Many Seattle Seahawks fans feel a sense of revenge after the Seahawks defeated the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX, and it's hard to blame them. It feels good to beat the team that tore your heart out on this very stage. As understandable as that feeling is, though, the focus really should be on their own triumph and redemption.
No longer should Seahawks fans care about Malcolm Butler's Super Bowl-sealing interception from Super Bowl XLIX. The focus of this Super Bowl should be on how dominant this team was and how awesome the redemption stories are.
Seahawks put together one of the most dominant Super Bowl performances in recent memory
A 29-13 final score really doesn't do this game justice — it was an absolute rout. Kenneth Walker III was running all over the Patriots' defense all night, but really, the Seahawks' defense was the star of the show. Drake Maye was sacked six (!) times, tying a Super Bowl record. He fumbled once, and the Seahawks picked that loose ball up and scored. He had trouble even picking up a first down in the first half, let alone getting into the end zone.
The Patriots didn't even score a point until the fourth quarter, and when it felt as if the Seahawks had to score to put the game away, they did just that. The Patriots had no answer for anything the Seahawks did on either side of the ball, just about all night.
What's most impressive about this win, though, is that the Seahawks were not supposed to be here. Neither were the Patriots, to be fair, but many, myself included, thought this was more of a transitional year for Seattle. Clearly, their organization felt differently.
Sam Darnold proved the Seahawks were the team of redemption
He wasn't asked to do much in this game, but words can't really describe what Sam Darnold has done to salvage his career. Darnold, a former top three pick in the NFL Draft, was discarded by the New York Jets, Carolina Panthers and San Francisco 49ers before being given a shot as the Minnesota Vikings' starter. He had an awesome breakout year in 2024, yet teams still didn't believe in him. Heck, the Vikings let him walk in free agency to an NFC foe and chose instead to start rookie J.J. McCarthy under center. We know how that went, and we know how Darnold fared.
Darnold proved that he was much more than a Kevin O'Connell success story. He proved that he is a truly elite quarterback. He led the Seahawks to the NFC's No. 1 seed while putting up his second straight 4,000-yard season and completing a career high 67.7 percent of his throws. He wasn't needed much in the NFC Divisional Round, but matched up against MVP winner Matthew Stafford in the NFC Championship Game, Darnold threw for 346 yards and three touchdowns in a statement victory.
We know how good this Seahawks defense has been all year. We know how good Darnold has been in the regular season in his career. His big-game performances had lacked, though. His NFC Championship Game performance proved that he can win a big game, and while he didn't light up the scoreboard in the Super Bowl, he played mistake-free football while outdueling the MVP runner-up.
NFL fans will still likely raise an eyebrow when Darnold's name comes up in elite quarterback conversations, but they shouldn't. Darnold cemented himself not only as an elite quarterback, but as an absolute legend. He went from a meme who saw ghosts with the Jets to a Super Bowl champion on a team nobody believed in before the season. That's something, and the best part is Darnold was far from alone in this respect.
Seahawks roster featured more redemption stories
The Los Angeles Rams, Seattle's NFC Championship Game opponent, didn't believe in Cooper Kupp to the point where The Athletic's ($) Michael Silver reported that the Rams urged the receiver to retire before cutting him. It's safe to say the Rams were proven wrong, assuming the 32-year-old had nothing left in the tank. While he took a back seat to Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Kupp still had a productive year with Seattle, and even caught the go-ahead touchdown and recorded a huge first down reception late in the fourth quarter against his former team with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line.
DeMarcus Lawrence was made fun of when he said he left the Dallas Cowboys for the Seahawks because he'd never win in Dallas. Well, who's laughing now? Lawrence was a key starter on a dominant Super Bowl-winning defense not even a year after he joined the Seahawks.
“Dallas is my home… But I know for sure I’m not gonna win a Super Bowl there” 😭 pic.twitter.com/F31fVSZLC4
— ᴅᴏxx ⚡️ (@new_era72) March 13, 2025
Kenneth Walker was seen as an inefficient running back who couldn't be trusted to handle a full starter's workload. Yes, Zach Charbonnet played an instrumental role in the regular season, but it was Walker who took center stage following Charbonnet's season-ending injury and particularly impressed in the Super Bowl.
Just about everywhere you look on this Seahawks team, you'll stumble on a player who had something to prove in someone's mind entering this season. Again, this Seahawks team was overlooked before the season. I even think most people picked the Rams to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl.
As fun as the redemption story is, this Super Bowl should be looked at through the lens of how dominant and fun this Seahawks team was. Not only was this team really good, but it was full of players who were doubted in some way and proved at least one person wrong.
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