Seahawks' Super Bowl championship shows why the Bills continue to invest in the defensive line
There is a reason Brandon Beane continues to sink significant draft resources and free-agent dollars into the Buffalo Bills’ defensive line. It’s what wins championships. The latest example of that came Sunday night in Super Bowl LX.
There is a reason Brandon Beane continues to sink significant draft resources and free-agent dollars into the Buffalo Bills’ defensive line.
It’s what wins championships.
The latest example of that came Sunday night in Super Bowl LX, as the Seattle Seahawks continually harassed New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye in a 29-13 victory at Levi’s Stadium.
The Seahawks used late coverage rotations and a variety of pressure packages to change the look for Maye after the snap. The Patriots’ second-year quarterback, who finished runner-up in a narrow vote for NFL MVP, did not have any answers. That was true throughout a fairly pedestrian postseason for Maye. It’s tempting to say he’ll be back, but there is no guarantee of that.
Maye was sacked six times and hit 11 times against the Seahawks. Through the first 35 minutes of game time, he completed just 8 of 18 passes for 40 yards and a 53.0 quarterback rating. In other words, he was getting his butt kicked over and over again.
This was an old-school game in many ways. The Seahawks couldn’t get much going on offense, other than running back Kenneth Walker, who gained 135 yards on 27 carries.
Old school is one way to put it. Abomination is another.
The Super Bowl had the feeling of a Week 4 Thursday Night Football game … unless you love defense. In that case, you were in your glory. The Seahawks played their butts off on that side of the ball.
Through three quarters, Maye had the same number of completions (eight) as New England had punts. The Patriots gained five first downs in the first 45 minutes of game time, gaining 78 yards on 39 plays – an average of just 2.0 per play. New England was 2 of 11 on third down in that time.
The record for fewest yards per play in a Super Bowl is 2.3, also by New England against the famed ’85 Bears defense.
The Seahawks did a worthy impression of those Monsters of the Midway on Sunday.
“My defense, I'll match us up against anybody,” Seahawks middle linebacker Ernest Jones IV said. “I like us versus whoever. Whatever offense you throw out there, whatever great offense you can put together, I like our odds.”
Maye was sacked five times for a loss of 39 yards in the first three quarters. The pressure started up front, but it came from everywhere. Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald, who at just 38 years old is now a Super Bowl champion in just his second season on the job, showed why he’s considered one of the brightest young defensive minds in all of the NFL.
“They have to earn each play,” Seahawks safety Julian Love said of his team’s defensive philosophy. “They might complete a pass here or there, they might break a tackle here or there, but we swarm to the ball and make them line up and earn it each play.”
Perhaps the biggest play of the game came late in the third quarter, when Maye was sacked and fumbled after being hit by Seahawks linebacker Derick Hall. The ball was recovered by nose tackle Byron Murphy II.
That set up Seattle’s only touchdown of the game, which came on a 16-yard pass from quarterback Sam Darnold to tight end AJ Barner. It was one of the few throws Darnold needed to make. The Seahawks quarterback was not particularly sharp for most of the game, either not leading his intended receiver enough or throwing it a bit too far when his intended receiver had a step behind the New England defense.
Darnold finished the game 19 of 38 for 202 yards and one touchdown, completing exactly 50% of his passes … and it didn’t matter at all, because he had a running game and defense to back him up.
That gets us back to the Bills, who employed the NFL’s rushing champion this season in James Cook. It’s the defensive part of that winning formula that has too often eluded the Bills in the postseason, which is a large reason why Sean McDermott was replaced as head coach after Buffalo lost to Denver in the divisional round of the AFC playoffs.
In the last two Super Bowl wins, by Philadelphia and Seattle, it was dominant play by the defensive line that undoubtedly led the way.
That’s why Beane signed Joey Bosa in free agency and used three of his first four draft picks last April along the defensive line. You simply have to be able to get after the opposing quarterback, but it’s something the Bills haven’t done enough of in the postseason.
The hope has to be that new defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard is able to scheme up ways to do that more frequently, because the Seahawks showed what can happen when you make a quarterback’s life a living hell.
“We have killers across the board,” Love said. “Everyone holds their own weight and has that chip on their shoulder to be successful, but our front, to be able to take on double teams, play in sub packages as strong and as stout as they do, it frees us up to make plays and just ballhawk. You see our secondary all year made plays like that.”
Love had the Seahawks’ first interception, which came with 8:49 left in the fourth quarter on a Maye overthrow intended for receiver Kyle Williams.
Seattle iced things later in the fourth quarter when Seahawks cornerback Devon Witherspoon hit Maye while he was throwing on one of those exotic rushes, leading to an interception by linebacker Uchenna Nwosu that was returned 45 yards for a touchdown with 4:27 left. That made the score 29-7 after Jason Myers’ extra point. Through the first three quarters, Myers’ was Seattle’s only offense, accounting for all 12 points on field goals of 33, 39, 41 and 41 yards.
Not being able to finish drives with touchdowns allowed New England to hang around in the game probably longer than it deserved. The Patriots cut Seattle’s lead to 19-7 with 12:27 remaining when Maye connected with former Bills receiver Mack Hollins for a 35-yard touchdown reception. It was the second straight catch on the drive for Hollins, the two of which went for 59 yards. Hollins finished the game with four catches for 78 yards and the score. Another former Bills receiver, Stefon Diggs, had just three catches for 37 yards. He made a 26-yard catch in garbage time with 2:56 remaining. Otherwise, he was noticeably quiet for the first 57 minutes of the game.
It is an enduring mystery.
Curiously, Patriots coach Mike Vrabel decided not to go for two points after Hollins' score. Having done so successfully would have left the Patriots down 11 points, meaning a field goal and a touchdown with another successful two-point conversion could have tied the game.
Ultimately, that didn’t matter because the Seahawks’ defense was relentless. Maye’s final stats – 27 of 43 for 295 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions, was aided greatly by garbage-time yards and doesn’t come close to telling the full story of just how dominant the Seattle defense was. It was fast. It was physical. It was hungry for the ball. It worked together to rush and cover. In other words, it was everything you’d want out of a defense.
“That's a bunch of bad boys, and for me to be in the middle of that, to be the leader of that group, I'm blessed,” Jones said. “I knew coming into this year, we were special. We just had to go do it.”
The Seahawks won their second Super Bowl title and first since the 2013 season, when they beat the Denver Broncos, 43-8. That year’s Seattle defense was led by the “Legion of Boom” secondary. This year, it was by a group that calls itself the “Dark Side.” There are a few different reasons that have been floated for just how that group adopted that name. Sunday night, the group showed what happens when a defense relentlessly attacks. It’s a blueprint the Bills will surely want to follow, and serves as all the more reason for Beane to continue to try and get it right up front.
