SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Sam Darnold and that stingy Seattle Seahawks defense captured the franchise's second Super Bowl championship on the familiar field of their rival — the San Francisco 49ers.
General manager John Schneider considered that an advantage in his team's 29-13 victory against the New England Patriots on Sunday night after Seattle won 13-3 at Levi's Stadium just last month.
Click to Gallery
New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye walks off the field after a loss to the Seattle Seahawks in the NFL Super Bowl 60 football game, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026, in Santa Clara, Calif. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Los Angeles Rams' Matthew Stafford speaks after winning the AP Most Valuable Player award during football's NFL Honors award show in San Francisco, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
New England Patriots defensive coordinator Terrell Williams speaks to the media during Opening Night on Monday, Feb. 2, 2026, in San Jose, Calif., ahead of the Super Bowl 60 football game between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots. (Jeff Lewis/AP Content Services for the NFL)
Bad Bunny performs during the halftime show of Super Bowl 60 between the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots in Santa Clara, Calif., Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (Carlos Avila Gonzalez/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold, left, celebrates as he walks off the field after winning 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)
“They've been a very confident group,” Schneider said.
Here’s a look at some top moments from Sunday’s game and the week leading up to Super Bowl 60 in the Bay Area:
Patriots quarterback Drake Maye received an injection before the game to numb his troublesome shoulder, then finished 27 for 43 for 295 yards, two touchdowns and a pair of interceptions for the AFC champions.
“There were more sways in the first half where I feel like I could have made a better throw or made a better decision,” he said.
Maye returned to health in the Super Bowl lead up after he didn’t throw much last week because of his troublesome shoulder, which he injured on a scramble during the AFC championship game against the Denver Broncos.
Puerto Rican star Bad Bunny brought some of his country's rich culture and history to the Super Bowl, not to mention a surprise during his colorful halftime show: Lady Gaga. Ricky Martin, too.
Bad Bunny gave a roll call of the nations of North, South and Central America, including Uruguay, Colombia, Venezuela, Cuba, the United States and Canada. A parade of flags from those nations made its way through the sugar cane fields that functioned as the show’s centerpiece.
Lady Gaga appeared at a real wedding scene on stage. The couple parted to show her on the stage, and she joined Bad Bunny in performing “Baile Inolvidable.”
Matthew Stafford won the AP Most Valuable Player award with his four daughters in tow Thursday night, then announced he would return to the Los Angeles Rams for another season.
Stafford turned 38 on Saturday and wants to chase another championship.
“Oh yeah, I’ll be back," the quarterback declared.
For Terrell Williams, coaching at the Super Bowl meant so much after being away from the team during a nearly five-month fight with prostate cancer.
The Patriots welcomed back their defensive coordinator, who hadn't been traveling or on the sideline during his ordeal.
“It feels good,” Williams said. “Harold Landry made the comment that when I come in the building, I put a smile on their face because they see how hard I'm working and they know it's not easy. But my comment to Harold was: You guys are putting a smile on my face.’ So it's really like we're all working together. I'm happy to see them, they're happy to see me. What you realize is that we all struggle.”
The Super Bowl marked the final game for this Seahawks coaching staff. Offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak will depart to coach the Las Vegas Raiders. Kubiak will likely take some Seattle assistants along with him.
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL
New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye walks off the field after a loss to the Seattle Seahawks in the NFL Super Bowl 60 football game, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026, in Santa Clara, Calif. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Los Angeles Rams' Matthew Stafford speaks after winning the AP Most Valuable Player award during football's NFL Honors award show in San Francisco, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
New England Patriots defensive coordinator Terrell Williams speaks to the media during Opening Night on Monday, Feb. 2, 2026, in San Jose, Calif., ahead of the Super Bowl 60 football game between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots. (Jeff Lewis/AP Content Services for the NFL)
Bad Bunny performs during the halftime show of Super Bowl 60 between the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots in Santa Clara, Calif., Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (Carlos Avila Gonzalez/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold, left, celebrates as he walks off the field after winning 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)
LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is facing a battle to stay in post as he comes under heavy criticism for his decision in 2024 to appoint veteran politician Peter Mandelson as the British ambassador to the U.S. despite the latter's ties to late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Starmer’s judgment is in the spotlight like never before after the recent release of millions of Epstein-related documents by the U.S. Justice Department showed how close Mandelson and Epstein were.
There’s widespread anger that the prime minister appointed Mandelson, long a key figure of Starmer's own Labour Party, to such a sensitive and high-profile post. Starmer had already sacked Mandelson after a first batch of emails were published in September, showing he remained friends with Epstein after the late financier’s 2008 conviction for sex offenses involving a minor.
