Eleven years after the Malcolm Butler interception, the Patriots and Seahawks will reconvene to decide an NFL champion. Super Bowl LX is the Patriots’ 12th Super Bowl appearance and the Seahawks’ fourth, but none of the players who played in Super Bowl XLIX are involved here. A small percentage of these rosters carry Super Bowl experience, but for the most part, retooled teams will vie for this year’s title.
The Patriots have completed one of the great turnarounds in NFL history, moving from 4-13 in back-to-back seasons to a 14-3 record en route to the AFC’s No. 2 seed. Drake Maye trailed Matthew Stafford by one first-place vote in the MVP race, as the QBs contested the closest vote since 2003. The Patriots added some veterans around their QB’s rookie contract, as the Seahawks did 11 years ago around Russell Wilson‘s, but their coaching moves became the most significant alterations.
Mike Vrabel is set to coach in his first Super Bowl after playing in four with the Pats from 2001-07. The former linebacker/goal-line pass catcher joined Ben Johnson as the top HC candidates available last year, and while interest from other teams emerged, Vrabel committed to a New England return quickly. Robert Kraft made a mistake in not conducting a coaching search in 2024, committing years before to promote Jerod Mayo to succeed Bill Belichick, and the owner acknowledged that miss by firing him after one season. Vrabel has played the lead role in restoring the Pats to a Super Bowl team.
Vrabel’s decision to bring back Josh McDaniels for a third Patriots OC stint has made a considerable difference as well. Fired in-season by two AFC West teams, McDaniels is unlikely to earn a third HC opportunity. No interviews came this year, despite Maye’s ascent to the MVP precipice. McDaniels topping out on the OC tier would be a boon for the Patriots, as they could ensure Maye play-calling continuity with a defensive head coach. That is rather rare in the modern NFL.
McDaniels, 49, could provide a tremendous advantage for the underdog Pats on Sunday night. The veteran staffer is set for his sixth Super Bowl as an offensive coordinator. This ties Steve Spagnuolo — McDaniels’ former Rams boss — for the most Super Bowls by a coordinator. But McDaniels was with the Patriots for their Super Bowl XLVI appearance, rejoining the team under OC Bill O’Brien after his Rams one-and-done, and he was on Belichick’s staff for the Pats’ first three Tom Brady-era Super Bowls.
The Pats do not have any players left from their Brady-years Super Bowl berths, having bid farewell to Jonathan Jones, David Andrews, Deatrich Wise and Joe Cardona this past offseason. But the Vrabel-McDaniels pairing stands to help in a game where the AFC champion looks to have the inferior roster.
New England used its cap space to add ex-Vrabel Titans edge rusher Harold Landry and win the Milton Williams sweepstakes. No 2025 FA (Sam Darnold included) received a bigger at-signing guarantee than Williams’ $51MM. The Pats also signed O-line starters Morgan Moses and Garrett Bradbury. With Maye and Christian Gonzalez on rookie deals, the Pats gave Carlton Davis a three-year, $48MM accord.
Seeing Chris Godwin reject a strong offer, the Patriots inked Stefon Diggs, who has led a third team in receiving during an 11-year career. The team’s K’Lavon Chaisson flier (one year, $3MM) has paid dividends as well, with the former Jaguars first-round bust upping his free agency stock with a 7.5-sack season. The team’s 2025 draft class yielded four starters — left tackle Will Campbell, LG Jared Wilson and safety Craig Woodson, kicker Andres Borregales — and oft-used RB2 TreVeyon Henderson. Campbell, Henderson and Wilson helped the Maye-led offense rank first in EPA per play.
It is certainly worthwhile to mention the Patriots’ favorable schedule to reach this point. New England’s docket included just one victory over a team with a winning record (an October victory in Buffalo), and its playoff slate brought unimpressive offensive work. That postseason schedule featured a Texans team missing Nico Collins (and then second-leading receiver Dalton Schultz), and the Broncos losing Bo Nix late in their divisional-round win may well have altered the Super Bowl matchup, as the Pats limped to a 10-7 win over a Jarrett Stidham-quarterbacked team.
New England will face a more formidable opponent in Seattle. The Seahawks went 14-3 and led the NFL in DVOA; the Patriots ranked ninth. Seattle’s defense ranked first in scoring and second in EPA per play.
Mike Macdonald‘s team beat six regular-season opponents with winning records. While the Seahawks feasted on an injury-battered 49ers team in Round 2, the NFC’s No. 1 seed left no doubt with a 41-6 dismantling. The Seahawks then outdueled MVP Matthew Stafford in a thrilling Rams rubber match; DVOA slotted Los Angeles second this season.
The Seahawks did well to bail on Geno Smith extension talks when they did, foisting another declining quarterback on an AFC West team. John Schneider‘s previous such move — the 2022 Russell Wilson blockbuster — armed the Seahawks with an eight-asset package that helped set up this Super Bowl team. The Broncos ended up trading two top-10 picks, which became left tackle Charles Cross and Pro Bowl cornerback Devon Witherspoon. Schneider, who became the Seahawks’ lead decision-maker via Pete Carroll‘s 2024 firing, has moved toward a Hall of Fame-caliber resume thanks to these two trades and guiding a team back to a Super Bowl berth with a fresh nucleus.
Seattle’s Klint Kubiak OC hire helped the team lure Darnold to town, and the team did well to sign the 2024 Vikings Pro Bowler to a three-year, $100.5MM deal. Darnold only received $37.5MM guaranteed at signing; another $17.5MM is due days after the Super Bowl. Given Darnold’s performance, it is safe to assume he will remain on the roster when that guarantee vests next week.
