SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Nearly every week during the 2025 season, the Seahawks found another nickname or slogan to rally around on their way to the biggest game in football — M.O.B. Ties, 12 as One, the Dark Side defense.

On the final Sunday of the season they added another they’ll carry forever — 2026 Super Bowl champions.

The Seahawks captured the second Lombardi Trophy in the 50-year history of the franchise Sunday with a 29-13 win against the New England Patriots at Levi’s Stadium. That trophy will now join one the Legion of Boom team took home with a win over Denver in the 2013-14 season.

“I was just so happy to battle with these guys,” Seahawks cornerback Devon Witherspoon said. “We went through a lot, but we believed. And all y’all doubters out there who said all that other stuff, y’all don’t know what’s going on in this building. We’re one of one over here.”

Just as the LOB team did, for most of the game the defense threatened to make history, shutting out the Patriots through the first three quarters, at which point the Seahawks had allowed just 78 yards, helping build a 19-0 lead.

The Patriots avoided suffering the first shutout in Super Bowl history when quarterback Drake Maye threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to Mack Hollins with 12:27 left to cut the lead to 19-7.

When the Patriots got the ball back and moved to their own 44 on their next series, it was understandable if Seahawks fans began to feel some angst — they’d seen the Patriots steal a Super Bowl with a double-digit comeback in the fourth quarter before.

Putting the game in its rightful perspective, the Seahawks defense made two big plays to put the game away — the kind the defense made all season in allowing the fewest points in the NFL.

First, a Julian Love interception led to Jason Myers’ fifth field goal of the game, a Super Bowl record, to put the Seahawks ahead 22-7 with 5:35 to play.

Then on the Patriots’ next series, Witherspoon rushed hard on a blitz on a first-down play and hit Maye as he threw with the ball heading into the hands of Uchenna Nwosu, who grabbed it and then took off for a 45-yard interception return for TD and a 29-7 lead with 4:27 remaining.

It was fitting that it was Witherspoon at the center of a play that sealed the win for the Seahawks as he had a rush that forced a third-down incompletion on the Patriots’ first series of the game and a sack on third down of the second series to set the defensive tone.

And as Nwosu crossed into the end zone, it officially became safe for Seahawks fans to start celebrating and for the NFL world to begin crowning second-year coach Mike Macdonald.

The Seahawks punished the Patriots on the other side of the ball with Kenneth Walker III rushing for 135 yards on 27 carries, an effort that earned him Super Bowl MVP honors.

The game was a showcase for Macdonald's game-planning and play-calling defensive wizardry as the Seahawks forced the Pats to punt on eight of their first nine series and piled up most of its yards after the Seahawks had grabbed a 19-0 lead.

Macdonald, who at 38 years old became the third-youngest coach to win a Super Bowl, took over a Seahawks team that ranked 25th in the NFL in defense in 2023 in the final season for coach Pete Carroll.

“I had 100 percent confidence (we would end up here holding this trophy),” Macdonald said. “We’ve got the best team. 12 as one, M.O.B. Ties. We’ve got the best fans in the world. Look how many 12s are in this stadium right now. We never wavered, man. We believed in each other. We love each other. And now we’re world champions.”

But he quickly reshaped it in his image and every part of Seattle’s defensive dominance was on display Sunday as the Seahawks had six sacks, forced two turnovers and never allowed Maye to feel comfortable.

“It’s just a dream come true, you know?” Walker said. “A lot of people play their whole career and never make it this far in their career. It’s a blessing. I thank coach Macdonald and the team for sticking together. … We went through adversity throughout the season and we stayed together. That adversity showed who we were as a team and we got a brotherhood going on now and it’s just special.”

Walker allowed them to overcome an off passing night for Sam Darnold, who despite a few throws he’ll surely want back completed his redemption story by leading the Seahawks to a Super Bowl title.

“It’s unbelievable,” Darnold said. “Just everything that’s happened in my career, but to do it with this team, I wouldn’t want it any other way. I’m so proud of our guys. our defense, I mean I can’t say enough good things about our defense, our special teams. I know we won the Super Bowl, but we could’ve been a little better on offense, but I don’t care about that right now. It’s an unbelievable feeling.”

The Seahawks led 9-0 at the end of a first half that began with about as beautiful a setting as the NFL could have hoped for — 67 degrees, sunny with a slight a breeze.

The rest of the half may have been beautiful only to the Seahawks and their fans.

After the Patriots got two first downs and 28 yards on their first possession and drove to the Seattle 44, they managed just two first downs and 23 yards on 17 plays the rest of the half, never getting past their own 42.

The Patriots averaged just 2.0 yards per play in the first half (51 yards on 25 plays).

The Seahawks had three sacks, including one from rookie Rylie Mills — who played just four games during the regular season while recovering from a knee injury suffered at Notre Dame and had three tackles.

The Seahawks allowed just 33 yards rushing on 11 attempts, 11 of those coming on a scramble by Maye on a second-and-20 play. Running backs Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson had just 23 yards on nine carries.

The Seahawks’ offense was far from efficient early. Darnold hit on just four of his first 14 passes, one of the incompletions an especially frustrating miss on the second series of the game when he evaded a blitz and stepped up and spotted Jaxon Smith-Njigba wide open deep on a third down. The ball sailed over Smith-Njigba’s head.

Later in the half, Darnold misfired on another third down to Smith-Njigba at the goal line as he was late on the pass, giving New England cornerback Christian Gonzalez time to catch up and deflect the pass.

While Darnold was erratic throughout the first half, Walker hit his stride in the second quarter, gaining 78 yards on nine carries with a gains of 29 setting up one of Myers’ three first-half field goals.

Walker’s 94 yards on 14 carries were the second most in a first half in Super Bowl history.

It was the 15th time a team had been shut out in the first half of a Super Bowl.

The Seahawks continued to dominate the game in the third quarter, driving 69 yards the first time they had the ball to set up another Myers field goal to take a 12-0 lead.

An erratic performance by Darnold typified an offense that kept falling short of levying the knockout punch through three quarters.

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