The New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks will meet this Sunday in Super Bowl LX at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. The matchup marks a rematch of the NFL’s grand final 11 years ago, when, thanks to an interception by Malcolm Butler, when the Seahawks were on the verge of winning the game, the Patriots restarted their dominant dynasty, under the baton of the greatest quarterback of all time, Tom Brady. After that tough defeat, Seattle remained competitive, but could not return to the grand final until this campaign.
This showdown is very different from Super Bowl XLIX. In fact, it marks the perfect culmination to a season that has unraveled a new NFL that has shone not only in the United States, but also in more places than ever before, reaching Spain for the first time, with the matchup at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium between the Miami Dolphins and Washington Commanders, the first of a series of games that the most important sports league in North America will hold in Spain every year.
To see the drastic change that has taken place in the NFL this season, we only have to look at the AFC, which has been dominated in recent years by Patrick Mahomes and his Kansas City Chiefs. For the first time since Mahomes has been a starter, the Chiefs were out of the playoffs. Of their great rivals at the quarterback position, neither Lamar Jackson with the Baltimore Ravens nor Joe Burrow with the Cincinnati Bengals were able to make it to the postseason. Only Josh Allen managed to do so, but his Buffalo Bills were knocked out of the title race, falling in the divisional round in Denver against the Broncos.
Maye’s progression
Guided by Coach of the Year Mike Vrabel in his first season in charge, the New England Patriots are back, making an impressive turnaround after winning just four games in the 2024 season. With Drake Maye, who will become the second-youngest quarterback to play in a Super Bowl at 23, the Patriots have had a dream campaign. After losing two of their first three games, New England has won 16 of its last 17 to return to the NFL’s grand finale for the first time since the Brady era. Vrabel has assembled an aggressive defense that shone in the playoffs for its opportunism and features the pair of defensive tackles, Christian Barmore and Milton Williams, who generated the most pressures on opposing passers.
In attack, the return of former great offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels has come in handy for Maye, whose progression has been immense after being selected with the third overall pick in the 2024 draft. The signing of wide receiver Stefon Diggs completed a cast of receivers that has shone for its effectiveness in catching Maye’s passes. The quarterback has achieved the most difficult thing: to make the Patriots fans forget the legendary Brady. As a result, there were continuous chants of “MVP, MVP” heard in New England. Maye, thanks to his 4,394 aerial yards and 31 touchdown passes, finished second in the league’s Most Valuable Player voting behind veteran Rams quarterback Mathew Stafford.
The Patriots will face the team that finished the season best in the entire NFL: a seamless Seahawks team that boasts a rearguard as dominant as the one that took them to the franchise’s best times in the past decade, the work of the greatest defensive artist currently in the league, second-year head coach Mike Macdonald, who has created an aggressive unit, where players such as outside linebacker DeMarcus Lawrence, who arrived this season from the Dallas Cowboys, and first-year safety Nick Emmanwori, shine.
On the offensive side of the ball, Seattle is also led by a genius in coordinator Klint Kubiak, who has already been signed by the Las Vegas Raiders to be their head coach next season. The Seahawks made an interesting gamble in the summer, signing quarterback Sam Darnold as a free agent, who had already shone the previous year with the Minnesota Vikings. After being questioned for a long time after his arrival in the NFL in 2018, Darnold repeated a stellar season, leading Seattle to the best regular season in franchise history, with a record of 14 wins and three losses. In the playoffs, the Seahawks accounted for their two divisional rivals, the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams, qualifying to play in the fourth Super Bowl in their history. Seattle’s offense is very complete, but above all shines running back Kenneth Walker, who finished the campaign at an exceptional level, signing more than 1,000 rushing yards, and especially wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, NFL Offensive Player of the Year, with 119 receptions, 1,793 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Seahawks, favorites
The Seahawks are favorites in the betting, but the Patriots have shown all season that they are capable of beating anyone and will look to follow the formula that worked so well for them in the AFC playoffs, forcing errors from the opposing offense. Seattle expects a high-scoring game, while New England hopes the score will be low. What is certain is that we will have an exciting duel with which the curtain will fall on this NFL season that has marked a new era for the league in which the Seahawks will seek to win the Super Bowl for the second time and New England, for the seventh – first without Brady – setting an NFL record.
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