Anyone expecting a subdued Super Bowl should have known better.
Yes, the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots didn’t stir a considerable amount of pre-game excitement for some more casual consumers, with the transcendent star power that had been rampant in recent title games essentially absent from this year’s setup. And neither team offered much in the way of hype or fodder in the days leading into the tilt.
But a game short on offensive firepower still carried an explosive element if you were willing to appreciate what was going on on the other side of the ball.
The Seahawks scored a 29-13 victory that was far more decisive than the final score indicated, with the first Super Bowl shutout looking within reach until a fourth-quarter breakthrough by New England. With the victory, Seattle affirmed its place atop football’s new world order, while a Patriots team that appeared ahead of schedule now must face several glaring deficiencies heading into the offseason.
Here are the biggest winners and losers of Super Bowl 60
Super Bowl 60 winners
Mike Macdonald
In an era where everyone has been on the hunt for the next Sean McVay, it’s worth wondering whether Macdonald will be the new paragon for coaching searches.
When the Seahawks made Macdonald the NFL’s youngest head coach in 2024, he shaped up as a worthy successor to Pete Carroll, the most successful coach in franchise history. Somehow, though, he’s outpaced even the loftiest expectations by wrapping up a title in Year 2.
Macdonald is truly the McVay of the defensive side, concocting complex looks that stifle opponents and shutting down run games while keeping his resources tilted toward the pass. Sunday was his masterpiece, as the Patriots couldn’t conjure answers for his dime looks and unrelenting pressure packages. Overall, however, his focus didn’t appear to be on outsmarting the Patriots so much as leveraging all of the readily evident advantages at his disposal. And after drawing plenty of skepticism in the offseason – including from this writer – for his decision to reimagine the offense in a fashion he saw as better aligned with his defense, the coach got exactly what he needed from a hard-charging ground game and an aerial attack that avoided backbreaking mistakes.
Macdonald is now the third-youngest coach ever to win the Super Bowl. Even by NFL standards, he’s a bit of a mystery to many. Whether it’s figuring out how to beat him or how to replicate him, the rest of the league is going to spend a lot of time diving deeper into what sets him apart from his peers.
Seahawks defense
A group project deserves group recognition. The ‘Dark Side’ defense will surely receive its proper due, but the entire unit deserved Super Bowl MVP honors.
Even without a Richard Sherman- or Earl Thomas-level talent, the Seahawks overwhelmed the Patriots from start to finish. The onslaught came from all angles, with Derick Hall and Byron Murphy II each notching two sacks while DeMarcus Lawrence tied a season high with six pressures. Meanwhile, the secondary didn’t leave any opportunity for the league’s premier deep passing attack to take off, with the defense notching six passes defensed.
Devon Witherspoon
It’s difficult to single out any individual Seahawks defender as the driving force behind this outing, but Witherspoon warrants special consideration. Already three-for-three as a Pro Bowl selection for his superlative coverage work, the former No. 5 overall pick was deployed in a unique fashion several times Sunday, notching four pressures, including a sack, on six pass rushes. He also ignited a score for the defense by barreling into Drake Maye’s arm, forcing a pass that fell into the arms of edge rusher Uchenna Nwosu, who returned it 45 yards for a touchdown. This skill set was nothing new to those who saw him wreak havoc as a blitzer at Illinois, but it was a largely new role for him in Macdonald’s defense. Witherspoon was also his usual dominant self in coverage to boot, allowing his 16 yards on two catches.
John Schneider
For some time, Schneider and Carroll served as the model of GM-coach alignment. In orchestrating a rapid reset after moving on from the most successful era in franchise history, however, Schneider has established himself as one of the greatest football architects of his generation.
There were plenty of suspect draft picks that precipitated the franchise’s downturn in he later Carroll years. But Schneider’s outstanding run of early draft picks in the last four years – which has included Witherspoon, Murphy, Hall, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Kenneth Walker III, Charles Cross, Grey Zabel and Nick Emmanwori, among others – fast-tracked the resurgence under Macdonald.
It’s easy to forget, however, that not every one of Schneider’s recent decisions was seen as a masterstroke on first blush. He was the target of significant scrutiny from many – again, I unfortunately must raise my hand here – for trading away Geno Smith and bringing aboard Sam Darnold. Ultimately, however, he did what so many other general managers failed to do: build a Super Bowl winner while embracing what his mid-market quarterback should and should not do. At a time when others are preoccupied with finding the next cheat code on a rookie contract, Macdonald showed that teams don’t have to take an all-or-nothing approach behind center.
Buy Seahawks championship pages, gear
Kenneth Walker III
Running backs are, uh, back. Walker became the first player at the position to win Super Bowl MVP since Terrell Davis 28 years ago. That surely was in large part due to the deflated passing attacks, but the fourth-year ball carrier shouldered the load for Seattle’s offense by recording nearly half of his team’s total yards (161 of 335). As his patient running reinforced, he’s got impeccable timing. Walker is scheduled to be a free agent next month and should be in line for a hefty payday. He could hold a heightened importance to the Seahawks offense, given both this outing and Zach Charbonnet’s potentially extensive recovery from a torn anterior cruciate ligament suffered in the divisional round of the playoffs.
