Drake Maye Getting All Kinds of Nasty Surprises From Seahawks Defense

Forget Bad Bunny. Seattle's suffocating defense is the headliner at the Super Bowl.

Feb 8, 2026; Santa Clara, CA, USA; Seattle Seahawks defensive tackle Rylie Mills (98) reacts after sacking New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye (10) during the second quarter in Super Bowl LX at Levi's Stadium. | Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

At halftime, the Super Bowl is going the Seattle Seahawks' way. It hasn't been pretty, as the New England Patriots' defense has come to play as well - but the real headliner so far has been the Seahawks' No. 1 defense. Seattle leads New England 9-0 in what's been a defensive slugfest.

The Patriots tried to run the ball first - and they stuck with it - for about 40 seconds. Since their first drive they've gone with a heavy dropback gameplan, which is quite the decision.

As expected, Seattle's many-headed monster at the line of scrimmage has teed off, getting consistent pressure on Drake Maye. The twist is that the pressures and hits and sacks are coming from entirely unexpected directions.

Watch Seahawks star Devon Witherspoon - who was rarely used on blitzes during the season - put a stutter-step move on a Patriots lineman and then get to Maye for a sack.

Devon Witherspoon cracks Drake Maye

Spoon showing off his pass rush moves for a Super Bowl sack pic.twitter.com/96asbzYAup

— Dugar, Michael-Shawn (@MikeDugar) February 9, 2026

'Spoon wasn't the only irregular rusher that Maye had to deal with in the first half, either. Here's Derick Hall getting to Maye for a massive 10-yard loss.

Derick Hall takes down Maye

Loss of 10. Courtesy of Derick Hall. 😌

📺: @SNFonNBC pic.twitter.com/zLIOWa4QAP

— xz* - Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) February 8, 2026

Now observe rookie nose tackle Rylie Mills - who spent most of the 2025 season on the NFI list - bull-rush his man into Maye, then take them both down at the same time.

Rookie Rylie Mills adds another

RIGHT HERE. RIGHT NOW.@ryliemills99 gets the sack. -10 yards.

📺: @SNFonNBC pic.twitter.com/mqExZ0QZST

— xz* - Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) February 9, 2026

Seahawks first half studs

Instead of our usual post-game studs and duds, (hopefully we'll have bigger stories to cover) we offer a few short bullet points on studs for Seattle in the first half.

HC Mike Macdonald: What the Seahawks defense is doing to throw off Drake Maye is the result of a complete team effort. Devon Witherspoon and Derick Hall and Rylie Mills have stood out for obvious reasons, but the pass rush is acting as one as it has all year. That's a credit to their coach, who's clearly saved some special looks for this kind of game.

RB Kenneth Walker III: If not for No. 9, the Seahawks offense would be in pretty bad shape right now. Fortunately, the hottest player on Seattle's roster continues to sizzle. Walker has broken off several explosive runs already, totaling 94 yards on 14 carries (6.7 yards per attempt).

P Michael Dickson: If we had to award a Super Bowl MVP right now, it would go to head coach Mike Macdonald. However, if forced to give it to a player we'd have a hard time denying Seattle's supremely-underrated punter, Michael Dickson. He has consistently put the Patriots in bad position to begin their drives, incluing a brutal pin at their own two-yard line.

WR Cooper Kupp: The only Seahawks receiver who's really made a splash play is of course the only Super Bowl MVP on the roster. Cooper Kupp made some big catches in the first half, with his sideline toe-tipper probably the highlight of the game so far. He has a team high four catches for 44 yards.

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