Richard Sherman Exclusive: Breaking Down Super Bowl LX, Seahawks, and More

Ahead of Super Bowl LX, we had the chance to ask former All-Pro cornerback and Seahawks legend Richard Sherman some questions about Seattle’s upcoming matchup against the New England Patriots.

A key figure in their first Super Bowl meeting back in 2015, Sherman shared his perspective on how this game might play out, including Drake Maye’s challenges against Seattle’s vaunted defense, Christian Gonzalez vs. JSN, and the tactical battle between coaching staffs. He also discussed the makeup of Seattle’s defense, its leaders, and how it compares schematically to the legendary ‘Legion of Boom’ unit he played on.

New England Patriots: Drake Maye, Christian Gonzalez & Josh McDaniels

The conversation began with Richard breaking down Seattle’s opponent for Super Bowl LX, the New England Patriots.

What challenges does Drake Maye pose for this Seattle Seahawks defense?

Drake Maye presents a plethora of issues for the Seattle Seahawks. 

He’s mobile. He has 141 yards on the ground throughout the playoffs so far, including 65 against the Denver Broncos and 66 against the Los Angeles Chargers in the Wild Card game. 

His rushing yards come on critical plays, too. When things broke down, he used his legs and really flipped the field in a lot of those pivotal situations. So, the Seahawks will definitely have to be wary of that. 

Seattle has a fast, swarming defense. So, I know Mike Macdonald is going to try to speed up Maye’s internal clock. 

There’s a reason Macdonald has had so much success against these young quarterbacks. Against quarterbacks under 23 years old, he is 6-0, and the quarterbacks have thrown one touchdown and eight interceptions, while being sacked 22 times. 

His looks are complex. They make a quarterback pause just long enough to second-guess. He does a fantastic job manipulating the eyes and what offenses expect to see.

Patriots star CB Christian Gonzalez had a crucial pick in the AFC Championship Game against Denver. What do you make of the potential matchup between Gonzalez and Jaxon Smith-Njigba?

It’s very difficult to isolate and lock in on Jaxon Smith-Njigba. If the Patriots do that and have Gonzalez follow him, understand this, Klint Kubiak is going to put him in the blender. He’ll bring him to the locker room. Send him to the backfield. He will use Smith-Njigba everywhere. 

This will put Gonzalez in compromising positions he is unfamiliar with. Once you get a corner in positions which are unfamiliar to them, you force them to get involved in the run game. If they motion Smith-Njigba into the backfield and run the football, now Gonzalez has to figure out which gap he’s got and what his running responsibility is. 

There’s so much to navigate. It’s just like the play against the Los Angeles Rams, where Kyren Williams sprung free and everyone questioned where the linebacker was, but Puka Nacua picked him off, which freed up Williams. 

Mike Vrabel is a smart coach, and he’ll be watching a lot of tape, so I don’t think the Patriots will play Smith-Njigba like that. 

Kubiak motions Smith-Njigba so much that it would be difficult to tell Gonzalez, or any corner, to match up in man-to-man coverage almost every play. If they give Sam Darnold those types of identifiers, he’s going to shred the defense. 

You played against a Josh McDaniels offense in a Super Bowl. With that in mind, do you see any similarities between the Patriots’ offense back then and the Patriots now? 

They used to run what they run. He and the New England Patriots have always done a great job of this. 

They were so versatile that every game, regardless of what scheme they’re playing, it would sometimes look like an entirely new playbook. For example, they’d be running gap scheme run game against the Broncos, then they’d be running outside zone against the Colts. So, it’s hard to know what to prepare for. It’s really based on the defense they’re playing against. 

Now, that’s changed a little. Vrabel wants more familiarity on both sides of the football. He’s not going to switch the scheme from week to week. Sure, they’ll make adjustments and analyze the weaknesses of opponents, but he wants to get guys in positions and get them to do what they do well. That’s similar to what we did in Seattle. 

McDaniels is going to study the Seattle defense. He’ll look at what the Los Angeles Rams and Sean McVay had success with. He’ll look at his playbook and identify similar plays that caused the Seahawks trouble. 

