards for a touchdown. That play did not just break the Patriots’ back; it broke their spirit. Levi’s Stadium erupted, and New England never recovered.
This was Seattle’s first championship since the 2013 season. Super Bowl LX was not the most exciting game; however, it was a pleasant reminder that in the NFL defense still wins championships.
It is true that history can repeat itself since the very first Super Bowl was played in California back in 1967. Who remembers the Green Bay Packers against the Kansas City Chiefs? The dream Super Bowl will be the Houston Texans against the Dallas Cowboys, one can wish.