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] subject place. We’ve obtained to get into higher drives offensively,” Vrabel informed reporters afterward. “We had been simply enjoying catch-up. … However in the end, turnovers price us.”
Vrabel refused to name out his quarterback.
“We will sit right here and put all of it on one man, however you will be disenchanted as a result of that will not occur,” Vrabel added. “It is begins with the teaching workers.”
Drake Maye struggled when underneath duress. However even when he wasn’t, he made uncharacteristic errors. (Picture by Kindell Buchanan/PA Photos through Getty Photos)
The Seahawks solely blitzed on 13.2% proportion of Maye’s dropbacks, and in opposition to these blitzes, he was 3 of 6 for 18 yards, an interception and a sack, per Subsequent Gen Stats. He additionally noticed six pressures at an 85.7% stress price. When Seattle despatched an additional rusher, it obtained to Maye. And more often than not, he didn’t comprehend it was coming, unable to learn the protection pre-snap.
However these blitzes had been the exception. Seattle didn’t blitz on 86.8% of Maye’s dropbacks. They didn’t have to. Between all of Maye’s dropbacks, he confronted stress 52.8% of the time. And he threw each of his interceptions in opposition to stress. His safety let him down. After which, even when the road improved, he was speeding and lacking straightforward throws.
“What [plays] would I wish to have again? Return to the start. Redo it,” Maye informed reporters after the sport. “Too many performs within the first half, there have been performs the place I may’ve made a greater throw or a greater choice.”
It’s uncharacteristic of Maye’s sport that he couldn’t beat the Seahawks’ stress. Within the Pats’ 20games main as much as the Tremendous Bowl, he ‘d accomplished 115 of 193 passes for 1,677 yards, 12 touchdowns and 5 interceptions in opposition to stress.
What the Seahawks did was totally different. What the Seahawks did was an entire lot higher than something he’d seen.
“For those who don’t make performs, you’re sitting at a podium crying,” mentioned Maye, who was teary-eyed for a lot of his postgame interviews.
Within the Tremendous Bowl, Maye’s closing stats (27-43, 295 yards, two touchdowns, two interceptions) do not replicate all of the occasions that he missed simple throws. They do not present the disappointing moments when he did not do what had been so easy for him within the 5 months that obtained him to the Tremendous Bowl within the first place.
I’ll listing a couple of: There have been easy slant and seam routes the place Maye threw behind Hunter Henry and Stefon Diggs; there have been back-shoulder throws the place Maye didn’t put the ball on body for Demario Douglas and Henry; there was a second the place Diggs discovered himself huge open on third down and Maye couldn’t hold his eyes downfield; there was the overthrow when Austin Hooper sprung open within the fourth quarter.
Most inexplicable: There was the ultimate interception to security Julian Love. The throw regarded not like something we’d seen from Maye all 12 months. And it was on a deep go, the place Maye had established himself as one of many league’s most outstanding abilities.
3. THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE UGLY
For the Seahawks (who deserve the adlibs beneath) …
The Actual MVP: CB Devon Witherspoon — In protection, he allowed simply two catches on two targets for 16 yards. He was a shutdown nook. And that might’ve been sufficient. However Macdonald had larger plans. The coach despatched Witherspoon after Maye on six totally different blitzes. Witherspoon had one sack and 4 pressures. Maye by no means appeared to see Witherspoon coming.
Actually good: Kenneth Walker — His efficiency didn’t simply gas the Seahawks offense. It additionally put cash within the financial institution for Walker, who’s a pending free agent. He was the one explosive participant on the Seahawks offense. And because it turned out, he was all they wanted: 27 carries and 135 speeding yards.
Good: Particular groups — Yeah, it was that form of Tremendous Bowl, the place we’re praising the third and often-forgotten section. Kicker Jason Meyers was 5 of 5 on subject targets and a couple of of two on additional factors — which made him the runaway main level scorer (17). Punter Michael Dickson managed to increase his punts for 47.9 yards per punt, which included three punts contained in the 20-yard line. And the crew contained an elite punt returner in Marcus Jones to only two returns for 4 yards.
Dangerous: Sam Darnold — The crew carried him and gently pushed him apart because the Seahawks took increasingly more management of the sport by way of their protection. They merely wanted him to not give away the sport, which (to his credit score) he rapidly realized — and complied. He accomplished simply 50% of his passes for 202 yards and a landing and took one sack. His completion proportion over anticipated was -9.4%, and he struggled considerably in opposition to stress. The most important credit score to Darnold was that none of his errors price the crew — however there have been lots that might and possibly ought to have.
Ugly: Jaxon Smith-Njigba — It’s virtually ungenerous to categorise him because the ugly duckling, partly as a result of he missed a portion of the sport whereas docs evaluated him for a concussion. However he didn’t have that typical novocaine presence. (Like Denzel Washington mentioned in Keep in mind the Titans: “Like novocaine — simply give it time. At all times works.”) No, Smith-Njigba completed with 4 catches on 10 targets for 27 yards. He was imagined to be the very best participant on the sector, and he mainly no-showed regardless of enjoying 70.4% of the Seahawks’ offensive snaps.
For the Patriots …
Good: CB Christian Gonzalez — the Patriots CB was excellent, spending most of his time in protection in opposition to the very best receiver within the NFL, Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Gonzalez almost intercepted a go to Smith-Njigba on the finish of the primary half to carry the Seahawks to a subject objective. And Gonzalez additionally laid out for a nicely-thrown ball to Rashid Shaheed over the center of the sector initially of the second quarter. He was New England’s most dominant participant.
Dangerous: OC Josh McDaniels — We dove into Maye’s vital shortcomings, so let’s use this chance to speak about McDaniels’ struggles. He couldn’t work out how one can get his quarterback to settle in in opposition to this protection — nor may he work out how one can get his QB prepared for the pre-snap issues. We didn’t see something particular from McDaniels. No trick performs. And we didn’t see any of McDaniels’ signature display screen passes, which could have helped to neutralize the pass-rush. His quarterback wasn’t good initially. However he went from dangerous to worse as Macdonald gained a much bigger and larger benefit over McDaniels.
Ugly: LT Will Campbell — It was only a devastatingly robust sport for the rookie, who completed with one sack allowed and a game-high 14 pressures, per Subsequent Gen Stats. He allowed stress on 26.4% of the Patriots’ dropbacks. He additionally had a false begin the place he obtained completely pummeled after the whistle.
In Sound Good, we’re diving deeper and considering outdoors the field concerning the week that was in NFL motion.