He’ll be telling Maye not to be greedy, too aggressive, or impatient trying to push the ball down the field. That’s something Tom Brady was fantastic at. When the defenses were backing up, he’d give it to receivers underneath and take the seven yard gains. 

Having said that, Drake Maye had a lot of success throwing down the field in the regular season. He hasn’t had that same success consistently during the playoffs. You can blame some things, such as the weather, for that, but I would expect him to get back to that this weekend. 

So, there are similarities between the Patriots offenses of 2014 and 2025. But how they’d attack this Seattle defense is completely different to how they’d attack the defense I played in. The current defense runs two-high for the most part, and that’s where a lot of Macdonald’s exotic pressures come from. Whereas we were a Cover 3 team predominantly.

Seattle Seahawks: Sam Darnold, Defense & Legion of Boom Comparisons

Up next, the conversation switched gears to the Seahawks. Richard spent the first 7 seasons of his legendary career in Seattle, anchoring what many consider to be one of the greatest defenses in NFL history. He touched on comparisons between his teams and Seattle’s current unit, as well as his thoughts on Sam Darnold’s status as a franchise quarterback.

The current Seahawks defense has been dubbed “The Dark Side.” What do you make of them? Are there any similarities between them and the Legion of Boom?

There are not a ton of similarities, other than them wearing Seattle Seahawks jerseys.

Both great defenses in their own right, but they have different styles, and they’re different schematically. Both fly around with a lot of energy. Both have depth on the defensive line. 

This season, Byron Murphy II could have potentially been an All-Pro, and he’s rotating off the bench behind guys that are fantastic. DeMarcus Lawrence is in his 12th season and is going to his first Super Bowl. He has had as much impact on this team as anyone else. 

Ernest Jones IV was traded multiple times. He was a castoff. The Rams didn’t want him because they thought he was injury-prone. He came to the Seahawks midseason in 2024 and has become a household name. He’s the stalwart in the middle of that defense, making big plays in both the pass and run game. The only interception the Seahawks have had in the playoffs was made by Jones. He’s been fantastic. 

On the backend, you have Julian Love and guys like Devon Witherspoon, who was an All-Pro this year. 

Riq Woolen made the big mistake against the Rams with his taunting penalty, but overall has been fantastic, especially in the second half of the season. I think he’ll be fantastic and a huge factor in the game against the Patriots.

But it’s different. We probably had more household names and All-Pros. We had some bigger personalities. They might not have these personalities, but they have the talent. Their numbers speak for themselves, and I expect them to win this game. I expect them to be sound. Those guys are running and hitting. 

New England Patriots fans, get prepared because the name you’re going to be hearing all night is Nick Emmanwori. I expect him to be in Defensive Player of the Year conversations for a number of years to come – unless the voters try to ignore Seattle, which they won’t be able to after this game.

You mentioned the personalities and leaders of the Legion of Boom. Who do you think are the leaders of this Seahawks defense?

You could say anybody. It’s been by committee. 

You’ve seen leadership from the rookie Emmanwori. The situation with him and Woolen on the sideline looked like conflict but that’s accountability. For a young guy to go up to a veteran like that, it shows you a lot about the hierarchy around that team. Even though he was frustrated at that moment, I think Riq had a lot of respect for that. I don’t think there was any maliciousness either way. It was respect. 

Leonard Williams is a huge defensive leader on this team. He’s a tone-setter. Witherspoon is another tone-setter. But DeMarcus Lawrence is the engine. He plays with relentless effort and plays like every single play is the Super Bowl. Look at the forced fumble against Brock Purdy. It’s a play that they’ve had multiple times this season because of Lawrence’s effort. His effort is rewarded with turnovers.  

On the backend, Julian Love is a leader. Coby Bryant, named after the late great Kobe, has been a phenomenal player in this league. He’s found his niche at safety after being moved from corner. He got a little banged up, but now he’s back in the lineup and he stabilizes that defense.

So, it’s by committee. There’s so many leaders. They are well-coached and disciplined at all three levels. They cause a lot of issues because of how well they’re coached and how well they tackle.

Has Sam Darnold proven he can be a franchise quarterback with his play this season?

