Darnold isn’t setting the world alight but he’s definitely outshining Maye when it comes to escaping pressure, after wriggling free from another would-be sack. A rare mistake from Walker — a dropped pass on third down — cuts the drive short, though.
At least we’ve had more points than the first half of Super Bowl IX in 1975, when the Steelers led the Vikings 2-0 at half-time. The only score was a safety when Vikings quarterback Fran Tarkenton fumbled in the endzone. The Steelers won 16-6 in the end — will we get more than 22 points tonight? I hope so.
Should Patriots start to panic?
Drake Maye in action with the Seahawks’ Rylie Mills
REUTERS/MIKE BLAKE
Rookie Rylie Mills completely overpowers his opposite man to get to Maye for a third Seahawks sack of the half — they really do have a serious arsenal of defensive weapons — and it’s another Patriots punt. When does their head coach Mike Vrabel start getting worried?
Maye has completed only five passes and the running game has arguably been even less effective. A Seahawks touchdown before half-time and the Patriots would be in trouble.
K’Lavon Chaisson so nearly gets Darnold for the sack, but in the end it doesn’t matter because Walker is stuffed on third down. That leaves Myers with a 39-yard field goal, which he duly converts. That will feel like a missed opportunity for Seattle, but at least they’ve got more points on the board — at this stage, those are like gold dust. Seahawks lead 6-0.
Dazzling turn by Christian Gonzalez
Incredible from Christian Gonzalez. Darnold launches a bomb to Rashid Shaheed and it looks like it’s on the money, but the Patriots’ star cornerback tips it away at full stretch. So, Gonzalez must have been furious to see Kenneth Walker flying down the left sideline the very next play for a chunk gain. Walker then picks another gap and shoots through it, leaving Gonzalez to force him out of bounds. Seattle have the run game cooking and they’re into the redzone.
End of first quarter: Seahawks 3-0 Patriots
Seattle Seahawks tight end AJ Barner (88) catches a pass against New England Patriots cornerback Marcus Jones (25)
CARY EDMONDSON-IMAGN IMAGES
One final Stevenson run, which doesn’t get too far, and that’s the end of the quarter. That was near-perfect from the Seahawks’ much-vaunted defence — full marks to their co-ordinator, Aden Durde of north London — and the Patriots’ unit wasn’t bad either. Whoever has the first fluent offensive drive or big breakaway play is going to be in the driving seat here. My 27-20 prediction is looking optimistic!
The Seattle Seahawks defensive co-ordinator Aden Durde
AP/BRYNN ANDERSON
Could this be a defensive game?
First downs are proving hard to come by. Barner, the big-bodied tight end, fights his way to one but that’s as good as it gets on Seattle’s final drive of the first quarter.
This is starting to feel like Super Bowl LIII in 2019, when the Patriots beat the Rams 13-3. Let’s just say it was one for the purists, as neither offence could really get anything going for most of the game. It could come down to a battle of the kickers…
Maye vulnerable to being sacked
Drake Maye
KEVIN C COX/GETTY IMAGES
That’s better from Maye, who has a bit of time to assess his options and finds a wide-open Stefon Diggs for a big gain. The Seattle defence responds brilliantly though, leaving New England with third and 15.
That’s when cornerback Devon Witherspoon pounces to sack Maye. This unit has serious threats everywhere and Maye is prone to a sack. Coming into this game he had 15 in the play-offs already — the second highest of any quarterback was six. That’s two already in this first quarter and that can’t continue if the Patriots want to move the ball effectively on offence.
NFL’s top defences put to the test
New England Patriots’ linebacker #53 Christian Elliss rushes Seattle Seahawks’ quarterback #14 Sam Darnold
PATRICK T FALLON/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
These are two of the best defences in the league (Seattle are the very best if you’re going by total points allowed to the opposition) and it’s safe to say they’ve had the better of it so far.
Darnold just escapes from Jaylinn Hawkins on third down and launches a long pass just before Hawkins can have another bite at the cherry, but it’s out of reach for Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Another punt, still 3-0 Seattle.
Wunderkind Derick Hall sacks Drake Maye
Drake Maye #10 of the New England Patriots is sacked by Derick Hall…
CHRIS GRAYTHEN/GETTY IMAGES
… to Hall’s obvious delight
THEARON W HENDERSON/GETTY IMAGES
First sack of the game as Drake Maye holds on to the ball a little too long and Derick Hall gets to him.
Hall has an incredible story, by the way. He was born four months premature with no heartbeat and weighing only 2lbs. Doctors urged his mother to remove the breathing support, given he only had a 1 per cent chance of survival, but she refused. Now he’s in the Super Bowl, sacking Maye. Oh, and the Patriots are punting — advantage Seattle.
Seattle’s ‘dark side’ kicks into gear
Huge noise from Seattle fans as soon as their defence — “the dark side”, as they like to call themselves — enter the field. How will the Patriots respond? Pretty well. A couple of short-yardage runs up the gut from Rhamondre Stevenson, who then peels out in the open on third down, catches a pass, makes a man miss and gets the first down. They’re on the move…
Kenneth Walker III, number 9 of the Seattle Seahawks runs with the ball
CHRIS GRAYTHEN/GETTY IMAGES
We’re under way! Bright start for the Seahawks as Kenneth Walker gets a first down immediately out to the left. Sam Darnold then threads perfect passes to AJ Barner and Cooper Kupp for two more but the drive halts around the 15-yard line and they’re forced to settle for a field goal. Jason Myers pops it over from 34 yards. Seahawks lead 3-0.
