THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
It has been a strange season in the National Football League. The unpredictable nature led to much excitement as games became too hard to call, even during them, with leads flip-flopping, resulting in some wild finishes. Teams that couldn't find a way to win last year were all of a sudden the ones that rose to the top of the pile. So in a unique twist for the year, the Super Bowl was largely predictable.
The Seattle Seahawks are this year's champions. They rode through the tail end of the year on their number one-ranked defense and they suffocated their Super Bowl opponent New England Patriots, to win with ease, 29-13. It was a surprise to many that the score ended as high as it did, as the score was 9-0 at the halftime interval and 12-0 at the end of the third period. Such was the dominance of the Seattle defense, coordinated by Aden Durde – the first British coach to be in the big game, let alone win it – that it looked like record-breaking kicker Jason Myers could be on his way to being named MVP. Myers eventually finished with five field goals and two extra points, a flawless display from the special teams. (Hawks running back Kenneth Walker III, who rushed for 135 yards on 27 carries, became the first RB to win Super Bowl MVP since 1998.)
The Seahawks defense has been so good over the last few months, and they will enter the NFL history books as one of the most stifling in the big game. The Steelers won four Super Bowls on the back of having the Steel Curtain, and in more modern times the Ravens and Rams won championships with a feared defense. Just last year, it was the Eagles that bamboozled the Kansas City Chiefs with a defensive scheme that nullified their potent attack. The Patriots this year did not have a 'strike fast and often' offense but they did know how to play to their many strengths. However none of these were allowed to show up due to the persistent play from the 'Dark Side' a new moniker for the Seahawks defense that takes over from their own 'Legion of Boom' that helped the franchise to their first title win a decade ago.
Often, the Super Bowl is won by stellar play from a quarterback, and perhaps in hindsight, the writing was on the wall that it wasn't going to be a night for explosive plays. Sam Darnold has bounced around teams trying to find his perfect fit; he has that now at Seattle. It would be harsh to call him a journeyman quarterback, but his journey is now complete, and it will inspire others who are often shelved too quickly that you can go on and compete. Opposite him was Drake Maye, and in his second year he was the second youngest QB to play in the showpiece event. To start with it looked like he was taking it all in his stride with a calm, controlled exterior demeanor, but by fourth and fifth times he was sacked (of a total of six) the look was more of shock and bewilderment. Nothing was going right for him and his Patriot teammates.
In the fourth quarter the game broke open, and indeed seemed over, as AJ Barner hauled in a 16-yard touchdown from Darnold to put the 'Hawks up 19-0. With little to lose now, the plays called in were for big chunks of yardage, and it took just three plays for the Patriots to find the end zone, Maye finding Mack Hollins with a 35-yard pass. The game slipped away, though, as Maye had three turnovers. One fumble, two interceptions, the last two real game killers as the Patriots threatened an unlikely comeback. A badly thrown ball led to the first, and then Uchenna Nwosu rumbled 45 yards to seal the game. There was time for a late Maye drive to pad his stats – he passed for 295 yards – and the scoreline as the last score was a 7-yard toss to Rhamondre Stevenson.
Seattle head coach Mike Macdonald was beaming when he lifted the Lombardi Trophy high, but insisted on having his quarterback and the game MVP Kenneth Walker III, around him. "We believe in each other, we love each other, and now we're world champions," he said, also saluting the 12's, the name given to the extraordinarily loud Seahawks fans.
Walker himself had a game that was consistent with his play in the last month through the playoffs, ending with 135 yards gained on the ground, and 26 more on two catches. He told reporters after the game, "My dad, he comes out to Seattle to watch games, but he never goes to the game because he doesn't like crowds. So, this is his first NFL game, and we won the Super Bowl, so it means a lot to me and I know he's proud of me, for real. My agent convinced him to come out here. So, I didn't think he would come. They ended up mic-ing him up and everything, so he got out of his comfort zone."
With the green and blue ticker tape being swept away and the darkness of the Santa Clara night engulfing Levi's Stadium, it was perhaps fitting that the season-ending showpiece was already being viewed as a hangover to what was a loud and raucous season that gave us so many highlights. It was a game that defensive purists will savor, so we go back and finish with the British link.
Aden Durde has done the rounds and, like Darnold, found his home in Seattle. His style and ethic have been one of pure inspiration to other Brits who coach and play the game here; hard work does pay off. "I think you take each moment as it is, and this is unbelievable – to have my family with me and to know all my family and the people back home that have supported me are watching. You have to be who you are to do everything. I've loved the sport since I was a kid. In my mind, I've grown up with the sport; it might not be the same way somebody else grew up with it, but it's the thing I've loved from when I was young. My oldest son called me in the week and said 'my bucket list was going to the Super Bowl, and I got to see my dad in the Super Bowl' and that's the coolest thing I've heard in a long time."