The simple answer is yes. Sam Darnold has proven he is a franchise quarterback. 

He’s also proven that circumstances matter. It makes you think what would’ve happened if he was put in a better situation earlier on in his career, with one of these offensive coordinators who develop schemes and quarterbacks better than others. I believe things would’ve gone a lot differently for Darnold. 

I love the attitude and approach that Sam Darnold has. He doesn’t have a bad word to say about the New York Jets, Carolina Panthers, or any of those other teams he played for. Regardless of how things went, he embraced it as part of his journey, and all part of the things that got him in the position he is in now. He uses his past as a blessing, and I love that. I love that for him, and I love that for his family. He’s obviously been raised right. 

This is a lesson, and a message to general managers out there that offensive staff matters. Quarterback development matters. Sometimes you’re getting clay. You’re not getting a finished product. Sometimes, they get lazy and say, “Hey, we have a high draft pick, we’re going to have our guy. We don’t even need to coach him. We just need to put a playbook in front of him and let him go to work.” No, there has to be work on both sides.

There still has to be coaching and teaching. Teams get lazy in that respect, and that’s why you have the same teams in this league that have success over and over again. Look at the coaching trees of Sean McVay and Kyle Shanahan. Whatever falls off those trees, quarterbacks go there and have success. Look at Kevin O’Connell. He’s a quarterback whisperer. When quarterbacks play under him, they develop and have success. 

It’s almost like they’re going to quarterback school and they’re learning how to become a great NFL quarterback. Once you give them a steady foundation, they can build on this and grow. But when your foundation is sand, it’s hard to build on it. 

So, Sam Darnold is right where he needs to be. I think he’s going to be a franchise quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks for a very long time. This is the beginning of a beautiful partnership for both sides.

Levi’s Stadium Familiarity & The Electrical Substation

To close out the conversation, Sherman was asked about the setting for Super Bowl LX, Levi’s Stadium. Having played there countless times as an opponent and spent three seasons with the 49ers from 2018-2020, he offered insight into Seattle’s familiarity with the venue and addressed the controversy surrounding the nearby electrical substation.

Super Bowl LX will be played at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, home of the San Francisco 49ers. Do you feel that playing in a division rival’s building plays to the advantage of the Seahawks in this one?

To a degree, yes. It’s about familiarity, and it’s not a stadium they’re unfamiliar with. They’ve played there and had success there.

That helped us in 2013. We went to MetLife Stadium and beat the heck out of the New York Giants there. We had one of our best games. When we went back for the Super Bowl, we were confident. We had success there already, and we had an understanding of the turf.

The lights are brighter, but that didn’t matter. We could have played that game on the moon, it would have been the same result. But I think the confidence of going somewhere that you’ve been and had success helps.

There’s also a stat that the team that’s traveling from East to West usually wins this game, but if we didn’t throw it at the one-yard line, that might be different.

This is about as short a trip as the Seahawks could take without it being in their own stadium. They’re wearing the navy blue, so all the elements are there for them to exorcize these demons, so we can move forward. I need it in my life.

So, yes. Familiarity with the stadium and environment definitely helps. They’re practicing in San Jose. Neither team wants to practice at the 49ers’ facility because of this electrical substation conspiracy.

Was the electrical substation ever discussed when you were part of the 49ers?

Not that I can remember, but it is wild. It will be a conversation this offseason. It’s a tough situation because you’re not moving the substation and you’re not moving the stadium. Maybe you can move the practice facility, but even then, it’s tough because they practice and play at the stadium.

Even when they played at Candlestick Park, they practiced in this same spot in Santa Clara. That’s why Jerry Rice mentioned that they won multiple Super Bowls while practicing there and nobody talked about it then. This is not a new facility or location. They’ve had a lot of success there. 

It only becomes a story when it becomes a story. When it was 2012 and they were in the Super Bowl, nobody was questioning the station next to the facility. It was more about the fact that they should have run the ball near the goal line, and maybe they would’ve beaten the Ravens that day.

Or maybe don’t throw at Richard Sherman for the game in the NFC Championship. You might have a chance in that game, too. But it was never about the substation then.