Bump: 4 reasons the Seahawks are Super Bowl champions

Two weeks ago, the Seattle Seahawks completed their rise to the NFL mountaintop by capturing their franchise’s second Super Bowl title.

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How did the Seahawks outperform expectations and hoist the Lombardi Trophy? Seahawks Radio Network analyst and former NFL wide receiver Michael Bumpus reflected on four key factors to Seattle’s championship run.

Darnold didn’t lose his confidence

After a highly efficient first half of the season, quarterback Sam Darnold dealt with turnover issues over the back half of the year and finished with a league-high 20 giveaways.

But when it mattered most, Darnold protected the football. From Week 18 through the Super Bowl, Darnold and the Seahawks didn’t commit a single turnover. In doing so, Seattle became the first Super Bowl champion to go its entire postseason run without committing a turnover, according to ESPN Insights.

Yet at the same time, Darnold never got gun-shy. The two-time Pro Bowler rose to the occasion and delivered a slew of big-time passes in the NFC title game, throwing for 346 yards and three touchdowns while leading Seattle to a 31-27 win over the archrival Los Angeles Rams.

“Sam Darnold did not let turnovers mess up his mind,” Bumpus said. “There was an eight-game stretch (from Weeks 10-17) where he had nine interceptions and four lost fumbles. … (But then) you get to the playoffs and become the only Super Bowl championship team to not turn the football over. Sam Darnold kept his confidence.”

Did someone order a Jake Bobo touchdown?

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The run game found its stride

As Darnold and Jaxon Smith-Njigba led an explosive passing attack over the first half of the season, Seattle’s ground game lagged behind. Over the first nine weeks, the Seahawks ranked near the bottom of the NFL with 103.9 rushing yards per game and just 3.7 yards per carry.

But they stayed persistent, continuing to run the ball at one of the league’s highest rates. And as defenses prioritized taking away the big play over the top, Seattle’s ground game rounded into form.

Over the final nine weeks of the regular season, the Seahawks averaged 140.6 rushing yards per game and 4.5 yards per carry. And they carried that through their playoff run, averaging 130.3 rushing yards per game and 4.3 yards per carry over their three postseason games.

“The last three games of the (regular) season, the Hawks rushed for 171 against the Rams, 163 against the Panthers and 180 against the Niners,” Bumpus said. “That’s 514 yards through three games – 171 yards per game. … And it didn’t stop there. You get to the playoffs and you rush for 391 yards – 130 yards per game.

“The run game got going.”

Back-to-back big runs from Kenneth Walker 🔥

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JSN’s superstar performance

Smith-Njigba took a superstar turn this past fall. The AP Offensive Player of the Year piled up an NFL-leading 1,793 receiving yards, which was the eighth-most in a single season in league history.

And when he was needed most, Smith-Njigba helped punch the Seahawks’ ticket to the Super Bowl with a shining performance. He finished with 10 catches for 153 yards and a touchdown in Seattle’s nail-biting NFC title win over the Rams, which made him just the fifth player in NFL history with double-digit receptions, 150-plus receiving yards and a TD catch in a conference championship game, according to Stathead.

“He had one of his biggest games of the year in the conference championship game – 10 receptions on 12 targets, 153 yards and one touchdown,” Bumpus said. “Yeah, he didn’t ball out during the Super Bowl, but he was a key component in that NFC Championship game.”

DARNOLD DEEP TO JSN 🎯

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The dominant defense

And of course, there was Seattle’s “Dark Side” defense.

The Seahawks finished No. 1 in scoring defense, allowing a NFL-low 17.2 points per game in the regular season. They surrendered a league-low 3.7 yards per carry and a league-low 6.0 yards per pass attempt, which made them just the second defense over the past 15 seasons to lead the NFL in both categories. They finished sixth in takeaways (25) and tied for seventh in sacks (47).

And on the sports’ biggest stage, Seattle authored a defensive masterpiece. Led by their relentless pass rush, the Seahawks held the New England Patriots to just 78 total yards through the first three quarters of their 29-13 Super Bowl triumph. Seattle finished with six sacks and three takeaways, including a game-sealing pick-six by Uchenna Nwosu that put the exclamation mark on a storybook season.

“We’ve gotta talk about this defense,” Bumpus said. “Net yards per pass attempt, they were second in the league. Points allowed per game, first in the league. Takeaways, sixth in the league. Rush yards allowed per game, third in the league. And interceptions, fifth in the league.

“I have way more stats that I could attribute to this defense, but we’d be here all day.”

SEAHAWKS DEFENSIVE TOUCHDOWN FOR UCHENNA NWOSU OMG

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The full video from Michael Bumpus can be viewed in the video player at the top of this story.

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