SANTA CLARA, CA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – Running the ball and a no-nonsense defense.

That was Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald’s message before the season in describing the identity he wanted his team to have when they looked to bounce back from a year in which they missed the playoffs.

Now, five months later, it was those two facets of the game that won the Seahawks their second Super Bowl in franchise history.

Seattle beat the New England Patriots 29-13 in Super Bowl LX on Sunday, Feb. 8. Running back Kenneth Walker III racked up 161 all-purpose yards and Seattle’s defense, nicknamed “the Dark Side,” came up with 6 sacks and 2 interceptions in a game where they never trailed.

Macdonald became the third-youngest coach ever to win a Super Bowl, with a picture-perfect finish to his second season as head coach in Seattle. Kicker Jason Myers set a Super Bowl record with five field goals, and Sam Darnold protected the football, finishing with 202 yards, a passing touchdown and no turnovers. 

It was a successful opening drive for the Seahawks. Walker and AJ Barner each picked up first downs before Cooper Kupp caught a 23-yard pass to set them up inside the Patriots’ 20. But Seattle wasn’t able to gain much from there and Myers kicked a 33-yard field goal to give them an early 3-0 lead. 

After that, both defenses stepped up. The Pats moved the ball well early on their first drive too, with running back Rhamondre Stevenson getting two first downs, but the Hawks forced a punt with help from a Derick Hall sack and a big third down pressure from Devon Witherspoon. With Seattle pinned deep in its own territory, New England was able to get pressure on Darnold to force a quick three and out. 

Drake Maye started his second drive with a quick 21-yard completion to Kayshon Boutte, but the Seahawks’ defense kept up the pressure with a pair of good tackles and a Devon Witherspoon sack to get the ball back. Barner picked up another first down, but the Pats kept dialing the pressure up to force yet another punt. Cobe Bryant almost flipped the game on its head with a near-interception off a dropped pass, but couldn’t haul it in. Jarran Reed followed by stuffing a Stevenson run to force the game’s fifth straight punt.

Things changed on the next drive, when Walker ripped off back-to-back explosive run plays for a combined 59 yards to get the Seahawks back inside the Pats’ 20. But New England kept up its stingy red zone defense to set up a Myer 39-yard field goal, giving Seattle a 6-0 lead.

The Patriots’ offense continued to stall from there, punting it yet again on its fourth and fifth drives of the game. Seattle got the ball back with just under two minutes in its final drive of the first half and steadily moved the ball down the field. Darnold nearly connected with Jaxon Smith-Njigba for a last-second touchdown, but Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzales dove to break it up and force a Myers 60-yard field goal near the end of the half.

Walker and the Seahawks’ defense were the big stories of the first half of the game. Walker took 14 carries for 94 yards (the second-most ever in the first half of a Super Bowl), while the defense had three first-half sacks and gave up just 51 total yards. Myers did his job as well, going 3-3 on field goals, as all three phases contributed to Seattle’s 9-0 lead going into the second half.

The Seahawks started the second half off with a bang. Rashid Shaheed, Smith-Njigba, Darnold and Walker all picked up first downs as Seattle moved effortlessly into New England territory. Darnold wasn’t able to connect with Kupp on a third and long and once again, Myers came on to kick a field goal – this time from 57 yards out – to boost the Seattle lead to 12-0. 

From there, each team traded three and outs, with Byron Murphy II notching the Seahawks’ fourth sack of the game. Smith-Njigba went to the locker room with a potential concussion near the end of the third quarter, before returning in the fourth.

Finally, after four straight punts, Hall punched the ball out of Maye’s hands and Murphy picked it up to set up the Hawks up inside the Patriots’ 40-yard line going into the fourth quarter. Darnold went on to throw a 16-yard touchdown pass to Barner for the first touchdown of the game, giving Seattle a 19-0 lead.

The Patriots finally got some semblance of offense going early in the 4th. Maye connected with Mack Hollins on two deep passes, the second being a 35-yard touchdown near the left pylon to get New England on the board. The Seahawks nearly responded with a deep ball to Shaheed on a third and long, but Darnold just overthrew him. Seahawks punter Michael Dickson kept his stellar play up by pinning the Pats on their own four yard line with just over 10 minutes left in the game.

Maye ripped off a 16 yard run, and just when New England’s offense started to gain momentum, Julian Love picked off a deep throw over the middle and ran it back 35 yards to set the Seahawks up in Patriots territory. Seattle continued to pound the rock with Walker, who picked up a pair of first downs before Myers hit another 26-yard field goal to put the Hawks up 22-7. 

Of note: Myers also set a new NFL single-season scoring record by pushing his season total, including playoffs, to 206 points, passing LaDainian Tomlinson. 

The Seahawks’ defense turned it up a notch on the Patriots’ next drive to put an exclamation point on the game. Murphy tallied his second sack of the game before Uchenna Nwosu ran back a 44-yard pick-six for the final nail in the coffin, with Seattle now up 29-7. The Patriots answered on their next drive with a 7-yard touchdown pass from Maye to Stevenson, but it was too little, too late. 

The Seahawks finish the season with a 17-3 record after winning their first Super Bowl since 2014.