The Seattle Seahawks dominated the New England Patriots en route to winning the franchise's second Super Bowl. The 29-13 final score doesn’t do justice to the level of domination Seattle put on display, especially its defense.

Mike Macdonald’s defense saved its best for last

Six sacks. One forced fumble. Two interceptions, including the game-sealing pick-six by Uchenna Nwosu.

The Seahawks defense put on an all-time defensive performance on Sunday. They smelled blood in the water as early as the Patriots' first drive, when Devon Witherspoon forced a Drake Maye throwaway on an unblocked corner blitz. The Patriots' young offensive line had no answers for Seattle’s blitz packages, as Witherspoon finished with two sacks.

When Seattle wasn’t blitzing, their four-man front was still dominating, with Derick Hall finishing with two sacks, and even rookie Rylie Mills got in on the fun, bench pressing Jarod Wilson and driving him into Maye’s lap for his first career sack.

This performance was a culmination of a multi-year defensive turnaround fueled by fantastic acquisitions by the front office. Since 2023, Seattle has traded for Leonard Williams and Ernest Jones, signed Julian Love and Demarcus Lawrence as free agents, and drafted Devon Witherspoon, Nick Emmanwori, Byron Murphy, and Derrick Hall. That’s eight of 11 starters, and each one is a fantastic player who massively contributed to this run. Take a bow, John Schneider.

Special teams saves a lackluster offensive game

Jason Myers and Michael Dickson absolutely deserve a shoutout for their performance. Myers' longest kick was only 41 yards, but he hit all five field goals and both extra points in a game where points were at a premium. He finished his postseason 8/8 on field goals and a whopping 49/56 on the season. Michael Dickson put on a punting masterclass. Of his seven kicks, none traveled less than 40 yards, three landed inside the 20, and all three were downed inside the five-yard line.

It was just another day at the office for the best punter in football.

This feels like an operation set up for long-term success

Fans should enjoy this win because they don’t come around often, but it feels difficult to avoid looking ahead to what Seattle could potentially achieve next season and beyond. Klint Kubiak’s departure is the biggest question mark since we currently don’t know how many position coaches he may take with him. The logical replacement at offensive coordinator is passing game coordinator Jake Peetz, and fans should expect that announcement soon. The Seahawks enter the offseason with over $74 million in cap space, fifth in the NFL, which should allow them to re-sign most of their important in-house free agents and extension candidates.

There are only five big names that enter the open market for Seattle: Boye Mafe, Kenneth Walker, Rasheed Shaheed, Coby Bryant, and Tariq Woolen. Walker is the best bet to get franchised tagged after his dominant playoff run, but he could get a long-term deal afterwards, something like the four-year, $48 million deal that Josh Jacobs received from the Green Bay Packers. Mafe may be tough to keep, as Derick Hall and Uchenna Nwosu will be up for extensions soon, and Leonard Williams hits free agency next offseason. Woolen is going to be expensive after a career year in coverage, and with Devon Witherspoon up for an extension next year, Seattle could let him walk and look to the draft.

My official prediction is that Seattle retains Walker, Bryant, and Shaheed while Mafe and Woolen sign elsewhere. The loss of Woolen will likely hurt in the short term, but the financial flexibility to keep the core of this roster together for the foreseeable future is paramount to sustaining success. Repeating is nearly impossible, but Seattle will rightfully enter the 2026-2027 season as the favorite to do so.