While the Seahawks only boasted one receiver with more than 600 yards, Jaxon Smith-Njigba‘s 1,793 led the NFL and earned him Offensive Player of the Year acclaim. Schneider also made a savvy deadline addition with Rashid Shaheed, acquiring the contract-year deep threat/return man from the Saints for fourth- and fifth-round picks. Shaheed has returned a kickoff and a punt for a score while providing Seattle with a solid auxiliary receiving option alongside Smith-Njigba and Cooper Kupp.
Macdonald’s defensive expertise has illuminated the value defense-oriented HCs can bring — amid annual quests for offense-oriented leaders — and additions DeMarcus Lawrence and Nick Emmanwori have made impacts. Emmanwori joins guard Grey Zabel as pivotal 2025 draft choices for the NFC champs, who also have benefited from re-signing Leonard Williams (2024) and Ernest Jones (2025) after trades. It will be interesting to see if that trend continues with Shaheed.
The Seahawks are currently 4.5-point favorites over the Patriots. Will Seattle win championship No. 2 and avenge the Butler sequence, or will New England break a tie with Pittsburgh to claim its seventh Super Bowl crown? Vote in PFR’s latest poll and weigh in with your thoughts on the matchup in the comments section.
I think we get a low scoring game. Drake Maye has to play great for NE to win. Darnold I think only has to play ok for Seattle to pull it out. This is a game based on defenses and I like Seattle’s more.
17-10 Seahawks
Drake Maye’s running is going to be a big part of the game, I think. His success in that facet will be the scale-tipper, in my mind, for or against New England’s offense. It’s the one area that could be a wild card in terms of preparation for Seattle’s defense. Of course, if the Patriots’ pass game is lethargic, there’s not much to fear through the air…and a running quarterback is a risk that a defense in that situation will happily accept.
I just don’t think the pats O line will be able to handle the D line of the seahawks well enough to allow maye time to really get the passing game going.
Yeah, I’m not predicting that they will (I’m not predicting anything on that front, and I just want to clarify this). I just want to point out that QB runs are a lot less dangerous when a defense doesn’t have to worry about playing the pass.
Have felt great about the Seahawks’ chances after they almost won in LA despite 4 interceptions from Darnold. Barely lost to the supposed best team in the NFL despite a disastrous QB performance.
But they only get one chance Sunday, and Vrabel has 2 weeks to figure something out.
And, in Seattle’s favor, Darnold played much better in subsequent matchups with the Rams. Does that mean that he will play cleanly in the championship? Not necessarily, but it does show that he can learn and adapt from past mistakes. It’s a positive for the Seahawks.
I’ll shy away from a prediction, but I just will note that Darnold proved that he can adapt. That’s the best singular trait that you can hope for in a player. Whether it will be enough is what we’ll see this Sunday.
Time to see ghosts!
Right. Poor Drake Maye!
Seahawks 27-13
This feels like it’ll be fairly close, unlike our blowout of K.C last year, which gives 21-13 vibes with Seattle taking home their 2nd Lombardi.
Unless the refs control the game with bogus calls or they allow Patriots to grab and hold with no calls the Seahawks will shred them. Most likely we will witness a game with a fixed outcome by Vegas money and the Patriots will get the refs hand them the game by killing Seattle
You must be from New York
And no surprise you’re a Patriots fan
I never blame the refs, especially before the game starts, lol.
Thats probably what will happen as the Patriots win a close one. The Seahawks have to take this game. NE has covered SBs as an underdog.
Pats fan here. Williams and Barmore need to collapse the pocket.
Captain Obvious told me the Pats must avoid turnovers.
I’m concerned about the Pats receivers getting open. Then again they faced Stingley and Surtain in the playoffs.
I worry about the Pats kicking game. Their punter downright sucks. Has all season. Boregales has been shaky lately. Even his made FGs were just barely clearing the uprights. That said, it could have been the playoff weather. Nevertheless, FGs will be important.
Lastly, the Pats usually come out flat. Seattle has deep strike weapons and will take advantage early and often.
Seattle is very good team but they’re not giants. Good weather and against a defense that isn’t better than Houston’s or Denver’s makes me optimistic.
Pats 23 – 20
But their defense is better than Houston and Denver’s. #1 in PA.
The Pats broke the tie by going to more SBs by any team in the league. Number two isn’t close. It’s ironic. I’m 60 and prior to 1985, SBs were something that happened to other teams.
Seahawks ez
Maye chokes
People forget just how Seattle got to the goal line prior to Butler’s INT. Seattle got a huge play by a catch that was the most bizarre this side of David Tyree. Kearse was lying on his back deep inside Patriots territory when a deflected ball landed on his stomach.
Run. The. Ball.
I like Pete Carrol but he should never be forgiven for just handing Brady and his gang an extra Super Bowl.
The game will be suspended after a Bad Bunny incident 🙂
Seahawks 20-3
Patriots 27 – 16
The Patriots offense will plod to their 23 points in good weather conditions.
What’s more interesting is what happens on the matchup between Patriots defense and Seattle offense. Vrabel will have to call the game of his life to hit Darnold early and hit Darnold often. Darnold plays much worse against pressure.
If Vrabel’s blitzes fail though, the consequences be to give up points fast. Not sure Vrabel has a good choice though. Left to play at normal speed, Seattle will score 30+ and the Patriots won’t score enough to match them.
The Seattle defense is truly shutdown.