Seahawks Stop the Patriots

The Seattle Seahawks are Super Bowl LX Champions after a convincing 29-13 win over the New England Patriots. The headlines following the game include:

Super Bowl LX: How the Seahawks Shut Down the Patriots (ESPN.com)

Sam Darnold Silences Skeptics as Seahawks Dominate Patriots in Super Bowl LX (NFL.com)

Seahawks Stifle Drake Maye, Patriots to Capture Super Bowl LX (ESPN.com)

The biggest takeaway from their Super Bowl victory was how the Seahawks stopped the Patriots and prevented them from moving the ball effectively on offense.

Seattle’s defense shut down the run game, holding New England to 79 rushing yards. They intercepted the ball twice, returning one for a touchdown, and forced a fumble.

They allowed the Patriots to cross the 50-yard line no more than three times and to enter the red zone or the end zone only once. That wasn’t until the fourth quarter. As the Seahawks took away their ability to get first downs, they forced the Patriots to punt eight times.

The Seahawks kept putting Drake Maye on the ground, hitting him 11 times and sacking him six times, one less than the Super Bowl record. They deprived him of having a successful Super Bowl performance.

ESPN’s Dan Graziano wrote, “The Seahawks' defensive front came at Maye in waves, cutting off any chance the Patriots had to get in a rhythm and making the game go the way it wanted it to go.”

While Seattle did a remarkable job of stopping and shutting down the Patriots all night, this Super Bowl win also highlights what their quarterback, Sam Darnold, stopped doing on the other side of the ball.

In the regular season, he led the NFL in turnovers, but in the playoffs, he didn’t turn it over at all. In fact, the Seahawks as a team committed zero turnovers in the playoffs, becoming the first Super Bowl champion to do so.

Sam Darnold chose to stop forcing it, to stop trying to make a big play every time, to stop trying to be the hero, and to stop thinking it is all up to him. In the Super Bowl, he did what was required of him as he relied on his defense and his running back, Kenneth Walker.

As Darnold held up the Lombardi trophy, he was able to “silence the skeptics” and stop the narrative that he would never be able to win the big games. He can now cease trying to prove he belongs, while the doubters can stop their criticizing. 

This year’s Super Bowl may not have delivered an exciting game, but as we consider how Seattle did a lot of stopping, shutting down, ceasing, and preventing, let’s unpack how those terms also translate to our own lives.

As followers of Jesus, we must stop behaviors, thoughts, and attitudes that attempt to defeat us. 

1 Peter 2:1 (WE) says, “So stop all the wrong things you do. Stop all the ways you cheat people. Stop fooling people. Stop being jealous. Stop saying wrong things about people.”

We also have to stop making excuses, shut down the enemy's attacks, prevent sins from taking root in our lives, and not allow our old ways to creep back in or even cross “the 50-yard line.” 

Colossians 3:5-8 (AMP) challenges us, “So put to death and deprive of power the evil longings of your earthly body [with its sensual, self-centered instincts], immorality, impurity, sinful passion, evil desire, and greed, which is [a kind of] idolatry [because it replaces your devotion to God].

"Because of these [sinful] things, the [divine] wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience [those who fail to listen and who routinely and obstinately disregard God’s precepts], and in these [sinful things] you also once walked, when you were habitually living in them [without the knowledge of Christ].

"But now rid yourselves [completely] of all these things: anger, rage, malice, slander, and obscene (abusive, filthy, vulgar) language from your mouth.”

Just like the Seahawks stifled the Patriots, cut off any chance they had to win, and silenced any negativity about them…we have to stifle our selfish desires, cut off any chance the devil has to get a foothold on us, and silence the lies and negativity in our minds that don’t align with God’s truth.

Romans 8:6 (NLT) tells us, ”So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.”

Just like Sam Darnold, we too have to put an end to the “turnovers,” stop forcing it, and cease striving to “make a play” where it’s all up to us, trying to prove we’re good enough, and be the hero.

As followers of Jesus, we instead rest in His finished work on the cross, relying on Him and His grace for salvation. We lean on His strength and power to “stop,” knowing He’s the one who transforms us, enables us not to sin, and to do His will.

Philippians 2:13 (AMP) reminds us, “For it is [not your strength, but it is] God who is effectively at work in you, both to will and to work [that is, strengthening, energizing, and creating in you the longing and the ability to fulfill your purpose] for His good pleasure.”

Psalm 46:10 (LSB) encourages us to “Cease striving and know that I am God…”

Today, let’s ask God to help us stop behaviors that are unaligned with Him, shut down mindsets that are negatively affecting us, and cease striving to perform or earn His love.

Let's continue to surrender to Jesus and praise Him for the ways He’s helping us to STOP!

I’m Bryce Johnson, and you can UNPACK that!

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank you for the ways You are changing me and helping me stop doing things that aren't fruitful or beneficial. Thank you for Your strength and power to help me shut down the enemy's attacks, and please allow me to cease striving and performing and instead rest and trust in You. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.