It seemed, at times, that the Seattle Seahawks knew exactly what plays the New England Patriots were going to be running in Super Bowl LX. Turns out, they did.
The Patriots’ offense was stymied time and time again by the strong Seahawks defense – who sacked New England quarterback Drake Maye seven times and forced three turnovers en route to a 29-13 victory that was more lopsided than the score suggests.
After the Seahawks got revenge for a Super Bowl XLIX defeat eleven years ago, the team revealed that they found a ‘tell’ in the New England offensive line and used it to perfection.
Speaking after the result, star cornerback Devon Witherspoon explained how they found success – but didn’t exactly reveal what they saw.
‘They asked a lot of questions before this game. And I told them I can’t lay the game plan out to the media, but I kind of knew what was going on,’ Witherspoon said.
‘We had a good tell on what they like to do, how they like to play, and how they were going to attack us.
Seahawks CB Devon Witherspoon said the Patriots O-Line had a ‘tell’ they exploited
Patriots QB Drake Maye was sacked a record-tying seven times in a demolition in the title game
Coaches Mike Macdonald (L) and Aden Durde (R) have revolutionized Seattle’s defense
‘You’re talking about a coach who put us in the best position to win, that’s our coach right there, and that’s why we always have his back.
‘We had a tell on their guards and their tackles, how they like to set. They gonna overset on certain rushes, they’re gonna fall for certain moves.’
New England’s offense was Punt Central in the first half, kicking the ball away on eight of their first nine possessions and being held to only 78 yards of total offense through three quarters.
It’s a testament of how strong Seattle head coach Mike Macdonald and coordinator Aden Durde have built the Seahawks defense.
‘He will game-plan up until whenever,’ star defensive end Leonard Williams said of Macdonald.
‘We’ll sometimes put a new play in Saturday morning. We’ll sometimes put a new play in Sunday at halftime. DeMarcus Lawrence says you have to have a Harvard education to play in this defense because you’re just constantly learning new stuff. But I think we trust Mike and his genius, and it works.’
