Morning Coffee: Darnold deserves his flowers after leading Seahawks to Super Bowl ring

Last week, I circled Sam Darnold as the player who was under the most pressure heading into Super Bowl 60.

Fortunately for the Seattle Seahawks, Darnold delivered under the bright lights, while The Dark Side defence made sure it was the opposing quarterback Drake Maye who faced the most pressure in Super Bowl 60.

The Seahawks defence pressured Maye on 19 drop backs.

On those 19 plays under duress, Maye went 3-of-10 for 40 yards with six sacks, two interceptions, and a fumble.

Meanwhile, Darnold navigated the pressure dialed up by the New England Patriots defence, turning one potential sack after another into a net positive play.

With the victory, Darnold became the first quarterback in NFL history to win a Super Bowl after playing for more than four different teams.

After being doubted, benched, traded, and straight up passed on by several NFL franchises, Darnold finally flipped the narrative with a win in Super Bowl 60.

While Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker III was a deserved Super Bowl MVP, Darnold’s performance was the X-Factor Seattle needed to come out on top.

The QB is the most important position in football.

No single position in sports carries more responsibility.

In the biggest game of the season, Darnold handled the moment and outperformed his counterpart Maye to help the Seahawks secure their second Super Bowl win.

I’ll take the time to give Darnold the credit he deserves in this Morning Coffee for Monday, February 9^th, 2026.

Darnold Deserves His Flowers After Leading Seahawks To Super Bowl Ring

Nobody wanted Walker to win Super Bowl MVP more than me.

If you’re a regular reader of my column, then you know I’ve been all over Walker as one of the most important players that seemed to fly under the radar for Seattle for most of the season.

That wasn’t an issue in Super Bowl 60.

Walker went for 135 rushing yards and added 26 receiving yards to become the first running back to win Super Bowl MVP since Terrell Davis in Super Bowl 32.

If you’re looking for a number that highlights just how impressive his performance was, consider that Walker was first contacted at or behind the line of scrimmage on 15 of his 27 carries.

That’s the most by any player in any game this season.

Walker gained 77 of his 135 rushing yards after contact – the second-highest mark in Super Bowl history.

He also gained 73 rushing yards outside of the tackles – the fifth-most by any player in Super Bowl history.

Walker’s rushing performance is even more impressive when you consider that prior to the Super Bowl, the New England defence had not allowed a single running back to gain at least 40 rushing yards this postseason.

Since the return of defensive tackle Milton Williams in Week 18, the Patriots had held opponents to an average of 69.3 rushing yards per game.

FanDuel opened with Walker’s rushing yards prop at 82.5.

It closed 70.5 as a popular bet to the under.

Walker went over that number in the second quarter.

Meanwhile, Seattle’s defence suffocated Maye and a Patriots’ offence that had struggled all postseason.

Six sacks, two interceptions, a forced fumble, and a pick-six that nobody was happier to see than Tekeyah Singh.

New England had no answer for the Seahawks pass rush.

Maye seemed to grow increasingly frustrated as the game progressed.

When it was over, Seattle head coach Mike Macdonald improved to 7-0 against opposing QBs 24 or younger dating back to his time as the defensive coordinator of the Baltimore Ravens.

While there will be plenty of talk about the Seahawks defence and rushing attack, Darnold deserves his flowers for a performance that might not look all that impressive on paper.

Darnold went 19-of-38 for 202 yards and a touchdown.

However, the final stat line doesn’t tell the whole story.

After leading the NFL in giveaways during the regular season, Darnold didn’t turn the ball over once during Seattle’s Super Bowl run.

The Patriots blitzed Darnold 23 times in Super Bowl 60.

Darnold navigated the pressure better than most expected, going 10-of-23 for 132 yards and a touchdown.

These are the types of throws he made repeatedly under duress that his counterpart couldn’t.

His eight first downs against the blitz were a career high.

He also didn’t take a single sack when blitzed.

New England’s defensive approach was obvious.

The Patriots blitzed Darnold on 58 per cent of his drop backs – the third-highest blitz rate in Super Bowl history.

Darnold’s ability to avoid the pass rush and make plays with both his arm and his legs was a difference that is easy to overlook based on the final score.

Meanwhile, Darnold’s performance is even more impressive when you consider how much Maye struggled against the pass rush.

Maye’s 16 Total QBR is his worst as an NFL starter.

While there’s no doubt even Maye would love to have a few throws back, the fact that nine of the 19 pressures he faced came from the left side of his offensive line underscores an issue the Patriots have had all season.

New England is the first team in Super Bowl history to start multiple rookies on their offensive line.

That rookie tandem of left tackle Will Campbell and left guard Jared Wilson were dominated by Seattle’s pass rush to the point that even when they did their job, we could see Maye peaking over his shoulder in the pocket.

It shouldn’t be lost anybody that Maye is the youngest QB to reach the Super Bowl since the 1994 season.

He also wasn’t 100 per cent on Sunday.

There’s no doubt the offensive line and wide receiver positions will be an area of focus for the Patriots this offseason ahead of Maye’s third year in the NFL.

New England is +1700 to win Super Bowl 61 at FanDuel.

Meanwhile, the Seahawks will enter the offseason with the fourth-most projected salary cap space in the NFL, but some key free agents including the Super Bowl MVP Walker, Rashid Shaheed, Riq Woolen, Josh Jobe, and Boye Mafe.

They’ll also need to replace one of the hottest offensive coordinators in the NFL after Klint Kubiak moved on to become the head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders.

Seattle will also have to sign the Offensive Player of the Year Jaxon Smith-Njigba and defensive star Devon Witherspoon to contract extensions as they enter the final year of their rookie contracts.

Darnold’s current contract unlocks some important money that the Seahawks need to bring back their most important players on both sides of the football.

It will be interesting to see what happens with Walker.

Seattle is the favourite to win Super Bowl 61 at +750.

That’s a much shorter number than last March when the Seahawks were +20000 to win Super Bowl 60.

Almost nobody outside of Seattle believed in Darnold’s ability to lead the franchise to a Super Bowl ring.

Darnold delivered on the biggest stage to secure a ring in his first year of a three-year deal with the Seahawks.

Over/under 0.5 Super Bowl rings the next two seasons?

Considering how quickly Macdonald and company have turned things around in Seattle, it only makes sense that the Seahawks would open as the early favourite to run it back again in Super Bowl 61.