SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Super Bowl LX wasn't Sam Darnold's finest performance, and that's fine. He didn't win the MVP, break any records or deliver the kind of jaw-dropping play that remains etched in football history. All Darnold did was perform his part on a team that expected to dominate from the moment the game started. That was more than enough to finish the final steps in one of the most impressive career resurrections the NFL has ever seen.
History will remember the Seattle Seahawks' 29-13 win over the New England Patriots as one of the most impressive efforts a defense has ever produced in a Super Bowl. The Seahawks beat down the Patriots in ways that should inspire comparisons to the 1985 Chicago Bears, the 2000 Baltimore Ravens and Seattle's first championship team in 2013. That doesn't mean the defense was the biggest story in the game, though. That honor belonged to Darnold, even though he threw for just 202 yards and one touchdown while completing just 50 percent of his passes.
The Seahawks won this game because their defense was electric. They became a championship-worthy team because Darnold delivered on the promise he created when he arrived as a free agent last March.
"It means everything for us and for him," said Seahawks wide receiver Rashid Shaheed. "He knows the work he put in to get to this point and so do we. We've seen it every day. He's a true leader and competitor and you've seen the journey he's had to go through to become a Super Bowl champion."
Darnold's path to this pinnacle has been told so many times that there shouldn't be a serious football follower who doesn't know it by now. He's gone from being the third overall pick in the 2018 draft to being a bust for the New York Jets, a player who couldn't hold a job in Carolina and a backup in San Francisco for the 2023 season. Even a tremendous turnaround in Minnesota last season -- when Darnold led the Vikings to a 14-3 record after a knee injury ended rookie J.J. McCarthy's year in the preseason -- concluded with some familiar disappointment. A blowout loss in the season finale, and another in a wild-card loss to the Rams, left many skeptics wondering what the Seahawks acquired when Darnold signed.
Now we know.
Darnold doesn't have to answer any more questions about his makeup, his meltdowns or whether he has the mentality to lead a team to glorious outcomes. He made a strong enough statement about his game when he led the Seahawks to the NFC West title, the top seed in the playoffs and a win over those same Rams in this year's NFC Championship Game. Darnold out-dueled Los Angeles quarterback Matthew Stafford, the eventual league MVP, in that last contest. He didn't need to do nearly as much against the Patriots, as his defense didn't allow New England to score until the fourth quarter.
Darnold knew he was joining a team with some components that could help him thrive, including that defense, a blossoming star receiver in Jaxon Smith-Njigba and an offensive coordinator in Klint Kubiak who had known him during his one season with the 49ers. Darnold's secret to success wasn't that he had to be a savior upon arrival. He only needed to fit in. When asked how he was able to help this team win a championship, he said, "That's easy -- my teammates and my coaches. They believed in me ever since the beginning of OTA's and training camp. Every single day we came to work."
Seattle's win is also noteworthy because Darnold becomes the second quarterback in as many years to hoist a Lombardi Trophy without being considered elite. Philadelphia did the same thing last season when quarterback Jalen Hurts led the Eagles to a blowout win over Kansas City largely because Philadelphia's defense terrorized Patrick Mahomes in that contest. The Chiefs had a quarterback who had won three championships and two league MVPs; the Eagles had the more complete roster and a signal-caller who also understood what it took to win in high-pressure situations.
There will never be a day when teams won't covet a quarterback as talented as Mahomes. That doesn't mean we aren't moving into a world where it's realistic to win championships with more cost-effective quarterbacks who can allow general managers like Seattle's John Schneider to stock the roster with talent. The three-year, $100.5 million deal Darnold signed in March was far from the money most quarterbacks receive from teams looking for a foundational player. What it did was allow the Seahawks to add valuable veterans who contributed to this championship, players like Shaheed, defensive end Demarcus Lawrence and wide receiver Cooper Kupp.
The Seahawks had a palpable chemistry from the minute the 2025 season kicked off. Darnold spent the first half of the year proving that he could put up big numbers, throwing 17 of his 25 touchdown passes in his first nine games. He then shifted mainly into game manager role after throwing four interceptions in a Week 10 loss to the Rams. Seattle never lost again after that decision.
The Seahawks were so confident coming into this Super Bowl that rookie safety Nick Emmanwori said he knew when he "woke up this morning" the team was going to win.
"I knew it when we were getting breakfast and everyone was smiling and laughing and acting like the moment wasn't too big," he said. "We were doing the same things we've been doing all season."
Those things included piling up sacks, with Seattle taking down New England quarterback Drake Maye six times and forcing him into three turnovers, including an interception that linebacker Uchenna Nwosu returned 45 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.
There was never really a time when New England felt capable of pulling off the upset. Along with that defense, Seattle also relied heavily on running back Kenneth Walker III, who earned Super Bowl MVP honors after rushing for 135 yards on 27 carries. Darnold couldn't create much of a connection with Smith-Njigba or Kupp throughout the game. The nice thing for him was that he didn't have to in the end.
By the time Seattle had built a 19-0 lead in the second half, it was apparent that the Patriots were outmatched.
"They showed a variety of blitzes," Maye said. "I wouldn't say they're a huge pressure team, but they had success with it tonight. They were heating us up and I have to do a better job of getting the ball out."
Maye said he was hoping to find Darnold after the game ended and chaos ensued in the on-field celebration but admitted that his rival "had better things to do." If they had met, it's possible Darnold would've given Maye some quick advice on not letting such setbacks weigh him down. Nobody thought Darnold was going to reach this summit when his Jets career disintegrated. Hell, you probably couldn't find many people willing to bet on him after last season ended.
The fact that Darnold could be standing inside Levi's Stadium with blue and green confetti raining down upon him says plenty about his perseverance. He didn't have any great emotional response in that moment on Sunday night, except to think, "." Darnold wasn't caught up in telling people how wrong they were about him. Instead, he was thankful to be part of a franchise that realized how right he really was for them.
