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The Sideline Ledger is an unscheduled sports blog and podcast. Some episodes are written, some are audio, some are video, and some are all three. No fixed order, no forced cadence, just observations from the sideline as they happen. The cover image is a placeholder until I get my logo done. Check out: https://open.substack.com/pub/thesidelineledger/p/opening-the-ledger?r=74103e&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true for details
Hello, everybody. Welcome back to the sideline ledger entry number zero zero two Super Bowl sixty. Hey, everybody. Welcome back to the sideline ledger. Today, we are gonna be discussing the Seahawks win over this New England Patriots in Super Bowl sixty.
J:I have a score of 29 to 13. Now the telling in the tape is that this was a closer game statistically with it, but in reality, it wasn't. So what I wanna first go over is that, one, I predicted this to be a 27 to 24 game. I predicted a little bit higher scoring and the seahawks winning on a last minute field or not last minute field goal, last minute touchdown. I correctly predicted the win of the Seahawks, and I correctly predicted that Kenneth Walker the third would be the MVP.
J:I am not that great at picks. I'm just gonna tell you. I was just I got lucky. Should I go buy a lottery ticket right now? Probably should, but I don't get the money.
J:Anyways, let's go over just the quick score recap by quarter. Alright. So in the first quarter, we have the Seahawk score field goal, nothing by the Patriots. Second quarter, two field goals by the Seahawks, no score by the Patriots. Third quarter, another field goal by the Seahawks, nothing by the Patriots.
J:In the fourth quarter, Seahawks got 17 points and the Patriots got 13. Now this was not a close game even though some of the statistics would bear that out. And I'm not gonna go over every single statistic here. However, I do wanna basically point out that Sam Darnold did his job. He protected the ball.
J:He did not take unnecessary sacks. He only took one. He did not throw interceptions, and he did not lose a fumble. Matter of fact, none of the seahawks fumbled the ball. So we were plus three in turnovers because we have a fumble recovery, and we had two interceptions.
J:One of which turned returned for a touchdown. Okay. So why was Kenneth Walker the MVP? Well, he dominated the game offensively for the Seahawks. He had a 135 rushing yards on 27 attempts, averaging approximately five yards.
J:His longest was 30. His next longest, I think, was 28, 29. And it it's just one of those amazing nights for somebody. And the last time that a running back had won the MVP in the Super Bowl, Terrell Davis for the Denver Broncos. That's how long it's been.
J:Alright. So the number one receiver by yards was Cooper Kupp. Barnard next and also had the only touchdown. JSN, Jackson Smith, and Jigba only had four receptions and 27 yards. He was out for a bit with within the concussion protocol, but was cleared to come back.
J:So it's one of those things. I mean, this was an overall just dominant defense by the Seahawks, and the office just I I don't wanna minimize the offensive side here, but the offense just didn't screw up. And, again, that's because we were able to run the ball. We were able to control the line of scrimmage both on our offense and on our defense. Yes.
J:There were times where they stuffed us for a loss. There were times where they stuffed us and sacked Darnold. There were bad throws by Darnold. I mean, this is not me sitting here as a Seahawks fan right now sitting in my alternate Russell Wilson jersey that I've been wearing religiously for each game since the since I've gotten it pretty much, but the point being, we this was just a downright awesome game. K?
J:Now for the Patriots side of things, I don't think this was a one or two player thing. This was a this was a team trying to battle against a team that was superior to them. You had Drake May who throw for two interceptions and a fumble. You have you have him completing for 295 yards, and he had 27 of 43. So about a 50% completion rate percent 62% completion rate.
J:I forgot to double the number properly in my head. But, again, he he's not entirely the reason they lost the game. The reason they lost the game is because their offensive line could not protect him. He should have, as other analysts have said, and I have watched them, so I'm kind of parroting. This isn't my own opinion per se, but over the years as I do this, I'm hoping to be able to establish my opinions as worthy.
J:But the point being that the offensive line had two rookies starting on the left side, the blind side of Drake May. And Drake May got pressured like no other. And that's just the tale of the tape. I think that the I think that the Seahawks defense was just that dominant. And let's go back to their stats here real quick.
J:QB pressure, can I sort by no? I can't sort. That's stupid. Yeah. Witherspoon with three QB pressures.
J:You had Hall with two, DeMarcus Lawrence with one, Byron Murphy two, Mafia with one, Mills with one. Well, technically, had a sack, so that was a sack. So but again, the point being, we had 11 QB pressures. We had six sacks. We had six pass deflects, eight tackles for a loss, and an interception for a touchdown.
J:So, I mean and then the fumbles, we got one fumble recovery as well. So what I want what I want people to take from the sideline ledger and things like this, it was I will not do a lot of these, like, immediately after big even after big games, like championship games of doing these hot takes. The main reason I'm doing this is just one, I'm a Seahawks fan, and is probably one of the few times I'm gonna let my bias come out on this, and I feel like it's warranted because that was an incredible game. And I don't wanna dismiss the Patriots at all in this either because the Patriots, they want they won the right to be there. They were the great team in the AFC.
J:And this was nothing like the Seahawks, you know, 43 to eight win over the Broncos. This is just an overall great special teams and defensive game for three and a bit quarters. So, I mean, it's just I really how do I wanna put this? I really think that this is should go down as one of the best Super Bowls in a long time because I don't really as a fan of the game, like a true fan of the game, and I use the word true just as an emphasis, not necessarily saying I'm a better fan than anybody else. As a true fan of the game, I actually like these defensive stand games.
J:I don't like a lot of offensive plays. Don't get me wrong. I love a touchdown. Don't get me wrong. I love a bomb of a touchdown.
J:I love a long run as a touchdown. I even love, you know, running the ball on first and goal. You know, at the one yard line. I I even like it on the second and goal on the one yard line. You know, these are these are things that, you know, make me love the game.
J:But at the same time, I don't like the I don't like the, you know, blowouts. I don't like, I I didn't even really care for the Seahawks 43 to eight when I mean, yeah, I was happy to Seahawks won. But overall, I think that the true depth of the game that that we should want as fans are close scoring games or really defensive and special team games where it's constant back and forths. You know? And with that, you know, I wanna keep this one kinda short, and we'll probably try to do a written piece later about this game.
J:We'll see. I may get to it. I may not. I'm still trying to work on what was supposed to be entry zero zero two, which was about the Phil Belichick snub. I don't think it's a snub.
J:I think it's warranted, but we can have that conversation another time. And I hope you'll stick around and follow the sideline ledger as I get into now basketball and hockey before before spring training for Major League Baseball. And I hope that I can rebuild up my knowledge of these sports, hockey and basketball, build a very surface level knowledge of soccer, especially in time for the especially in time for the World Cup. And my goal was to try and get some Olympics coverage, but I don't know that I'm gonna be able to. Not unless I go to other people's houses and be like, hey, stop what you're watching.
J:I wanna watch the Olympics. So with so hot take day for the Super Bowl. I'm excited. I'm extra excited because I was able to call one the winning team and do the the MVP of the Super Bowl for this on Twitter about ten hours ago or so. It feels really great knowing that I did that.
J:At the same time, I'm not gonna let it go to my head because I'm not I'm not Nostradamus or Nostradamus if you're a SiriusXM NFL radio fan. So with that, I'm gonna sign off everybody. Have a great one, and I will look for you to read the next entry of the Sideline Ledger.