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SANTA CLARA, Calif. — <\/span>Defense won this championship.<\/p>\n Devon Witherspoon, Derick Hall, Byron Murphy and the rest of Mike Macdonald\u2019s ferocious unit pummeled Drake Maye, and the Seattle Seahawks beat the New England Patriots 29-13 on Sunday to win the franchise\u2019s second Super Bowl.<\/p>\n Sam Darnold threw a touchdown pass<\/a> to AJ Barner, Kenneth Walker III ran for 135 yards and Jason Myers set a super Bowl record by making all five of his field-goal tries.<\/p>\n Uchenna Nwosu punctuated a punishing defensive performance by snagging Maye\u2019s pass in the air<\/a> after Witherspoon hit his arm and ran it back 45 yards for a pick-6.<\/p>\n Seattle\u2019s \u201cDark Side\u201d defense helped Darnold become the first quarterback in the 2018 draft class to win a Super Bowl, ahead of Josh Allen, Baker Mayfield and Lamar Jackson.<\/p>\n Labeled a bust, dumped by two teams and considered expendable by two others, Darnold proved his doubters wrong while helping the Seahawks go 17-3.<\/p>\n After leading the NFL with 20 turnovers in the regular season, Darnold didn\u2019t have any in three playoff games. He wasn\u2019t particularly sharp against a solid Patriots defense but protected the ball and made enough plays, finishing 19 of 38 for 202 yards.<\/p>\n The Seahawks sacked Maye six times, including two apiece by Hall and Murphy. Hall\u2019s strip-sack late in the third quarter set up a short field and Darnold connected with Barner on 16-yard scoring toss to make it 19-0.<\/p>\n Julian Love\u2019s interception set up another field goal that made it 22-7 with 5:35 left.<\/p>\n The Patriots (17-4) punted on the first eight drives, excluding a kneel-down to end the first half.<\/p>\n Down 19-0, Maye and the New England offense finally got going. He hit Mack Hollins over the middle in traffic for 24 yards and then lofted a perfect 35-yard TD pass to Hollins down the left side to cut the deficit to 19-7.<\/p>\n Tom Brady once led Bill Belichick\u2019s Patriots to the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history, when New England rallied from a 28-3 deficit against Atlanta for a 34-28 overtime victory.<\/p>\n But Maye, who was runner-up to Matthew Stafford for the AP NFL MVP award<\/a> in the closest race in two decades, didn\u2019t come close. He had a chance to get it closer, but his ill-advised pass into triple coverage was picked by Love and the Patriots trailed by 15 when they got the ball back with 5:35 left.<\/p>\n Then came Nwosu\u2019s touchdown, a fitting way to cap an overwhelming effort by the NFL\u2019s stingiest defense.<\/p>\n Maye\u2019s 7-yard TD pass to Rhamondre Stevenson late in the game only made the margin smaller.<\/p>\n The Seahawks took a 3-0 lead on Myers\u2019 33-yard field goal on the game\u2019s opening drive. Myers connected from 39 and 41 yards to extend the lead to 9-0 at halftime. He was good from 41 on Seattle\u2019s first drive of the third quarter to make it 12-0.<\/p>\n Cornerback Christian Gonzalez made two outstanding plays to prevent potential touchdowns in the second quarter. He raced back and leaped in the air to slap away a deep pass to Rasheed Shahid that could have been a 76-yard TD.<\/p>\n On Seattle\u2019s last drive in the first half, Gonzalez knocked down a pass to All-Pro wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba that would have been a 23-yard TD.<\/p>\n Rylie Mills pushed left guard Jared Wilson into Maye and took both of them down on one of Seattle\u2019s sacks.<\/p>\n Bad Bunny headlined a visually stunning halftime performance<\/a> that also featured appearances by Lady Gaga and Ricky Martin. The Grammy-winning Puerto Rican artist entirely in Spanish.<\/p>\n The Patriots failed to win the franchise\u2019s seventh Super Bowl, which would have set an NFL record. They\u2019re tied with the Steelers with six championships.<\/p>\n AP NFL Coach of the Year Mike Vrabel was aiming to become the fifth person to win a Super Bowl as a player and head coach and the first to do both with the same team.<\/p>\n The 23-year-old Maye was trying to become the youngest QB to win a Lombardi Trophy. Ben Roethlisberger still holds that mark.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n