Charlie Puth sings anthem
Charlie Puth
NEILSON BARNARD/GETTY IMAGES
A reverent hush descended on Levi’s Stadium as Charlie Puth performed the national anthem. Both sets of supporters sang along to The Star-Spangled Banner, which was accompanied by fireworks and a military flyover.
A couple of Seattle fans waved “ICE out” towels during the anthem. Fans earlier waved red, white and blue flags while the singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile performed America the Beautiful.
Brandi Carlile performs “America the Beautiful”
PATRICK T FALLON/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Chris Pratt announces Seahawks
Chris Pratt
CHRIS GRAYTHEN/GETTY IMAGES
The Super Bowl is as much an entertainment product as a sporting one and the Hollywood connection has been on display.
Chris Pratt, the Marvel actor, introduced the Seahawks to the field. The musician Jon Bon Jovi welcomed the Patriots.
The Seattle Seahawks take the field
THEARON W HENDERSON/GETTY IMAGES
Green Day takes to the stage
Billie Joe Armstrong performs Green Day’s top hits, including American Idiot
REUTERS/MIKE BLAKE
PATRICK T FALLON/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Who will win? Our sports writer’s verdict
By Paddy von Behr
DAVID TULIS/UPI/SHUTTERSTOCK
Half an hour to kick-off, so it’s probably prediction time… at the start of the play-offs I went for Seattle and I’m sticking to my guns.
Picture the scene: Seahawks lead 27-20. Drake Maye with the ball, two-minute drill. He marches the Patriots into Seattle territory but they are halted 20 yards short of the endzone.
It’s fourth and long, the ball is snapped, Maye drops back and scans for open receivers, but before he can release the ball DeMarcus Lawrence finds a gap, bursts through it and delivers the sack. Game over, Seahawks win, sweet revenge after 11 long years. Or something like that.
The ten best Super Bowl half-time shows — ranked!
The Puerto Rican rap superstar Bad Bunny will become the latest music royalty to perform at the so-called “greatest show on Earth” on Sunday, when he takes charge of the famous half-time show between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
Although the Super Bowl has had some sort of half-time show since its inception in 1967, it wasn’t until the 1990s that the starry big productions that we have come to expect today became standard.
As TV networks and commercial sponsors realised the power of tens of millions of eyeballs on the game, the marching bands and drill teams of the 1960s and 1970s quickly gave way to big-budget shows featuring the biggest music stars of the day.
Milton Williams, the $104 million megastar
By Paddy von Behr
Milton Williams
AP/GEORGE WALKER IV
Remember Milton Williams? A year ago in New Orleans he sacked Patrick Mahomes twice and recovered a fumble as the Philadelphia Eagles destroyed the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl.
Well, in the off-season Williams joined the Patriots, signing a mammoth four-year $104 million contract. If he’s on the winning side this evening he will become eighth man to triumph in back-to-back Super Bowls with different teams, joining:
• Ken Norton Jr (Cowboys 1993 and 49ers 1994)
• Deion Sanders (49ers 1994 and Cowboys 1995)
• Derrick Martin (Packers 2010 and Giants 2011)
• Brandon Browner (Seahawks 2013 and Patriots 2014)
• Chris Long and LeGarrette Blount (both Patriots 2016 and Eagles 2017)
• LeSean McCoy (Chiefs 2019 and Buccaneers 2020)
In pictures: Celebrities descend on stadium
Jon Bon Jovi
JOHN ANGELILLO/UPI/SHUTTERSTOCK
Travis Scott
KATHRYN RILEY/GETTY IMAGES
Roger Federer
RONALD MARTINEZ/GETTY IMAGES
Jay-Z and his daughter Blue Ivy
KEVIN C COX/GETTY IMAGES
Travis Kelce, Chiefs player and Taylor Swift’s paramour
KATHRYN RILEY/GETTY IMAGES
Coco Jones performs Lift Every Voice and Sing
NEILSON BARNARD/GETTY IMAGES
Tim Cook, chief executive of Apple…
REUTERS/MIKE BLAKE
… and Drake Maye kisses his wife Ann before the big game
KEVIN C COX/GETTY IMAGES
Drake Maye: New England Patriots quarterback bidding for Super Bowl glory
Drake Maye’s Instagram bio reads: Jesus✞, Husband, Quarterback. We can safely assume he didn’t mean to call himself the Messiah, but for the New England Patriots he might actually be the second coming.
From his first full season in 2001 to his last in 2019, Tom Brady was king of New England. With nine trips to the Super Bowl, six of which ended with a ring, the head coach, Bill Belichick, and his clean-cut quarterback were the axis of power behind an all-time great sporting dynasty.
