How Seahawks’ dominant defense left its mark on Super Bowl 60

The Seattle Seahawks’ “Dark Side” defense left its mark on Super Bowl 60 in a major way.

Especially with its pass rush.

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The Seahawks pressured quarterback Drake Maye early and often, sacking the NFL MVP runner-up six times in their suffocating 29-13 Super Bowl triumph over the New England Patriots on Sunday night in Santa Clara, Calif.

Defensive tackle Byron Murphy II and edge rusher Derick Hall each had two sacks, while three-time Pro Bowl cornerback Devon Witherspoon and rookie defensive lineman Rylie Mills each added one sack apiece.

The biggest sack came in the closing seconds of the third quarter, when Hall knocked the ball free from Maye for a strip-sack fumble that Murphy recovered at the New England 37-yard line. Five plays later, Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold hit tight end AJ Barner for an 11-yard touchdown pass that gave Seattle a commanding 19-0 lead.

Derick Hall knocks it loose and Byron Murphy recovers!

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And that wasn’t the only takeaway the Seahawks’ pass rush forced.

With less than five minutes to play, Witherspoon blitzed into the backfield with his blazing speed and dislodged the ball from Maye’s arm right as he was releasing it. Edge rusher Uchenna Nwosu scooped it out of the air and raced the other way for a 45-yard pick-six, which extended Seattle’s lead to 29-7 and served as the exclamation mark to the franchise’s second Lombardi Trophy.

SEAHAWKS DEFENSIVE TOUCHDOWN FOR UCHENNA NWOSU OMG

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The play was initially ruled a fumble before being changed to an interception. Had it remained a fumble, the Seahawks would have tied a Super Bowl record with seven sacks.

For much of the night, Seattle’s top-ranked scoring defense was on pace to be all over the Super Bowl record books.

The Seahawks held the Patriots scoreless through the first three quarters, which put them one quarter away from the first shutout in Super Bowl history. They also allowed just 78 total yards through the first three quarters, which put them on pace to break the 1974 Pittsburgh Steelers’ Super Bowl record of 119 total yards allowed in Super Bowl 9.

New England’s offense eventually came alive in the fourth quarter to thwart Seattle’s chance at a record-breaking defensive performance.

But in the end, it wasn’t nearly enough to overcome an emphatic showing by the “Dark Side” on football’s biggest stage.

A second Lombardi Trophy is headed back to the Pacific Northwest. And just like the last time Seattle stood atop the NFL mountaintop, the city has a dominant defense to thank.

“They lived up to the Dark Side today,” Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald told NBC’s Maria Taylor during the postgame trophy celebration. “It’s gonna go down in the history books.”

The plays that led Seattle Seahawks to Super Bowl win over Patriots

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