Seahawks had a tell on Patriots offense in Super Bowl, defender claims

Feb 8, 2026; Santa Clara, CA, USA; General view of the line of scrimmage between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots during the first quarter in Super Bowl LX at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The New England Patriots offense struggled mightily in Super Bowl LX, and throughout the day was seemingly one step behind the Seattle Seahawks defense.

According to Seahawks cornerback Devon Witherspoon, that did not happen by accident. In fact, he claimed after the game that his team's film study revealed some clear tendencies his unit was keying in on.

I knew what was going on," Witherspoontold SiriusXM NFL Radio. We had a good tell on what they like to do and how they like to play and how they were going to attack us. Coach put us in the best position to win. That's our coach right there, that's why we always stand beside him and always have his back."

The tell that Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald and his staff uncovered could be found along the offensive line.

We had a tell on their guards and their tackles, how they like to set, they're going to overset on certain rushes, they're going to fall for certain moves any time a group of guys get after them," Witherspoon added. I think we did that."

What exactly the Seahawks zeroed in on is not known at this point in time. However, Yahoo Sports' Charles McDonald identified right guard Mike Onwenu as one potential source of information accidentally permeating from one side of the line of scrimmage to the other.

The Patriots offensive ended up with a negative play rate of 13.4% on the day, going backward on nine of 67 defensive snaps. Those include six sacks of quarterback Drake Maye, who never got comfortable in the pocket and finished the game with two interceptions as well as a lost fumble.

When all was said and done, Maye and company lost by a final score of 29-13.