Here’s the timeless lesson after another Super Bowl ends another NFL season:
“Anything is possible if you believe in yourself.”
That’s how Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold framed his improbable Disney journey anyhow, the one that had him covered in confetti holding the Super Bowl trophy of his fifth NFL team late Sunday evening.
The football lesson is simpler and repetitive for rebuilding teams like the Miami Dolphins: Every championship starts with dominant lines. Physical lines. Ask New England quarterback Drake Maye, who might need the offseason to feel right after what Seattle did to him.
Ask Seattle running back Kenneth Walker III, the first running back to win the Most Valuable Player trophy since Terrell Davis in 1997.
“Our offensive line won this,’’ said Walker, who had 27 carries for 135 yards. “I just got what they gave me.”
Ask New England coach Mike Vrabel, too, whose rookie left side of tackle Will Campbell and guard Jared Wilson were folded and spindled too often by Seattle’s pass rushers.
“We’ll learn from this and be better,’’ Vrabel said after Seattle’s 29-13 dominant win.
A year ago it was Kansas City’s great quarterback Patrick Mahomes running for his health in losing the Super Bowl to Philadelphia. Sunday it was Maye ending a dream season by leading the first Super Bowl offense that didn’t score for three quarters.
Seattle defined this for the defense-wins-championships crowd with six sacks, three takeaways and a fumble returned for a touchdown. New England had five first downs and no points through three quarters.
There’s no need to say it showed how far the Dolphins are. It underlined what you need to win, though. the Dolphins might not have an edge rusher if Bradley Chubb is released for salary-cap balm and don’t have a proven cornerback on board right now.
Seattle built a championship defensive front with an expensive free agent (Demarcus Lawrence), an inexpensive free agent (Uchenna Nwosu) and a first-round and two second-round picks. Some of their most expensive decisions became some of their best.
“They were a handful,’’ Campbell said.
New England had a priceless run to this game. But this final day was defined by bad Patriots blocking, bad Patriots passing and Bad Bunny. You know it was an underwhelming game when the halftime show dominates conversation.
Fifteen punts? Seattle up 12-0 heading into the fourth quarter? Let’s talk about Bad Bunny (if you’re complaining about the show, you’re probably not in the age metric the NFL cares about).
The football storyline was your quarterback doesn’t matter if your line doesn’t. Maye didn’t matter until the fourth quarter when he found some time to throw and answers. Darnold mattered just enough to help Seattle to three first-half field goals that provided the cushion.
Most importantly, Darnold didn’t make a mistake all night, while Maye seemed rattled and lost a fumble and threw a late interception.
So, Darnold becomes the first quarterback from the 2018 NFL draft to get a ring. Not two-time MVP Lamar Jackson. Not MVP Josh Allen. Not No. 1 pick Baker Mayfield. The guy who wandered the wilderness for seven years before holding a trophy this eighth season. Sports happens.
He’s not a Top 5 quarterback. Is he Top 10? Surely after a 14-win season in Minnesota and now a Super Bowl win in Seattle. But he wasn’t considered that when the New York Jets, Carolina, San Francisco and then Minnesota dumped him last winter and Seattle signed him.
Organizations make quarterbacks, as Hall of Famer Bill Walsh always said. Sometimes it’s putting one in the right system with the right help. Darnold believed in himself all the way to this Super Bowl celebration.
But if you want to think a top quarterback isn’t necessary, feel free today. The past two Super Bowls are your guideline. Jalen Hurts accompanied the Eagles to the championship more than he led them. Now Darnold. That can happen when you have surrounding casts like Philadelphia and Seattle.
That’s not the blueprint, though. That’s not how you have the kind of sustained winning Mahomes has had in Kansas City with five straight Super Bowl trips.
Ah, yes, the blueprint. There it was again for the Dolphins as they start a new era. They haven’t had a dominant line in decades. They haven’t had a Top 10 quarterback for that stretch, either. The ideal is always easier than the solution.