You saw the Seattle Seahawks wholly dominate the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX to the tune of 29-13. You saw Drake Maye struggle — and look like the second-youngest quarterback to play in the Super Bowl. You saw the Bad Bunny concert — and perhaps you noticed the musical artist carrying the ball into the end zone for a touchdown before any of the Seahawks or Patriots players. The defenses were that good.
But let’s try to spin it forward, dive deeper and think outside the box about what we witnessed. This is “Sound Smart,” where we prepare you for Monday morning with observations from the Super Bowl. If I do my job, you’ll be fluent in the NFL’s grand finale.
1. IF THERE’S ONE THING YOU SHOULD KNOW
Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald just delivered his magnum opus with that defensive game plan.
There were points where Sam Darnold looked frantic. Totally out of control.
And there were points where it nearly played right into the hands of the Patriots’ defenders, quite literally. With hindsight, it was all so unnecessary. Darnold didn’t have to do … anything. If he’d wanted, the Seahawks could’ve handed off the ball to Kenneth Walker III from start to finish. The Seahawks relied mostly on Jason Meyers’ leg for the first three quarters and its defense for … the entire season.
Man, that Seahawks defense.
“We were mad that they scored points at all,” Leonard Williams said postgame on NFL Network.
It was so good that it must’ve ruined most Super Bowl parties. How many people thought about turning off the game in the fourth quarter? How many did? And I hope that comes across as a compliment to Seattle, because even the most fair-weather of NFL fans could’ve seen that the Seahawks had this game under control. They’d rendered it boring at a level that they should take pride in.
“I would like to put the focus on the defense,” Walker said on NFL Network, despite winning Super Bowl MVP honors himself. “We wouldn’t be able to get this far without those guys. They call themselves ‘the darkside,’ and the darkside came out to play.”
The Seahawks held the Patriots to 13 points. Seattle didn’t allow New England into the red zone — let alone the end zone — until the fourth quarter.
The Seahawks’ defense had as many touchdowns as the Patriots’ offense through 57 minutes of Super Bowl LX. (Photo by Scott Strazzante/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)
It was Maye — not Darnold — who appeared to be seeing ghosts. It was probably the worst performance of Maye’s NFL career, which includes a deeply forgettable rookie season when he and the Patriots went 3-9 in his starts. Maye simply couldn’t anticipate any of Seattle’s savvy blitzes, particularly those from cornerback Devon Witherspoon, who finished with four pressures and one sack on his six blitzes. Yes, Witherspoon is a defensive back, which speaks to the unusual and tricky game plan that Mike Macdonald had for Maye.
The young QB was helpless, not getting accurate passes to his open players — and, in some cases, not even seeing them when they got open. Maye threw two interceptions, took six sacks (and 11 QB hits), and saw six pass deflections. The Seahawks scored 17 points off three Maye turnovers (2 INTs, 1 fumble). Macdonald absolutely stuck it to the Patriots, using their young MVP finalist against them.
“DeMarcus Lawrence was joking with the team about needing a Harvard education to play in this defense, because there’s so many blitzes and pressures,” Williams told NFL Network. “We’re constantly making adjustments based on what the offense is doing. We want to make the last call and make the last move.”
For all the hype that Mike Vrabel was the second coming of Bill Belichick from an X’s and O’s standpoint, it was actually Macdonald who delivered the Super Bowl masterclass in coaching, reminiscent of what Belichick once did.
2. PEELING BACK THE CURTAIN
So, what went so wrong for Maye?
This wasn’t the Maye that we’d seen in the regular season — the guy who nearly won MVP.
This wasn’t even the Maye that we’d seen in the postseason — the guy who relied upon his defense and did just enough to get by.
His poor play on the biggest stage will inevitably lend itself to outlandish takes. But Maye wasn’t a fraud. There will be people — who didn’t watch him in his other 20 games this year — who claim that he was never as good as his statistics made him out to be. Don’t buy it. He beat out a great number of good defenses. But this one broke him.
“We couldn’t gain any rhythm [or] field position. “We have to make better offensive plays.” Vrabel told reporters afterward. “We were just trying to catch up… But in the end, the turnovers cost us.”
Vrabel refused to criticize his quarterback.
“We can sit here and put everything in the hands of one man, but you will be disappointed because that won’t happen,” Vrabel added. “It all starts with the coaching staff.”
Drake Maye struggled when under pressure. But even when he wasn’t, he made unusual mistakes. (Photo by Kindell Buchanan/PA Images via Getty Images)
The Seahawks only attacked on 13.2% of Maye’s dropbacks, and against those attacks, he was 3 of 6 for 18 yards, one interception and one sack, according to Next Gen Stats. He also saw six pressures at an 85.7% pressure rate. When Seattle sent an extra runner, it came to Maye. And most of the time, he didn’t know what was coming, unable to read the defense’s pre-center.
