A shirtless fan in the second half of Super Bowl LX Sunday night ran onto the field and showed more escapability than anyone on the New England Patriots offense.

It was a not-so-Super Bowl for the Patriots, as they were dominated 29-13 by a Seahawks defense that just bottled them up for the most part all night. The Dark Side,indeed.

The way the game zipped through the first half, you could tell what was going on: the Patriots were being beaten at their own game.

Seattle’s defensive line was dominant, sacking Patriots QB Drake Maye was sacked three times. Powerful, forceful, body overwhelming body sacks.

“They played better than us,” Maye said, “and they beat us. … It definitely hurts. It’s been a long ride.”

And Kenneth Walker III was gaining yard after yard. The Patriots had not been manhandled like this in a while. Perhaps all season. They were the ones doing the manhandling. Just ask the Chargers, Texans and Broncos. They even whipped Old Man Winter and his snow.

But for most of this Super Bowl, the Patriots were the ones getting whipped.

It was brutal. New England got in search of the big play and it eluded them until early in the fourth quarter when Maye finally found an open receiver two plays in a row, that being Mack Hollins, to cut the Seahawks lead to 19-7. But Maye became a turnover machine, tossing two interceptions leading to 10 Seahawk points.

It just seemed that the troubles he was having in the playoffs stayed with him, but this was a dominant performance by the opposition.

“That’s what fuels you,” Maye said. “Tighten up in practice. Use this for fuel. You go to war with those guys any time, any day.”

Does it ruin everything the Patriots did all season? Of course not. But New England’s offensive line could not handle Seattle’s four-man rush, and when that happens, you’re in big trouble. It’s obvious that Mike Macdonald’s goal when he took over Seattle two years ago was to establish a tough, dominant defense.

“When they mix in pressure, we have to be ready for it,” Vrabel said. “We have to be dialed in. If we get a look that we haven’t seen, which sometimes happens … that we have somewhere to to with the football.

“We just can’t let mistakes pile up. Have one bad play turn into two bad plays. Being able to settle down. … We’d make a play here and stall.”

The way Macdonald boosted the Seattle defense was the same thing Vrabel did. It’s becoming clear that the best way to be dominant defensively in the NFL is to have a dominant front four, and that’s what the Seahawks had on Sunday night.

It’s a downer for the Patriots and their fans because the Patriots simply weren’t competitive in this Super Bowl. True, the math said other wise when the were down 22-7. But this wasn’t Tom Brady vs. the Atlanta coaching staff. The Seahawks had a runner named Kenneth Walker III and he certainly had an MVP-type performance with his 135 yards on the ground. It was the most rushing yards for a back since Denver’s Terrell Davis back in Super Bowl XXXII.That’s 28 Super Bowls if you can decipher the Roman numerals.

Really, one wonders why the Patriots didn’t try to up the tempo, perhaps go no-huddle, do something to tire Leonard Russell and his friends out. Maye was sacked six times and the Patriots pressured Darnold, but were only able to sack him once for a measley eight yards.

So apologies to Darnold. He wasn’t spectacular, but he didn’t have to be, going 19 of 38 for 202 yards. The key? This Sam Darnold didn’t turn the ball over. So now he can wake up as a Super Bowl champion.

And he did the right thing by thanking his defense.

“”So proud of our guys, our defense,” Darnod said. “I mean, I can’t say enough great things about our defense, our special teams.”

Maye was hoping he could say the same thing.

Bummer.

Tom King may be reached at tking@nashuatelegraph.com. Also, follow King on X (@Telegraph_TomK).