Mike Macdonald leads Seattle to Super Bowl LX, triumphs over Matthew Stafford

Mike Macdonald is taking Seattle back to the Super Bowl for the first time in 10 years in only his second season as the Seahawks head coach.

Seattle beat the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC championship game Sunday night at Lumen Field, 31-27, overcoming former Georgia star and NFL MVP favorite Matthew Stafford.

“I’m happy for our team. I’m happy for the 12’s, happy for our city,” Macdonald said, giving an assist to the Seahawks’ fans, known as the “12th Man.”

“What an atmosphere. To be able to take it in after and understand what our team’s been able to do up to this point, and how they’ve done it, we’re just blessed. Really blessed that we’ve got a heck of a group and a great organization and a great owner and the best fans.

“So it’s humbling, too, and it’s just pretty awesome. I don’t know, I’m kind of speechless.”

McDonald, a University of Georgia business school graduate, started his coaching career at Cedar Shoals High School in Athens in 2008 before joining Mark Richt’s UGA staff as a graduate assistant and quality control coach from 2010-13.

Seattle has opened as a 4½-point favorite over New England in Super Bowl LX at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 8 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.

Stafford was 22-of-35 passing for 374 yards and three touchdowns and no interceptions, and was sacked once for a loss of 9 yards.

The Seahawks, however, were successful stopping Stafford on a fourth-and-4 at the Seattle 6, showing seven defenders at the line of scrimmage before dropping all but two into coverage, leading to an incompletion and turnover on downs with 4:54 left.

The Seahawks managed to run 11 plays for 49 yards before punting the ball back to the Rams, leaving Stafford just 25 seconds to work from his own 7-yard line with no timeouts.

Stafford hit Puka Nacua for a 23-yard gain on first down, and spiked the ball to stop the clock with 11 seconds left.

Stafford hit Nacua on an out route on the next play for 21 yards to Seattle’s 49-yard line, but Nacua was unable to get out of bounds and the clock ran out.

New England punched its ticket to the Super Bowl earlier in the day in Denver, beating the Broncos in the AFC championship game, 10-7.

Former Georgia team captain Jared Wilson, a starting guard for the Patriots, ensured there will once again be a former Bulldogs player in the Super Bowl for the 25th consecutive year.

The 22-year-old Wilson was one of 13 UGA players selected in the 2025 NFL draft, with the Patriots selecting him in the third round with the 95th overall pick.

New England opened the second half of a 7-7 game with a 16-play, 64-yard drive that kicker Andy Borregales capped with a 23-yard field goal for what proved to be the game-winning points.