Kicker, punter come up big for Seahawks in a Super Bowl devoid of early touchdowns

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — During a defensive struggle in the first half, the Seattle Seahawks got the consistency and cushion they needed — from their kicker.

Jason Myers connected on a Super Bowl-record five field goals, scoring the first 12 points of the game to help the Seahawks pull away for a 29-13 Super Bowl 60 victory on Sunday.

Myers connected on kicks of 33, 39, two from 41 and 26 yards. His 17 total points on five field goals and two extra points were also the most by a kicker in Super Bowl history.

“He’s elite,” holder and punter Michael Dickson said. “The attention that goes into the detail with him, it’s really cool to see, and it pays off. And he’s cool to be around. ... He’s got that mentality, and it’s really cool to share this experience with him.”

The 34-year-old Myers, in his 11th NFL season and seventh with Seattle, became the first player to score 200 points in a season, playoffs included. He finished with 206 points, breaking LaDainian Tomlinson's record of 198 set in 2006.

Dickson said there should have at least been some discussion about Myers winning the Super Bowl MVP award, a honor that has never been bestowed upon a kicker. Running back Kenneth Walker III, who ran for 135 yards and added 26 receiving, was selected the game's MVP.

“We need multiple MVPs because K9, he went off," Dickson said of Walker. "He’s incredible.”

The 30-year-old, Australian-born Dickson also helped put the Seahawks' defense in an advantageous position, dropping three punts inside the 6-yard line.

With Seattle hanging on to a 19-7 lead in the fourth quarter, Dickson had a 55-yard punt that was downed at the Patriots 4. New England's final drive of the game started at its 6 when Dickson booted a 52-yarder that went out of bounds.

“I mean, this week was no different to any other week in the year," said Dickson, in his eighth NFL season with the Seahawks. "So, you know, I always want to give my defense the best field position, and it’s cool, you know, hitting it inside a few times, and getting the boys around me was special.”

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Seattle Seahawks' Michael Dickson (4) and place-kicker Jason Myers (5) celebrate Myers' field goal during the second half of the NFL Super Bowl 60 football game against the New England Patriots, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026, in Santa Clara, Calif. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Seattle Seahawks placekicker Jason Myers, top right, scores on a field goal against the New England Patriots in the second quarter of the NFL Super Bowl 60 football game in Santa Clara, Calif., Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (Santiago Mejia/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Seattle Seahawks kicker Jason Myers makes a 26-yard field goal during the second half of the NFL Super Bowl 60 football game against the New England Patriots, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026, in Santa Clara, Calif. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Seattle Seahawks kicker Jason Myers (5) celebrates with fullback Brady Russell (38) after making a field goal during the second half of the NFL Super Bowl 60 football game, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026, in Santa Clara, Calif. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Seattle Seahawks place-kicker Jason Myers, right, makes a field goal during the second half of the NFL Super Bowl 60 football game against the New England Patriots, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026, in Santa Clara, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iranian security forces have launched a campaign to arrest figures within the country's reformist movement, reports said Monday.

That widens a crackdown on dissent after authorities earlier put down nationwide protests in violence that killed thousands and saw tens of thousands more detained.

Detained Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi has received another prison sentence of over seven years. It signals a widening effort to silence anyone opposed to the bloody suppression of unrest by Iran's theocracy as it faces new nuclear talks with the United States. President Donald Trump has repeatedly warned he could launch an attack on the country if no deal is reached.

Media reports quoted officials within the reformist movement, which seeks to change Iran's theocracy from inside, as saying at least four of their members had been arrested. They include Azar Mansouri, the head of the Reformist Front, which represents multiple reformist factions; and former diplomat Mohsen Aminzadeh, who served under reformist President Mohammad Khatami.

Also detained was Ebrahim Asgharzadeh, who led students who stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979, sparking the 444-day hostage crisis.

Their arrests likely stem from a reformist statement in January that called for Iran's 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to resign from his position and have a transitional governing council oversee the country.

Iran's state-run IRNA news agency quoted a statement from prosecutors in Tehran, the country's capital, saying four people had been arrested and others summoned to meet authorities. It accused those allegedly involved of “organizing and leading ... activities aimed at disrupting the political and social situation in the country amid military threats from the United States and the Zionist regime.”

“Having bludgeoned the streets into silence with exemplary cruelty, the regime has shifted its attention inward, fixing its stare on its loyal opposition,” wrote Ali Vaez, an Iran expert at the International Crisis Group.

“The reformists, sensing the ground move beneath them, had begun to drift — and power, ever paranoid, is now determined to cauterize dissent before it learns to walk.”

However, it remains unclear just how much political support reformists have within Iran. The anger on the streets of Iran during the demonstrations, heard in people shouting “Death to Khamenei!” and in support of the country's exiled crown prince, appeared to lump reformists in with all other politicians now working in the Islamic Republic.

Iran and the U.S. held new nuclear talks last week in Oman. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, speaking Sunday to diplomats at a summit in Tehran, signaled that Iran would stick to its position that it must be able to enrich uranium — a major point of contention with Trump, who bombed Iranian atomic sites in June during the 12-day Iran-Israel war.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is to travel to Washington this week, with Iran expected to be the major subject of discussion, his office said.

The U.S. has moved the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, ships and warplanes to the Middle East to pressure Iran into an agreement and have the firepower necessary to strike the Islamic Republic should Trump choose to do so.

Meanwhile, Iran issued a warning to pilots that it planned “rocket launches” Monday into Tuesday in an area over the country’s Semnan province, home to the Imam Khomeini Spaceport. Such launches have corresponded in the past with Iran marking the anniversary of its 1979 Islamic Revolution.

FILE - Ebrahim Asgharzadeh, one of the Iranian student leaders of the 1979 U.S. Embassy takeover, speaks in an interview with The Associated Press in Tehran, Iran, on Oct. 29, 2019. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)