High stakes in unexpected teams line-up
By Paddy von Behr
KATHRYN RILEY/GETTY IMAGES
At that start of the season, very few people would have predicted this as the Super Bowl line-up. The Seahawks maybe, but the Patriots had just recorded back-to-back 4-13 seasons. They had a new head coach, a second-year quarterback and a roster packed full of players who were never even drafted.
In fact, there are 31 players across today’s teams (New England 16, Seattle 15) who were once undrafted free agents, which is a Super Bowl record — and a ringing endorsement of these teams’ ability to find hidden gems. This is also the first ever Super Bowl between two teams that both lost their opening game of the season.
Seahawks fans look to first final in 11 years
By Paddy von Behr
A Seahawks fan holds a giant claw outside the stadium
JUSTIN SULLIVAN/GETTY IMAGES
Seahawks fans appear to outnumber Patriots here, which makes sense on geographical grounds alone. They’ve also had to wait longer for a Super Bowl, having not been here since the Patriots beat them 11 years ago in such gut-wrenching fashion: a last-minute interception on the goalline.
If New England wins today it’ll be their seventh Lombardi Trophy, which would be an outright record— the Pittsburgh Steelers also have six. It would also be their first without Tom Brady as quarterback or Bill Belichick as head coach. This is truly a new Patriots era: the longest-serving player on this year’s roster is Anfernee Jennings, who was drafted in 2020, after Brady had left the team.
Will Bad Bunny leave a bad taste?
By Keiran Southern
Bad Bunny, real name Benito Ocasio
Bad Bunny is arguably the biggest pop star of the moment. He won the album of the year Grammy last week and dominates the global Spotify charts.
Yet his selection as the coveted Super Bowl half-time performer has been divisive. Some conservative viewers have vowed to boycott the performance while a right-wing group is broadcasting a rival concert.
At issue are Bad Bunny’s political views. He has been outspoken in his criticism of President Trump’s immigration policies and condemned ICE at the Grammys. He also performs in Spanish.
Meanwhile Green Day, another performer, are anti-Maga. Trump has said he is “anti-them” and criticised the NFL’s choice of performers.
At the stadium Bad Bunny seems to have plenty of fans; many are wearing T-shirts bearing his image. One read “here for the Benito Bowl”, a reference to his real name.
ICE disorder haunts Super Bowl Sunday
By Keiran Southern
KARL MONDON/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
The build-up to the game featured speculation that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents would be active near the stadium.
We have not seen any federal immigration agents in the vicinity. On a road leading to the stadium a sign read: “ICE out of the Bay Area.”
President Trump will not be attending the game, having said it was too far away. Activists organised a “flags in the stands project”; they handed out flags at a nearby hotel and asked fans to wave them during the game. It remains to be seen whether they will.
The NFL will be hoping its biggest event passes with a minimum of political activity.
Sun bears down on Santa Clara
By Paddy von Behr
We’re in position in Santa Clara and it’s hot… not least because the press desks are directly in the California sunshine. A testing few hours await for my fair skin and ageing laptop.
All eyes on the Bay Area’s big game
By Keiran Southern
The stadium fills up as the event gets under way
REUTERS/JEENAH MOON
Welcome to Santa Clara, California, which is basking in glorious sunshine for the Super Bowl while swathes of America remain freezing.
The Seattle Seahawks are taking on the New England Patriots, a repeat of the 2015 big game. Fans will be hoping for another classic.
Bad Bunny, the Puerto Rican musician, is performing for the half-time show.
The Bay Area, like much of California, is notorious for its traffic jams — and today was no different. Some supporters had to abandon taxis and exit coaches on the freeway and walk to the Levi’s Stadium.
That the NFL’s showpiece game is taking place in Silicon Valley is perhaps fitting. The Bay Area is undergoing an AI-fuelled boom — expect that to be a theme of many of the television adverts. Some reports suggested that time during the broadcast sold for as much as $10 million.
Why Maga is boycotting the Super Bowl
President Trump watches last year’s Super Bowl in New Orleans
KEVIN LAMARQUE/REUTERS
America’s unofficial national holiday is upon us, but millions of football fans appear too angry to observe Super Bowl Sunday this year.
The annual tradition brought in more than 127 million viewers in 2025 but this year’s face-off between the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots has been beset by a boycott against the half-time-show headliner, Bad Bunny.
More than half of Republicans said they were dissatisfied with the selection of the immensely popular Puerto Rican reggaeton star, according to a poll by YouGov and the Economist.
Who will win the Super Bowl? It all depends on Seahawks’ Sam Darnold
Sam Darnold, the Seahawks’ number 14
EAKIN HOWARD/GETTY IMAGES
Sam Darnold trudged to the sideline, sat on the bench and stared into the distance. He had just thrown another interception, en route to a bruising 33-0 defeat by the New England Patriots. “I’m seeing ghosts,” the struggling quarterback uttered in disbelief.
That was October 2019 and “seeing ghosts” has followed Darnold around ever since. The phrase became an emblem of a much vaunted prospect whose NFL dreams curdled with the New York Jets. Across his first three seasons in the league, the No3 overall draft pick won just 13 of 38 games, throwing 39 interceptions. He was, it was widely accepted, a bust.