Defenses Win Championships: My Super Bowl LX Review
- Matteo Montermini
- Feb 8
- 5 min read
The 2025 NFL season has officially come to a close. The Seattle Seahawks are your 2025-26 Super Bowl Champions, and I think this was the perfect ending to an unpredictable season. Welcome to my Super Bowl Review, where I will give you a game summary and my thoughts on the final game of the 2025 NFL season.
GAME SUMMARY
The saying "Defenses win championships" was certainly true for the first half of Super Bowl LX, where both the Seahawks and the Patriots struggled to do anything offensively, not scoring a single touchdown the entire half.
At halftime, the Seahawks confidently headed into the locker room as they had secured a 9-0 lead over the Patriots after a dominant defensive first half. Both defenses were proving, with the whole country watching, why people had said that they were two of the best defenses in the entire league. Despite both defenses playing extremely well in the first half, the Seahawks' defense looked a little bit better as they stopped Drake Maye from reaching the end zone and throwing over 50 yards. Although they didn't force a turnover in the first half, they sacked Maye 3 times, which all seemed to come at perfect times right when the Patriots had started building momentum. However, the Patriots' defense should receive some credit for slowing down one of the most explosive offenses in the league, holding them to only 3 field goals in the first two quarters. Even though the Seahawks had the lead, it truly felt like if one player made one mistake, that would cost their team the championship. The same continued through the 3rd quarter as the Patriots went 3 and out on their first 3 drives, while the Seahawks scored another field goal, extending the lead to 12-0. But then finally, the Patriots were blessed with a chance of a lifetime. Superstar Wide Receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba hit the ground hard and got taken to the locker room to be evaluated for a concussion and would not return till the 4th Quarter. Unfortunately, Seattle's pass rush was too great for New England's weak offensive line, which led to a Drake Maye fumble deep on the Patriots' side of the field, which shortly after led to the first touchdown of the game. Sam Darnold threw to a wide-open AJ Barner, who besides Smith-Njigba, led the Seahawks in receptions in the regular season. However, Mike Vrabel has been a believer in his team all season, and the touchdown was not going to stop his belief in this team. Whatever he said to Drake Maye worked as they quickly moved down the field, and Maye threw a dot to Mack Hollins, finally making this an exciting game.
Following another quick stop by their defense, the Pats, led by Drake "Drake Maye" Maye, were given a chance to cut the deficit to one possession, and it looked like they would. Julian Love thought otherwise, as on a questionable throw, he intercepted Maye, changing the entire momentum of the game. Despite getting the interception, New England's defense remained strong, keeping Darnold and the Seahawks out of the end zone, only giving up yet another field goal, extending Seattle's lead to 15. Drake Maye would go on to throw a pick-six to Devon Witherspoon, crushing any remaining Super Bowl hopes for the Patriots, who did manage to score one more touchdown just seconds before the 2-minute warning. Ultimately, the New England Patriots did not have enough to beat the Seattle Seahawks, whose combination of outstanding offense and dominant defense was eventually enough to win Super Bowl LX.
MY THOUGHTS
I will keep this short as I will give you my full thoughts on my weekly NFL episode of my podcast that comes out every Thursday during the NFL season on YouTube and Spotify, but I will tell you what I think was the main reason the Seahawks won tonight and the main reason why the Patriots lost.
Why the Patriots Lost
You could make many cases why the New England Patriots are not celebrating a victory or raising the Lombardi trophy, but for me, I see one major problem that I truly believe cost the Patriots a Super Bowl this year. That issue is two words: Offensive Line. I will stand by this hot take, but I believe that other than the Quarterback, the offensive line is the most important position on a football team, and it showed tonight. Both defenses played great games, especially in the first half; however, Drake Maye got sacked 6 times and never really had any time to scan the field, forcing him to make rushed decisions, and as a second-year player, that's not the best spot to put him in, especially with an average receiver class. With all that being said, you don't have to be an expert to evaluate that Drake Maye never looked "locked in" tonight, and that largely has to do with the problem with the offensive line. I'll talk more about this on Thursday, but this is true for every NFL Quarterback, from the best in the league like Josh Allen and Joe Burrow to some of the rookies like Cam Ward and Jaxson Dart. If you don't have protection, you as the Quarterback are going to have to do some pretty special things if you want to win in the National Football League. From watching the game tonight, it was pretty easy to see that almost every time Drake Maye tried to pass the ball, he had a defender in his face, which is not at all ideal for any quarterback, no matter the skill level.
Why the Seahawks Won
Defenses win championships; everyone has been saying that for decades, and that is a main reason why I think the Seattle Seahawks won the Super Bowl tonight in Santa Clara. Even Superstar Jaxon Smith-Njigba quoted that in one of his on-field interviews, saying that he was thankful that he had a great defense that helped them win the game. I don't know if you could have watched that game tonight and not acknowledge that the Seattle defense is truly terrifying. Throughout the game, they never took their foot off the gas pedal and played out of their mind, not allowing any points until the 4th quarter. From pressure-filled pass rushers to speedy safeties, tonight and for most of this season, it seemed like this defense does not have any holes anywhere. Ending the season with 6 sacks and 3 turnovers from those two stats already shows how great this defense is. However, that was not all they did, as they also forced the Pats to punt the ball 8 times and only score 13 points, including a touchdown at the end of the game that really did not matter. Overall, this Seattle team is filled with many weapons, but when this defense plays out of their minds, it's going to be extremely hard to stop them, and that's the massive problem the Patriots faced tonight in the Super Bowl.
Final Thoughts
While I was cheering for the Patriots, I do have to admit that the Seattle Seahawks were the more deserving team to win the Super Bowl and that they should be feared next season if they can keep their roster intact.
To the Patriots, I say congrats on the great season, and I am really looking forward to seeing what the future holds for you, but mostly Drake Maye. Maye has had an incredible first two years to start his NFL career, and I think everyone is expecting many great things with this young man who has proven he can get to the big game, but now he needs to prove that he can win it.
To the Seahawks, I say to you congrats on the Super Bowl win. All the players on your team have contributed in some shape or form, whether it was players on the defense making key stops, Jason Meyers hitting key field goals, Jaxon Smith-Njigba making incredible catches all season long, or yes, Sam Darnold throwing dots to receivers and limiting the turnovers. Everyone on this team was placed on it for a reason, and that reason was to ultimately win Super Bowl LX.
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