The Seattle Seahawks won decisively against the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX, held on Sunday, 8 February, in Santa Clara, California. The NFC champions, led by Kenneth Walker III—who became the first running back of the century to win the Super Bowl MVP award—dominated the game from the outset, scoring 29 points to the Patriots’ 13 and bringing home the Lombardi Trophy for the first time since 2014.
With one of the highest-rated and strongest defensive units this season, the Seattle Seahawks managed to keep the Patriots’ offence at bay until the fourth quarter, when New England quarterback Drake Maye suddenly delivered two successful passes in succession—no similar thing happened during the whole game—and threw a touchdown pass to tight end Mack Hollins.
Without exaggeration, this was the only drive in the game during which the offensive line protected Maye long enough for extended plays. The young Patriots quarterback also set an unwanted playoff record, having been sacked 21 times across the previous three games, including six times in Super Bowl LX. With that, Maye surpassed Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow’s negative record of 19 sacks, set during the 2021 playoffs.
Another statistic illustrating how dominant the Seahawks’ defence was throughout the game is that Patriots star wide receiver Stefon Diggs finished with only three receptions for 34 receiving yards.
Relying on their defence, Seattle’s offence controlled possession with confidence; however, it only managed to break through the Patriots’ defence in the second half, when Darnold threw Seattle’s sole touchdown pass of the night. Until then, the audience had to settle for four field goals by Seahawks kicker Jason Myers, who also set a Super Bowl record with five successful field goals.
Much of the attention, of course, focused on the halftime show, headlined by Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny, known for his vocal criticism of US President Donald Trump’s administration and immigration enforcement policies. He had declared earlier in 2025 that he would not perform his tour in the United States in order to avoid ‘making his concerts a hub for ICE’ targeting Hispanic fans.
Media reports emerged a month before Super Bowl LX that Bad Bunny was planning to perform in a dress to ‘honour queer icons’ during the halftime show, causing immediate outrage among NFL fans and MAGA supporters. This, however, did not materialize; nevertheless, Bad Bunny’s performance delivered veiled criticism of Trump’s border and deportation policies, highlighting the historical immigration background of the United States.
The performance was also the first halftime show in NFL history to be performed entirely in Spanish, which did not resonate well with parts of the stadium audience: several videos circulating on social media appear to show fans barely reacting during the concert.
Trump delivered sharp criticism of the halftime show in a post on Truth Social, stating that it was ‘absolutely terrible’ and ‘one of the worst ever’, arguing that it did not reflect American values. ‘Nobody understands a word this guy is saying, and the dancing is disgusting, especially for young children that are watching from throughout the USA, and all over the World,’ Trump wrote. ‘There is nothing inspirational about this mess of a Halftime Show and watch, it will get great reviews from the Fake News Media, because they haven’t got a clue of what is going on in the REAL WORLD,’ he added—predicting the reaction of mainstream media, which largely described the halftime show as focusing on ‘unity, love, and cultural pride rather than politics’.
Due to the controversy surrounding the halftime show ahead of the Super Bowl, the American conservative organization Turning Point USA—founded by the late Charlie Kirk—organized an alternative event titled ‘The All-American Halftime Show’, headlined by Kid Rock and themed around patriotism, faith, family, and freedom. Although licensing issues made it impossible to stream the event on X as originally planned, forcing a move to YouTube instead, it still drew a significant audience of up to six million viewers—though far below the more than 100 million who watched the official halftime show.
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