The New England Patriots’ cinderella story season concludes with a Super Bowl defeat. They lost Super Bowl LX to the Seattle Seahawks, 29-13, on Sunday evening.
The clock has finally struck midnight on the New England Patriots’ 2025 cinderella story.
One of the greatest turnarounds in NFL history culminated in a 29-13 loss to the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl LX on Sunday evening.
The Patriots arrived at Levi’s Stadium as consensus 4.5-point underdogs against a Seattle team that entered play at 16-3 with the NFL’s top scoring defense and an explosive offense featuring All-Pro wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
Seattle’s defense played to its nationally acclaimed status in Santa Clara, harassing Drake Maye in the pocket all night and suffocating a Patriots offense that struggled to sustain momentum.
How It Went
First Half
The Patriots were slow to find rhythm on offense, but continued their brand of violent, aggressive defensive play to stay within striking distance on the scoreboard.
Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold struggled to find consistency as well. He was affected by New England’s front seven, who were constantly in the backfield but too often couldn’t finish the play.
Big-ticket offseason addition Milton Williams wreaked havoc along the interior of Seattle’s offensive line, and was joined on several occasions by fellow newcomer K’Lavon Chaisson. It took until the third quarter for Williams to get home for the Patriots’ only sack of the night, but he was a constant presence around Darnold throughout the game.
Maye showed flashes on the offensive side, but it took until the second half for him to begin methodically picking apart one of the NFL’s premier defensive units.
As expected, Seattle attacked the left side of New England’s offensive line. Left tackle Will Campbell and left guard Jared Wilson became the first pair of rookies to start together at those positions in a Super Bowl, and Maye — like Darnold — felt pressure for much of the evening. Three first-half sacks repeatedly put the Patriots behind the sticks and kept them off the scoreboard.
New England generated just 52 total yards of offense in the first half, but an equally stout defensive performance kept Seattle out of the end zone and sent the Patriots into halftime down 9-0.
Kenneth Walker III was held to 1.8 yards per carry in the first quarter, but quickly became the engine of Seattle’s offense in the second, ripping off multiple 20-plus-yard runs as Darnold continued to operate under duress.
Walker finished the first half with 94 rushing yards — the second-most in the first half of any Super Bowl.
Seattle had an opportunity to push the score to 13-0 before halftime, but a strong play by Christian Gonzalez at the goal line on Smith-Njigba forced the Seahawks’ third field goal. They finished the half 0-for-2 in the red zone as the Patriots’ defense continued its postseason dominance in that area.
Gonzalez was an impact player all game and made several key plays for New England. Earlier in the second quarter, he registered a picturesque pass breakup on a deep post to Rashid Shaheed.
Darnold finished the first half 9-of-22 for 88 yards (4.0 yards per attempt) with a passer rating of 52.8. Maye was also kept in check, ending the opening stanza 6-of-11 for 48 yards, plus two rushing attempts for 10 yards. He was sacked three times in the first half.
Second Half
The second half presented an opportunity for the Patriots to flip the script, but it produced more of the same.
New England’s rush continued to be near Darnold, but couldn’t consistently finish plays as he evaded pressure and began connecting with receivers to keep Seattle’s offense moving.
The Seahawks struck first again in the third quarter, forcing a three-and-out and then driving for yet another field goal to take a 12-0 lead.
Seattle’s defense controlled the flow of the game, forcing two more three-and-outs as the Patriots went on a stretch of 6-of-7 drives without moving the sticks — a run that spanned from the end of the first quarter through the end of the third.
Turning Point
On New England’s final drive of the third quarter, the dam broke. Seattle’s pass rush sacked Maye for an NFL postseason-record 20th time and forced the game’s first turnover as the young quarterback coughed up the football for the seventh time this postseason. The Seahawks recovered.
Seattle quickly responded with the game’s first touchdown early in the fourth quarter, as Darnold connected with A.J. Barner to take a commanding 19-0 lead in what had been a tightly contested defensive battle.
The Patriots continued to fight. Their next drive went three plays for 67 yards and burned just 57 seconds off the clock before Maye connected with Mack Hollins on back-to-back daggers to finally put New England on the board.
After forcing a three-and-out, the Patriots had a chance to cut Seattle’s lead to one possession. Instead, Maye forced a deep crosser to Kyle Williams and was intercepted by safety Julian Love, who returned it into New England territory.
Seattle tacked on another field goal to extend the lead to 22-7 with 5:30 remaining, then strip-sacked Maye for a second time — and Uchenna Nwosu returned the fumble recovery for a touchdown that effectively sealed the result.
New England later found the end zone once more, as Maye hit Rhamondre Stevenson for his second touchdown pass of the fourth quarter, but there was too little time remaining to mount a legitimate comeback at that point.
New England’s top-ranked postseason defense showed flashes, but couldn’t sustain its usual level in the game’s most critical moments.
Both quarterbacks had trouble finding their footing, but Darnold made timely plays to keep drives alive and eventually put the game out of reach. He finished 19-of-38 for 202 yards and a touchdown, was sacked once, and did not turn the ball over.
With the win, Darnold became the first quarterback in NFL history to win a Super Bowl on his fifth team. Entering Sunday, he was one of just three quarterbacks to reach the Super Bowl for the first time on their fifth team.
Smith-Njigba was held in check for most of the night (four catches on 10 targets for 27 yards), but Seattle didn’t need him to control the game script.
Instead, the Seahawks leaned on an opportunistic rushing approach featuring Walker, who finished with 29 touches for 161 total yards and claimed Super Bowl MVP honors. Prior to Super Bowl LX, the Patriots owned the top-ranked defense against opposing running backs in the playoffs — but Walker and Seattle’s offensive line consistently found creases in the front seven.
Maye (27-of-43 for 322 total yards, two touchdown passes, two interceptions, six sacks) never found consistent footing, and he was harassed by a versatile Seahawks pass rush throughout the night.
Seattle had answers. Their zone-heavy scheme tightened windows, blanketed New England’s receivers downfield, and forced the Patriots to earn everything — and they ultimately couldn’t.
Closing Thoughts
Even with the loss, New England engineered a historic reversal of fortunes in 2025. After a combined 8-26 record over the past two seasons, the Patriots finish 17-4 — just the 18th team in NFL history and the fifth in franchise history to reach 17 wins.
New England’s 13-win turnaround from a 4-13 finish in 2024 marked the largest one-year swing in wins in NFL history.
The Patriots’ sixth Super Bowl loss sets an NFL record for a single franchise, breaking a tie with the Denver Broncos.
Head coach Mike Vrabel — the NFL’s 2025 Coach of the Year — tied the record for most wins (17) by a head coach in his first season with a team including the postseason (George Seifert, 1989 San Francisco 49ers).
In the loss, Maye (23 years, 162 days) became the second-youngest quarterback to start a Super Bowl.
New England’s storybook season may have ended without a Lombardi Trophy, but the heights the Patriots reached en route to the franchise’s 12th Super Bowl appearance far surpassed even the wildest expectations entering the year.
For the Patriots, this still feels like the beginning.
With ample cap space and draft capital, New England enters the 2026 offseason ahead of schedule — positioned to build on a solid foundation and compete for championships for years to come.
We’ll take a closer look at this one in the coming days and peek ahead to a pivotal offseason for Vrabel & Co. Stay tuned for that and much more right here on Patriots Roundtable.
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