Football – NFL – Super Bowl LX – New England Patriots v Seattle Seahawks – Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara, California, United States – February 8, 2026 Seattle Seahawks’ Sam Darnold celebrates with the Vince Lombardi Trophy after winning Super Bowl LX REUTERS/Mike Blake TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
“As long as you believe in yourself, anything is possible,” Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold said after his side defeated the New England Patriots 29-13 to win Super Bowl LX.
Six years ago, as a member of the New York Jets, Darnold, facing those very same Patriots on Monday Night Football, uttered the words, “I’m seeing ghosts.” On Sunday night, he hoisted the Lombardi Trophy as a Seahawk to beat them.
The former No. 3 overall pick of the Jets hasn’t exactly had a picture-perfect NFL career, bouncing around the league after failing to find stability in New York. Now, after years of uncertainty, Darnold appears to have found a permanent home in Seattle.
While Darnold did not earn Super Bowl MVP honors, he delivered a steady performance, completing 19 of 38 passes for 202 yards and a touchdown. Instead, the award went to running back Kenneth Walker, who became the first player at his position to win Super Bowl MVP since Terrell Davis in 1998. Walker powered the Seahawks’ offense, rushing 27 times for 135 yards and adding two receptions for 26 yards.
The 2026 Seahawks bore a striking resemblance to their 2014 championship team — anchored by a dominant defense. Seattle once took the league by storm with the “Legion of Boom,” featuring Richard Sherman, Bobby Wagner, Kam Chancellor, and Earl Thomas. This iteration has earned its own chilling nickname: the “Dark Side.”
Through three quarters, it appeared Seattle might deliver the first shutout in Super Bowl history. That bid ended when Patriots quarterback Drake Maye connected with Mack Hollins on a 35-yard touchdown pass to make it 19-7. Up to that point, Maye had been largely silenced, throwing for just 65 yards while repeatedly facing pressure.
New England briefly found momentum, but any comeback hopes vanished when Maye underthrew a pass into triple coverage for an interception.
While the Patriots held up defensively, their offense could not keep pace. New England allowed just one touchdown in four Seahawks red-zone trips. Cornerback Christian Gonzalez stood out in his Super Bowl debut, recording four tackles and three pass deflections.
Jason Myers set a Super Bowl record with five field goals as head coach Mike Macdonald consistently opted to take points. With the victory, Macdonald, 38, became the third-youngest head coach to win a Lombardi Trophy and the only coach to do so while calling defensive plays. He is also just the fourth coach in NFL history to win a Super Bowl before turning 40.
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