Uchenna Nwosu’s 45-yard return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter to seal the Seahawks’ victory initially was ruled a strip-sack by cornerback Devon Witherspoon. It was later changed to an interception return by Nwosu rather than a fumble return.
Witherspoon would have had a case for MVP honors had it stood.
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It would have given him two sacks and a forced fumble to go along with four tackles and a pass defensed.
As it was, the Seahawks lauded Witherspoon’s contributions to their 29-13 Super Bowl victory.
“He’s a walking Hall of Famer, right now,” Seahawks linebacker Ernest Jones IV said, via Chris Biderman of The News Tribune. “He’s a dog. He’s my favorite player in the NFL. He can do everything.”
Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald called more blitzes of Drake Maye than he has most of this season. Witherspoon’s third-down sack of Maye for a 10-yard loss in the first quarter set the tone, and his hit on Maye that led to Nwosu’s touchdown ended any thought of a Patriots’ comeback.
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It was a game plan the Patriots admit they didn’t see coming.
Witherspoon blitzed only 21 times this season, with Week 16 the most recent game he has rushed the quarterback, per Pro Football Focus. He blitzed six times Sunday, per Next Gen Stats, and had four pressures.
“I haven’t been blitzing a lot this year,” Witherspoon said. “But it was best for our team, and I’m going to do whatever I need to do for our team to win.”
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