SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Kenneth Walker III rushed for 135 yards and Seattle’s top-ranked scoring defense scored the decisive blow in a 29-13 win over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX at Levi’s Stadium on Sunday.

The Seahawks, who led the NFL in allowing an average of 17.2 points per game during the regular season, held the Patriots scoreless until the fourth quarter. And when New England twice appeared to have generated significant momentum, twice the Seahawks’ defense responded with turnovers.

The final blow came with the Patriots trying to rally from a 22-7 deficit with 4:27 remaining in the game. Seahawks cornerback Devon Witherspoon hit Patriots quarterback Drake Maye on a blitz, popping the ball in the air. It was intercepted by Uchenna Nwosu, who returned it for his first career touchdown, all but cementing the second Super Bowl title in Seahawks history.

The final tally for Seattle’s defense was 6.0 sacks, 8 tackles for loss, three forced turnovers and the touchdown.

Sam Darnold threw for 202 yards and a touchdown, and Jason Myers connected on all five of his field-goal attempts. Three came in the first half, when Seattle took a 9-0 lead to the locker room while New England managed only 51 yards of total offense. However, the Seahawks left the Patriots in the game by failing to reach the end zone despite two trips inside the red zone.

With less than 100 yards in total offense and just 12:58 left in the game, the Patriots quickly capitalized in a break in the action when a fan streaked across the field. After the fan was wrestled to the ground and removed by several security personnel, Maye hit Mack Hollins with a 24-yard completion on the next play.

It was the biggest play of the game for New England’s offense to that point, and Maye immediately went back to the well. He hit Hollins again on a perfectly-thrown 35-yard touchdown strike to the left side of the end zone, beating tight coverage from Seahawks cornerback Riq Woolen.

The Patriots appeared to have fully switched the momentum when they forced a punt and Maye marched them to their 44-yard line on the ensuing drive with a 16-yard scramble and a 7-yard toss to Kyle Williams. However, he threw an ill-advised pass into coverage on the next play that was intercepted by Seahawks safety Julian Love.

Love returned it to the Patriots’ 38-yard line. Six plays later, Myers connected on his fifth field goal of the game to extend Seattle’s lead to 22-7.

New England quickly moved the ball back into Seattle territory. But that’s when the Seahawks’ defense struck the decisive blow with Nwosu’s touchdown.

New England’s first first down of the second half didn’t come until Seattle was flagged for defensive holding with 1:23 left in the third quarter. It was also the Seahawks’ first penalty of the game.

The Seahawks opened the scoring on a 33-yard field goal by Myers on their opening drive. Seattle took the kickoff and moved the ball 51 yards in just over three minutes, with Darnold sharp on completions to tight end A.J. Barner and Cooper Kupp in tight coverage, but the drive stalled on the Patriots’ 14-yard line.

That proved to be the only scoring of the opening quarter. New England penetrated Seattle territory on both of its first two drives, only to suffer three negative plays — including a pair of sacks — that resulted in two punts. The Seahawks managed only one more first down in a pair of drives after the field goal.

NOTES: Seahawks rookie defensive tackle Rylie Mills, who entered the game with 1 career solo tackle, recorded his first NFL sack when he dropped Maye for a 10-yard loss in the second quarter. Mills suffered a torn ACL toward the end of his 2024 season at Notre Dame, causing him to slide to the fifth round of last year’s draft. Mills was activated by the Seahawks in November, but played only a modest role in the line rotation. … The first penalty of the game wasn’t called until 3:09 remaining in the second quarter, when Patriots left tackle Will Campbell was flagged for a false start.

–Derek Harper, Field Level Media

The Atlantic Coast Conference fined North Carolina $50,000 on Sunday after fans stormed the court in the No. 14 Tar Heels’ 71-68 upset of No. 4 Duke one night earlier in Chapel Hill, N.C.

Duke coach Jon Scheyer had said at his postgame news conference that members of his staff were punched by people storming the court after North Carolina’s Seth Trimble hit a game-winning 3-pointer with 0.4 seconds left.

The ACC said in a statement that the University of North Carolina was fined for violating the league’s event security policy.

“The conference’s event security policy is designed to protect the safety and well-being of all student-athletes, coaches, officials and fans,” the ACC said, noting that the fine of $50,000 is for a first offense.

North Carolina released a statement on Sunday after the fine was announced.

