Super Bowl LX MVP debates usually start at quarterback. This one started in the ribs.Kenneth Walker III took the handoff and hit the line with no hesitation. Levi’s Stadium sat in bright, 67 degree California air, yet the contact sounded like January. Seattle fans carried Super Bowl XLIX like a splinter for more than a decade. New England carried the swagger of a franchise that expects a ring every time the calendar turns cruel.
A feature story does not live in a box score, though the numbers matter. Walker finished with 27 carries for 135 yards in a 29 13 Seahawks win, and voters handed him the Super Bowl LX MVP trophy for it. The real question sits underneath the stat line, where the bruises collect. When the game asked for someone to do the dirty work, who kept saying yes?
The rematch weight never left Seattle
Seattle did not need a speech to remember. Fans in green knew what this matchup meant the second the bracket turned into a rematch. Super Bowl XLIX still lives in the city’s muscle memory, even if the roster changed and the coaches rotated.
Mike Macdonald built the Seahawks defense into a personality. AP News called it the “Dark Side,” and it played like it wanted receipts. Drake Maye arrived with a 14 3 team record and a rookie’s fearless posture. New England also arrived with a plan to make Seattle throw into tight windows.
Kenneth Walker III kept ruining that plan. The Super Bowl LX MVP case formed early, not with fireworks, but with insistence.
First quarter the plan showed itself
Myers put the first crack in the dam
Jason Myers lined up from 33 yards and drilled it. Seattle led 3 0 before either offense found a rhythm. New England’s defense celebrated, then watched Walker jog back out like nothing happened.
That detail mattered. Seattle never chased a highlight reel. Seattle chased control.
Walker ran with his shoulders forward and his feet churning. Every two yard carry carried a threat behind it. If the Patriots overplayed the run, Sam Darnold could breathe.
If the Patriots stayed disciplined, Walker would keep leaning. Super Bowl LX MVP trophies rarely go to patience. This one did.
Second quarter Seattle stacked points and bruises
Walker found the edge and made New England widen
Early in the second quarter, Walker bounced outside and stretched the defense. Seahawks.com posted the clip as an electrifying 30 yard run that forced multiple defenders into late angles. Linebackers Anfernee Jennings and Jahlani Tavai sit at the heart of New England’s run fits. Walker kept pulling them wider than they wanted to play.
The run did not score. It did something more damaging. It told the Patriots they could not sit still.
Two more kicks turned the night into math
Myers hit from 39 yards. Later, he hit from 41 with 11 seconds left in the half. Seattle led 9 0 at halftime without a touchdown.
That score line feels strange until you watch the drives. Walker kept Seattle out of negative plays. Darnold avoided the mistake that flips a Super Bowl.
New England kept waiting for the moment to strike back. The Seahawks defense kept refusing to blink.
Third quarter the defense broke the pocket
Hall stripped Maye and Murphy fell on it
New England finally found a little daylight late in the third. Then Derick Hall got home.
With 16 seconds left in the quarter, Hall sacked Maye, jarred the ball loose, and Byron Murphy recovered at the New England 37. That play did not make the highlight packages for style. It made them for consequence.
Maye took hits from every angle. Rylie Mills even logged a sack, a small moment that felt huge for a rookie trying to survive the loudest day of his life. Seattle finished with six sacks, and the pocket never looked comfortable.
Myers made it 12 and the clock started to feel heavy
The Seahawks drove, stalled, and took another three. Myers hit from 41 again. Seattle led 12 0, and the game started asking New England to press.
That is when Super Bowl LX MVP conversations tilt toward quarterbacks. Maye needed points. Darnold needed calm.
Kenneth Walker III kept offering the one thing that makes calm possible. He kept the offense on schedule.
Fourth quarter the game finally opened up
Barner scored and the building exhaled
The Seahawks reached the red zone early in the fourth and did not settle. Darnold found tight end AJ Barner for a 16 yard touchdown. Seattle led 19 0, and you could feel the old Super Bowl XLIX pain start to loosen.
Walker sprinted down the field after the score with the same flat expression. He did not smile. He looked like a man still working.
The Super Bowl LX MVP trophy sat closer now. The game still demanded one more answer.
Hollins hit back in under a minute
New England finally landed a clean punch. Maye hit Mack Hollins deep middle for 24, then went deep left for a 35 yard touchdown on the next snap. Seattle’s lead shrank to 19 7 in 57 seconds.
That sequence mattered because it reminded everyone how fast a Super Bowl can flip. Maye did not fold. The Patriots did not quit.
