Seahawks’ John Schneider savors Super Bowl 60 win vs. Patriots

As the happy chaos enveloped him in the locker room following the Seahawks’ 29-13 Super Bowl victory over New England, the man who orchestrated it all – general manager John Schneider – was asked if he felt they were set up to ascend the NFL’s summit again over the next few years.

“I’m not thinking about that,” Schneider said. “I’m just excited about this.”

It was the right response, because if there was ever a time to revel in the present it was Sunday night in that locker room.

For an hour or so after the game there were scattered scenes that will linger in the minds of those who were there for as long as they live.

In this post-Super Bowl edition of Four Downs, here’s some of what we saw and heard.

Schneider awed by team’s togetherness

Schneider, who was hired by the Seahawks 16 years ago last month, has built two Super Bowl winners with completely different rosters, becoming the first NFL GM to accomplish that feat.

Asked what stood out most about this team, Schneider cited its connectedness.

“These guys, like they literally love each other and they care about one another,” he said. “They want to play for each other. They were like super-confident. They are just a together team, and they love each other.”

That’s been oft-stated this season, and some might say it’s a byproduct of winning. But many around the organization have insisted it’s a real feeling that’s been there since last spring.

A quote from linebacker Ernest Jones IV seemed to encapsulate the sentiment.

“I told everybody, man, the saddest part about this week, honestly, was that we won’t be the same group,” Jones said. “That’s honestly the saddest part about this thing, is that everybody’s not going to be able to be back. But we know what it takes to play football and play defense for a Seattle defense, so we’ll carry that on. Man, it’s been rough.

“This didn’t start this year, it started last year. We couldn’t stop the run to save our lives early on (in 2024); and then I came in, and we were able to make some changes. I noticed then that we were getting better. We were a team that, if you had let us in the playoffs last year, we were going to cause damage, too. But I knew coming into this year we were special, we just had to go do it.”

Charbonnet: Walker ‘the best there is’

Another moment that seemed to capture the team-wide feeling of affection arrived as Zach Charbonnet sat at his locker, answering questions from reporters.

Charbonnet didn’t play in the Super Bowl after suffering an ACL injury in the divisional round against the 49ers.

His absence helped open the door for Kenneth Walker III to win the MVP. Without Charbonnet there to split reps and carries, Walker got his most action and had a season-high 27 rushing attempts for 135 yards – he hadn’t had more than 19 carries before Sunday. He also played a season-high 65% of the running-back snaps.

Walker hoped to honor Charbonnet during the game. He wrote Charbonnet’s uniform number (26) on his wrist and planned to show it at the camera if he scored a touchdown. He didn’t get the chance, as an apparent 49-yard TD in the fourth quarter was nullified by a penalty.

No matter. Charbonnet said the thought was more than enough.

“That’s why it means so much to have someone like him as a teammate,” Charbonnet said. “We’ve always got each other’s back. We text and call all the time. We’ve got a great relationship, and I just appreciate all that he’s done for us.”

Charbonnet said his gratitude for simply being part of the team overrode any disappointment he might have felt about missing the NFC title game and Super Bowl.

“I’m not even worried about that,” he said. “All that matters is getting this win, and I’m just proud of this team and everyone involved.”

Especially Walker, he said.

“We’ve been talking about getting to this point for years,” Charbonnet said. “He knew what he had to do. He’s been doing it all year. He’s the best there is.”

Defense states its case

Though Walker took home the MVP award, it easily could have gone to several members of a defense that allowed no points, five first downs and just 78 yards until there was 13:24 left in the game, at which point the Seahawks led 19-0.

The performance capped a season in which Seattle led the NFL in fewest points allowed at 17.2 per game and allowed 46 points in three playoff games.

“We were honestly mad they scored at all,” defensive lineman Leonard Williams said. “We were trying to get a shutout in the Super Bowl and make history to put a stamp on that Dark Side defense that we’ve had this year.”

The first shutout in Super Bowl history didn’t happen, but a point was made.

The defense came out so dominant early that some of the Seahawks defenders said they never felt the outcome was in question.

“Honestly, mid-first quarter,” safety Julian Love said after being asked when he felt the Seahawks were in control of the game. “It’s not necessarily like, ‘OK, yeah, we’re gonna jump ahead’ or anything like that, it’s, ‘OK they have to earn each play.’ They might complete a pass here or there, they might break a tackle here or there, but that’s the nature of our defense. We swarm to the ball. We make them line it up and earn it each play.

“And it’s a style. It’s a style thing. They’re getting excited if they get a 4- or 5-yard run, and then you know we create a negative play the next play. It’s just us lining up again and again on defense to just impose our will.”

Notes

• The Seahawks talked all week about approaching the Super Bowl the same as any other game. Their play indicated they pulled that off.

“Somehow through all this chaos of the Super Bowl, we were just able to maintain our process,” Love said. “Practice this (past) week felt like it did a few weeks ago, like it did Week 2.”

• AJ Barner scored Seattle’s only offensive touchdown, capping a breakthrough second season in which he established himself as a player who could contend for Pro Bowl honors down the line. But Barner echoed many others in saying that their lasting memories of this season won’t necessarily involve anything that happened on the field.

“I think it’s the journey that makes it special,” he said. “All the work we put in, the sacrifice, the brotherhood – that’s what makes it special.”

• A few lockers away, backup quarterback Drew Lock and receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba shared an embrace. Smith-Njigba told Lock, “You’re a Super Bowl champion.” Lock repeated the phrase back to JSN. Replied JSN, “We’re all Super Bowl champions.”

On this night, that was all that mattered.