But the emails made public this week show that Mandelson also passed on sensitive — and potentially market-moving — government information to the disgraced financier in 2009, when he was a member of the Labour Cabinet.
Starmer’s leadership has now been called into question, and several Labour lawmakers have called for him to quit. His chief of staff resigned on Sunday, taking the blame for advising Starmer to appoint Mandelson, but many believe that is not enough to keep Starmer in the job.
The prime minister is trying to persuade his party members to back him. He has apologized to the British public and to the victims of Epstein’s sex trafficking for believing what he has termed “Mandelson’s lies.”
There are a number of ways in which Starmer could go, some more straightforward than others.
The simplest option is that Starmer announces his intention to resign, triggering an election for the Labour leadership. A resignation could possibly come if a delegation of Cabinet members tell Starmer he has lost too much support within the party or if members of his government quit in protest.
Those considered to harbor leadership ambitions include Health Secretary Wes Streeting, Home Secretary Shabana Mahood and former deputy prime minister, Angela Rayner, who had to resign last year after admitting she didn’t pay enough tax on a house purchase. An investigation into that is ongoing.
But there's no clear front-runner.
Andy Burnham, the popular mayor of Manchester who was blocked from standing at a special election in the city later this month, would not be eligible as the leader must come from the parliamentary party.
Whoever does run, the election would likely take weeks, with Starmer likely staying in post until that concludes.
If Starmer decides to resign immediately, the Cabinet and Labour’s governing body would likely pick an interim leader to be prime minister, probably someone not standing to be Labour leader. Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy could fit the bill.
Under Labour’s rules, candidates must have the support of a fifth of the parliamentary party, which equates to 80 lawmakers.
Those meeting that threshold would then have to receive the support of 5% of the local constituency Labour parties or at three least party affiliates, of which two must be trade unions. Affiliates are groups or organizations that are deemed to have interests consistent with those of the Labour Party; including trade unions and co-operative and socialist societies.
Eligible members of the party and affiliates will then vote for the leader using an electoral system that ranks the candidates. The winner is the first candidate to secure over 50% of the vote.
King Charles III would then invite the winner to become prime minister and form a government.
If Starmer does not resign, he could face a challenge, potentially from within his Cabinet.
Unlike the Conservative Party, which has a history of getting rid of leaders such as Margaret Thatcher in 1990 and Boris Johnson in 2022, Labour does not have that muscle memory. No Labour prime minister has ever been dislodged, though Tony Blair announced his plan to resign in 2007 after a series of low-level resignations.
Challengers would have to meet the eligibility thresholds above, but Starmer would automatically be on the ballot.
Starmer faces a series of hurdles in the weeks ahead. The first will probably be when files related to the vetting of Mandelson are published. Starmer will be hoping they show the scale of Mandelson’s lies. Should they not, that could be a point of high jeopardy for the prime minister.
Another potential pitfall could be the special election in Gorton and Denton on Feb. 26, traditionally a safe Labour seat. However, this time it will be a tough fight, with challenges from the anti-immigration Reform U.K. on the right and the Greens on the left.
The decision to bar Burnham from standing also poses a risk for Labour. Though he was blocked on the grounds that a Burnham victory would trigger a costly special election for the mayoralty in Manchester, critics claim that Starmer did not want to see a potentially dangerous rival back in the House of Commons.
After that comes a raft of elections in May. Many in Labour fear the party could lose power in Wales for the first time since the legislature was created in 1999, fall way short in Scotland and get battered in local elections in England.
It's clear that Starmer faces a difficult landscape.
And that’s barring surprise developments that could further rock his premiership.
“Events, dear boy, events,” Harold Macmillan, prime minister between 1957 and 1963, said when asked what the greatest challenges for leaders were.
FILE - President Donald Trump, left, gets a reaction from Britian's ambassador to the United States Peter Mandelson, right, as they take questions from members of the media after announcing a trade deal between U.S. and U.K. in the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, May 8, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, file)
FILE - British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, right, talks with Britain's ambassador to the United States Peter Mandelson during a welcome reception at the ambassador's residence on Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025 in Washington. (Carl Court/Pool Photo via AP, file)
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer delivers a speech at Horntye Park Sports Complex in St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex, England, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (Peter Nicholls/Pool Photo via AP)
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer adjusts his glasses as he waits to deliver his speech at Horntye Park Sports Complex in St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex, England, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (Peter Nicholls/Pool Photo via AP)
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer talks with members of the audience after delivering a speech at Horntye Park Sports Complex in St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex, England, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (Peter Nicholls/Pool Photo via AP)
