(Photo from the NFL’ Instagram)

The Seattle Seahawks won Super Bowl LX with a decisive 29-13 victory over the New England Patriots for their second Super Bowl victory in franchise history. Super Bowl LX was a rematch of Seattle’s last Super Bowl appearance, where the Patriots won with a last-play interception by Malcom Butler–a play that still lives rent-free in the heads of Seahawks fans everywhere. This game was an opportunity for those moments to be rectified so they could finally move on.  Although it’s a familiar matchup, both teams have different head coaches and quarterbacks. This game felt like it took on a different feel than those that came before.

Going into the game, I believed it would be dictated by both teams’ defensive performance. I was correct early on, as only field goals were scored.

At the end of the first half, the Seahawks held a 9-0 lead due to Seattle’s “darkside” defense, which only allowed Drake Maye 17 passing yards. This forced the Patriots to become one-dimensional, relying on their weaker run game, which produced an abysmal 34 yards.

The offensive star of the first half was Seattle running back Kenneth Walker, who had three runs of over 20 yards. It was clear New England would have to find an answer for Walker to make any second-half progress.

The second half showed the cracks in the Patriots’ offensive line as they gave up six total sacks, which led to a forty-five-yard touchdown off a Drake Maye fumble.

Seattle’s Kenneth Walker continued to run with abandon, and Sam Darnold gave a spirited performance, captivated by a touchdown pass to AJ Barner.

At face value, Drake Maye’s terrible performance looks like it was due to the best defense in the league. You could tell by some of his throws and body language that he was rattled early and did not have the experience to make it happen. This was expected, as this was only Maye’s second year in the NFL; he needs a year or more in the oven to win at a high level. I do not doubt that he will return with a young core around him. He will be back, but last night belonged to Seattle and the redemption of their fans.

– Thomas Sublet

Welcome to my review of the Super Bowl, from someone who knows nothing about football. This was one of my favorite Super Bowls in recent years, since the Chiefs were not in it. Hold your horses, I love the Chiefs, but I have crippling anxiety, and I’m severely competitive, so being a Chiefs-loving Kansan makes that worse. So I guess we should call this “Sammie’s Super Bowl commercial and halftime show review”.

I am an absolute “fein” when it comes to Super Bowl commercials, so I was very excited for this evening. Welcome to my commercial breakdown. Every year, I look forward to the Budweiser commercial, and this year was not a disappointment. A Clydesdale, Free Bird by Lynard Skynard and a bald eagle. I was amazed, no notes, let’s go to the next one. The NFL’s “thank you, coaches” brought me to tears. I love positive commercials like this, and the NFL did not disappoint. Some other standouts were ads like the new trailer for The Mandalorian and Grogu, Redfin’s heartfelt neighbor message and Ring Doorbell’s dog PSA. Some had a good message, and some had me cracking up. Sabrina Carpenter’s “perfect boyfriend” Pringles ad was hilarious, and so was Sabrina. Dunkin and Xfinity paid tribute to movies through their hilarious “Good Will Dunkin” and Jurassic Park ads.

Now to the halftime show. Bad Bunny was incredible, and he definitely goes into my list of favorite halftime shows. His stage setup was incredible and so fun to look at and navigate.

He is such a wonderful performer, and he did not hold back. I loved his setlist, and the surprise appearances of Lady Gaga and Ricky Martin were great. Gaga’s performance of Die With A Smile was so fun. Bad Bunny knows how to get a message across, and he did it beautifully.

But Bad Bunny’s political message wasn’t the only one throughout the Super Bowl. Many organizations like #StopJewishHate and He Gets Us, along with many other organizations, had multiple commercials throughout the event promoting their message.

Overall, I did feel like commercials were lacking in some places this year, but some knocked it out of the park, and Bad Bunny’s halftime show was one to remember. I’m excited to see what next year’s Super Bowl will hold, and hopeful that KC will be back.

– Sammie Magee