The Seahawks found a “tell” in the Patriots’ offensive line and they exploited it, cornerback Devon Witherspoon explained to SiriusXM Radio after Seattle defeated New England in Super Bowl 2026 on Sunday.
While Witherspoon didn’t reveal what the tell was, it made a difference as the Seahawks put the pressure on Pats quarterback Drake Maye, sacking him six times and picking him off twice.
“They asked a lot of questions before this game. And I told them I can’t lay the game plan out to the media, but I kind of knew what was going on,” Witherspoon said. “We had a good tell on what they like to do, how they like to play, and how they were going to attack us. You’re talking about a coach who put us in the best position to win, that’s our coach right there, and that’s why we always have his back.
“We had a tell on their guards and their tackles, how they like to set. They gonna overset on certain rushes, they’re gonna fall for certain moves.”
The Seahawks forced the Patriots to punt on eight of New England’s first nine possessions of the game.
Through three quarters, the Patriots were held to just 78 yards of total offense and just five first downs.
The effort was also a testament to the defensive play-calling of Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald.
“He will game-plan up until whenever,” said Leonard Williams, who played for the Jets and the Giants before Big Blue traded him to Seattle in 2023.
“We’ll sometimes put a new play in Saturday morning. We’ll sometimes put a new play in Sunday at halftime. DeMarcus Lawrence says you have to have a Harvard education to play in this defense because you’re just constantly learning new stuff. But I think we trust Mike and his genius, and it works.”