Sam Darnold
The manner in which Darnold reached a peak achievement in football might not be seen by some as an outright triumph, with the Seahawks quarterback hardly playing the role of catalyst for his team. But the signal-caller’s night should be seen as an act of sublimation, as he redirected his longstanding aggressive tendencies into a far more palatable approach. That’s a significant act of maturation for a passer who still hasn’t received his rightful recognition on that front. Other quarterbacks might have been consumed by the need to prove others wrong after being doubted or undervalued at previous stops. Darnold, however, found success with the Seahawks by staying within himself. Throughout the season and on Sunday night, that very mindset helped make him a Super Bowl champion.
Christian Gonzalez
Let’s take some time to appreciate some showings that might eventually be lost to time if not appropriately spotlighted. The entire Patriots secondary was in top form early on, squeezing down on routes while also continuing to deny anything deep. Gonzalez, however, was on another level, largely erasing the newly minted Offensive Player of the Year in Smith-Njigba – who had just one of his four catches against the cornerback – while tallying three passes defensed. His stability on the back end allowed New England to ratchet up its blitzing to compensate for long-running issues with the edge rush. After earning his first Pro Bowl nod this season, Gonzalez could be on an All-Pro trajectory in 2026.
Cooper Kupp
Signing Kupp drew some derision in Seattle, with many questioning both the cost (three years, $45 million) and schematic fit alongside Smith-Njigba, who had previously operated out of the slot. While Smith-Njigba still did disproportionate work in the passing game throughout the regular season, Kupp proved vital in the playoff run. The Super Bowl 56 MVP for the Rams recorded team highs of six catches and 61 yards against the Patriots. Macdonald said after the game that Kupp’s second title should ‘cement him in the Hall of Fame.’ Regardless of his Canton credentials, it surely was sweet for the Eastern Washington product to win with his home team, especially after his contentious split with the Rams.
Michael Dickson and Jason Myers
Many wondered whether Rashid Shaheed or Marcus Jones might be Sunday’s breakthrough special teams X-factor with a big return. Instead, it was the Seahawks’ punter and kicker who made the biggest mark. Dickson kept the field-position advantage tilted in Seattle’s favor, booming seven punts for an average of 47.9 yards and repeatedly pinning New England deep. He also denied Jones much of a chance to make any play that could have lifted the Patriots out of their offensive quagmire. Myers, meanwhile, booted a Super Bowl-record five field goals.
Super Bowl 60 losers
Drake Maye
From the earliest snaps, it was readily apparent that Maye’s day would be colored by discomfort. But while the second-year signal-caller at first appeared to be a victim of the Patriots’ protection problems, he later reinforced that he’s very much a central contributor to the issues.
Sunday’s showing was a reminder that the Patriots have been weighed down by the second-year signal-caller throughout this playoff run rather than being propelled by him. It stands to reason that facing a run of fearsome pass rushes capable of taking away his deep passing superpower would take a significant toll on Maye. The quarterback also revealed that he took a painkilling injection in his right shoulder prior to the game. And while the lack of support up front and at the skill positions might have served as the starting points for the unraveling, Maye clearly bears responsibility for his record 21 postseason sacks.
Ultimately, Maye seemed distinctly rattled over the last month, with things reaching a nadir Sunday. When the Patriots were finally getting some traction in the fourth quarter, the passer airmailed an interception to safety Julian Love on a throw that reeked of desperation. Beyond the six sacks, his three turnovers loomed large, with Maye’s minus-0.44 expected points added per dropback the lowest mark of any quarterback since 2016, according to Next Gen Stats.
Wiping the slate clean next season could go a long way toward setting things right for Maye in 2026. But he also might need to go to the Caleb Williams/Ben Johnson school of sack avoidance to prevent an already glaring shortcoming from derailing his progress.
Will Campbell and Jared Wilson
Football can be an exceedingly complex game. In some instances, however, it can be blatantly simple. It should have been clear heading into the Super Bowl that Macdonald and the Seahawks would victimize the rookie starter pairing on the left side of the Patriots’ offensive line, as the unit went to work there right away. Campbell yielded 14 pressures from his left tackle spot, according to Next Gen Stats, tied for the most by any lineman in a playoff game since 2018. Wilson, meanwhile, might have been just as shaky, including when he was walked back by backup defensive tackle Rylie Mills on a second-quarter sack. Both players have issues to sort out over a critical offseason. What’s clear for New England is that it can’t have two liabilities lined up next to one another in 2026.
Mike Vrabel
Quite the comedown from Thursday’s announcement that Vrabel had won Coach of the Year. His credentials are not to be questioned, as few others could have engineered a 10-win turnaround with the wreckage of the Jerod Mayo era. But Vrabel was supposed to be the great equalizer for New England in this matchup. Instead, the Patriots got pushed around and looked thoroughly out of sorts. Said Vrabel after the game: ‘We have to be disappointed and upset together. … We have to remember what it feels like and make sure it’s not repeatable.” He might have his work cut out for him to ensure the Patriots can better stand up to top competition next fall.
Josh McDaniels
Like Vrabel, McDaniels was a worthy winner as the NFL’s Assistant Coach of the Year. Yet it sure feels as though he came up empty in providing solutions for Maye and the rest of the offense at a time when they were sorely needed. Not taking better advantage of his quarterback’s running ability felt like a miscalculation given how the Seahawks controlled terms throughout the game. And while New England has involved backs in the passing game at record-setting clips under McDaniels in the past, Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson only were involved modestly after being stuffed on the ground.
This post appeared first on USA TODAY