“We accept the ACC’s fine for having unauthorized people on the court before Duke and the officials could completely clear the floor on Saturday,” it read. “The video we have confirms we followed our protocols to get Duke’s players and bench personnel and the game officials off the floor safely. We will continue to review our protocols to provide the highest measures of safety in the event fans rush the court. We consider this matter closed and look forward to the rest of the season.”

There actually were two court-storming incidents, as time was left on the clock after Trimble’s basket. Fans had to leave the court for Duke to run another play before the final buzzer and another rush to the court.

“For me, it’s hard for me to talk about the game when I was most concerned just for the safety of our players after the game,” Scheyer said on Saturday night. “I don’t want to make it about that because Carolina, they played a great game to win, and that’s a heartbreaking loss for our team.

“I got staff members that got punched in the face. My family pushing people away, trying to not get trampled. And that’s not what this game is about. You give them all the credit in the world. It’s not about the game, but obviously that was a scary ending, and this rivalry is not about that.”

North Carolina athletic director Bubba Cunningham told reporters after the game that he apologized to Scheyer.

“When they rushed the court, a number of people got knocked over,” Cunningham said on Saturday night. “But then we had to clear the court again. So, when we normally have something like just rushing the court and the game is over, we do have a line by the benches to get people off safely.

“Obviously, if somebody got injured, that’s just really, really disappointing,” he said. “We’ll do the best we can to make sure that doesn’t happen, but again, my apologies to Duke for that.”

The league said that all fines collected under the policy go to a scholarship fund for ACC student-athletes pursuing graduate education.

–Field Level Media

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — When the Seattle Seahawks won their first Super Bowl title 12 years ago, a 43-8 thrashing of the Peyton Manning-led Denver Broncos, the Most Valuable Player award could have landed in a number of different players’ hands. Little-known linebacker Malcolm Smith was the winner, his pick-6 and fumble recovery standing out in Seattle’s complete defensive effort that night.

When the Seahawks’ lead stood at 12-0 entering the fourth quarter of Super Bowl LX on Sunday, the MVP discussion may have been down to another defensive selection, or perhaps Seattle kicker Jason Myers. But one offensive player was the consistent throughline from the Seahawks’ first quarter through the fourth, the steady engine of an offense that eventually found another gear.

Running back Kenneth Walker III finished the game with 135 rushing yards on 27 attempts and took home Super Bowl LX MVP honors after his team’s 29-13 triumph over the New England Patriots. He is the first running back to win the award since Denver’s Terrell Davis at Super Bowl XXXII in January 1998.

The soft-spoken 25-year-old let his legs do the talking until it was time to accept the award on stage at Levi’s Stadium.

“First and foremost, I want to thank God for this blessing to be here,” Walker said. “Also I want to talk to my brothers. This don’t happen without them. We went through a lot of adversity this season but we came together and we stuck together, and this is what we got.”

As NBC presenter Maria Taylor was about to move on to quarterback Sam Darnold, Walker cut back in.

“Hey, shoutout to the 12s!” he added, referring to Seattle’s fan base.

A native of Tennessee, Walker played two seasons at Wake Forest before transferring to Michigan State in 2021 and lighting up the college football world with 1,636 yards and 18 touchdowns on the ground. Despite winning the Doak Walker Award for the nation’s top running back, he finished a mere sixth in Heisman Trophy voting and went to Seattle early in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft.

Because he dropped out of the first round that year, his rookie contract was four years without a fifth-year option. Walker enters the offseason as a free agent and was mostly mum on his future during Super Bowl week.

Walker’s workload increased when backfield mate Zach Charbonnet went down with a torn ACL in the divisional round against San Francisco. After finishing the regular season with 1,027 yards and five touchdowns rushing, Walker ran for 116 yards and three scores against the 49ers and another 62 yards and a touchdown against the Rams in the NFC Championship Game.

He didn’t add to the TD total Sunday, but time and again he brought the Seahawks into scoring position. Walker took the first play of the game 10 yards around left end. His 30-yard run propelled Seattle to its second of five field goals, and he added two catches for 26 yards, including a 20-yarder.

Walker is only the third player in Super Bowl history with two carries of 25-plus yards in a game, according to ESPN Stats and Information. He joined Washington’s Timmy Smith in Super Bowl XXII (three) and the Raiders’ Marcus Allen in Super Bowl XVIII (two).

He nearly had a third run of more than 25 yards late in the fourth quarter, when he broke free up the middle for what would have been a 49-yard touchdown. But center Jalen Sundell was called for holding and the play was nullified.

–Field Level Media