Seattle also did not panic. Walker took another carry. Then he took another.
Super Bowl LX MVP voters tend to reward the player who ends the doubt. Seattle still needed someone to end it.
Myers added one more and forced New England to chase
Seattle answered with field position and restraint. Myers knocked through a 26 yard field goal. The lead went back to 22 7, and the Patriots needed urgency again.
This is where Walker’s value becomes obvious. A running back can shrink a game without scoring. Walker did it all night.
The Seahawks defense took the invitation. Maye tried to create a big play. Seattle hunted the throw.
Nwosu sealed it with a pick six
With 4:27 left, Uchenna Nwosu grabbed an interception and returned it 45 yards for a touchdown. The play hit like a door slam.
Seattle led 29 7, and the celebration turned real. Linemen sprinted downfield with their hands in the air. Macdonald’s sideline finally let itself breathe.
That touchdown did not steal the Super Bowl LX MVP from Walker. It protected it. The defense finished the job Walker started.
Stevenson scored late but the math stayed cruel
New England refused to die quietly. Rhamondre Stevenson caught a 7 yard touchdown pass with 2:21 left. The Patriots tried a two point pass and failed. The score settled at 29 13.
Two touchdowns, one missed conversion, and a night spent chasing a defense that never stopped coming. That explains the Patriots’ 13 without forcing anyone to do mental gymnastics.
It also explains why the Super Bowl LX MVP did not go to a quarterback. Maye made plays. Walker made the game move on Seattle’s terms.
Why Kenneth Walker III won the Super Bowl LX MVP
The headline number looks clean. 135 rushing yards on 27 carries will always read like authority. His impact lived in the spaces between those carries.
Walker kept Seattle out of chaos. Second and eight stayed second and five. Third and manageable stayed on the menu.
He also ran like he trusted the next hit. Pads popped. Legs kept driving.
That style turns defenses into decision makers. Safeties creep closer. Linebackers step early.
Then the quarterback gets air. Darnold threw a touchdown, avoided interceptions, and played the clean game Seattle wanted. Walker made that possible.
The Super Bowl LX MVP award also carried a simple historical note. Reuters pointed out Walker became the first running back to win the honor since Terrell Davis in the 1998 season. That gap tells you how modern football votes. This game forced the voters to look at the hits again.
What Super Bowl LX MVP means for Seattle next
The confetti will dry. The conversations will not.
Kenneth Walker III now sits at the center of Seattle’s next argument, and it will not feel sentimental. NFL salary cap reality never does. Teams talk about loyalty. Front offices talk about numbers.
Walker also earned something harder than praise. He earned leverage.
Seattle’s defense looks like an identity you can carry from season to season. A team can win in January with a front that collapses pockets and a secondary that tackles. A team can win in February with a running back who keeps the quarterback out of trouble.
That truth will shape the Seahawks roster choices. It will shape the draft board. It will shape how opponents build their game plans.
Fans will also drag out Super Bowl MVP history and argue about what value means. Some will point at the pick six and say the defense owned the night. Others will point at Walker and say he owned the script.
Both arguments can stand at the same time. Walker controlled the pace. The defense controlled the air.
Super Bowl LX MVP awards do not erase old wounds. They just give a city a new memory to hold. Seattle finally has one against New England.
Next February, when the league rolls the highlight packages again, what will you remember first. The interception return that ended it. Or the running back who kept asking for one more carry, one more hit, one more honest yard.
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The Play That Decided Super Bowl LX: Seattle’s Dagger
FAQs
Q1. Who won the Super Bowl LX MVP award. Kenneth Walker III won it after 27 carries for 135 yards in Seattle’s 29 13 win.
Q2. How did New England get to 13 points. Drake Maye hit Mack Hollins for a 35 yard touchdown, then Rhamondre Stevenson scored late, and the two point try failed.
Q3. What was the play that ended the comeback. Uchenna Nwosu jumped the throw and took it 45 yards for a touchdown.
Q4. How many sacks did Seattle record. The Seahawks finished with six sacks and kept the pocket uncomfortable all night.
Q5. Why did the MVP go to a running back instead of a quarterback. Walker kept the offense on schedule and controlled the pace when the game demanded clean football.
I’m a sports and pop culture junkie who loves the buzz of a big match and the comfort of a great story on screen. When I’m not chasing highlights and hot takes, I’m planning the next trip, hunting for underrated films or debating the best clutch moments with anyone who will listen.