But those bombings were the exception. seattle No bombs 86.8% of Maye’s knockbacks. It wasn’t necessary. Among all of Maye’s dropbacks, he faced pressure 52.8% of the time. And he threw both interceptions against pressure. His protection disappoints him. And then, even as the line improved, he hustled and missed easy shots.
“That [plays] Would I like to have it back? Go back to the beginning. Redo it.” Maye told reporters after the game.. “Too many plays in the first half, there were plays where I could have made a better shot or a better decision.”
It’s uncharacteristic of Maye’s game that he couldn’t beat the Seahawks’ pressure. In the Pats’ 20 games leading up to the Super Bowl, he completed 115 of 193 passes for 1,677 yards, 12 touchdowns and five interceptions against pressure.
What the Seahawks did was different. What the Seahawks did was far better than anything I had seen.
“If you don’t do plays, you’re sitting on stage crying.” maye saidwho was teary-eyed in many of his post-game interviews.
In the Super Bowl, Maye’s final stats (27-43, 295 yards, two touchdowns, two interceptions) don’t reflect all the times he missed direct throws. They don’t show the disappointing moments when he failed to do what had been so simple for him in the five months that got him to the Super Bowl in the first place.
I’ll list a few: There were simple slant and seam routes where Maye threw behind Hunter Henry and Stefon Diggs; there were back-shoulder throws where Maye didn’t put the ball on frame for Demario Douglas and Henry; There was a moment when Diggs found himself wide open on third down and Maye couldn’t keep his eyes down the field; There was an overthrow when Austin Hooper got open in the fourth quarter.
The most inexplicable thing: there was the final interception of safety Julian Love. The release was unlike anything we’d seen from Maye all year. And it was on a deep pass where Maye established himself as one of the league’s most notable talents.
3. THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY
For the Seahawks (who deserve the ad-libs below)…
The real MVP: CB Devon Witherspoon — In coverage, he allowed just two receptions on two targets for 16 yards. It was a closed corner. And that might have been enough. But Macdonald had bigger plans. The coach sent Witherspoon after Maye on six different charges. Witherspoon had one sack and four pressures. Maye never seemed to see Witherspoon coming.
Really good: Ken Walker — His performance not only boosted the Seahawks’ offense. He also put money in the bank for Walker, who is a pending free agent. He was the only explosive player on the Seahawks’ offense. And it turned out that he was all they needed: 27 carries and 135 rushing yards.
Good: Special teams: Yes, it was that kind of Super Bowl, where we praise the often-forgotten third phase. Kicker Jason Meyers was 5 of 5 on field goals and 2 of 2 on extra points, making him the leading point scorer (17). Punter Michael Dickson managed to increase his punts to 47.9 yards per punt, which included three punts inside the 20-yard line. And the team held an elite scoring returner in Marcus Jones to just two returns for four yards.
Bathroom: Sam Darnold – The team picked him up and gently pushed him aside as the Seahawks took more and more control of the game through their defense. They simply needed him not to give the game away, which (to his credit) he quickly realized and complied with. He completed just 50% of his passes for 202 yards and a touchdown and had one sack. His above-expected completion percentage was -9.4% and he struggled mightily against pressure. Darnold’s biggest credit was that none of his mistakes cost the team, but there were plenty that could have and probably should have.
ugly: Jaxon Smith-Njigba — It’s almost ungenerous to classify him as the ugly duckling, in part because he missed a portion of the game while doctors evaluated him for a concussion. But it didn’t have that typical novocaine presence. (As Denzel Washington said in Remember the titans: “Like Novocaine, just give it time. It always works.”) No, Smith-Njigba finished with four catches on 10 targets for 27 yards. He was supposed to be the best player on the field, and he basically didn’t show up despite participating in 70.4% of the Seahawks’ offensive snaps.
For the patriots…
Good: CB Christian Gonzalez: The Patriots CB was outstanding and spent most of his time covering the NFL’s best receiver, Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Gonzalez nearly intercepted a pass to Smith-Njigba late in the first half to limit the Seahawks to a field goal. And González also prepared to throw a ball very well to Rashid Shaheed in the middle of the field at the beginning of the second quarter. He was the most dominant player in New England.
Bathroom: OC Josh McDaniels: We dove into Maye’s major shortcomings, so let’s take this opportunity to talk about McDaniels’ struggles. He didn’t know how to get his quarterback set up against this defense, nor how to prepare his quarterback for pre-snap complications. We didn’t see anything special from McDaniels. There are no tricks. And we didn’t see any of McDaniels’ signature screen passes, which could have helped neutralize the pass rush. Their quarterback was not good at first. But it went from bad to worse as Macdonald gained a growing lead over McDaniels.
ugly: LT Will Campbell – It was simply a devastatingly difficult game for the rookie, who finished with one sack allowed and a game-high 14 pressures, according to Next Gen Stats. He allowed pressure on 26.4% of the Patriots’ dropbacks. He also had a false start where he was completely hit after the whistle.
In Smart soundWe’re digging deeper and thinking outside the box about his week in NFL action.
