The New England Patriots navigated previous top-tier defenses via the primary three rounds of the NFL playoffs.

However these have been nothing in comparison with what they noticed from the Seattle Seahawks within the first half of Tremendous Bowl LX in Santa Clara, Calif.

Seattle held the Drake Maye-led Patriots scoreless via two quarters, limiting New England to only 52 yards of offense over its first 5 drives.

Maye managed solely 48 yards on 6-of-11 passing within the first half, whereas the Patriots have been equally ineffective on the bottom, totaling 33 yards on 11 carries.

The Seahawks generated fixed strain in opposition to Maye, racking up three sacks — together with one by cornerback Devon Witherspoon on a third-down blitz — whereas forcing a number of extra throwaways.

It was an unwelcome sight for Maye, who suffered a shoulder harm within the AFC Championship Sport however was taken off the harm report earlier than Sunday’s sport.

Seattle had 5 tackles for loss and took a 9-0 lead into halftime. A staff that was shutout within the first half of a Tremendous Bowl by no means went on to win.

The Seahawks boasted the NFL’s stingiest protection within the common season, permitting solely 17.2 factors per sport.

That was superior to the defenses of the Los Angeles Chargers, Houston Texans and Denver Broncos, whom the Pats defeated within the AFC playoffs — albeit whereas averaging solely 18.0 factors per sport.

Luckily for New England, the Seahawks’ offense wasn’t significantly better in opposition to a Patriots protection that generated related strain.

Darnold completed the half 9-of-22 for 88 yards as Seattle settled for 3 area objectives.

The motor of Seattle’s first-half offense was working again Kenneth Walker III, who rushed for 94 yards on 14 carries. Cooper Kupp led the Seahawks with 4 catches for 44 yards.