February 08, 2026
Cary Edmondson/Imagn Images
Will both Pats HC Mike Vrabel or Seahawks HC Mike Macdonald be in the playoffs next year?
Super Bowl LX is already bold.
It might lack for a dramatic storyline, save for Sam Darnold's revenge tour, and it might have flown under the radar around the league for the past two weeks as roughly 90 percent of the NFL was in the midst of changing a head coach or play caller, but make no mistake – Sunday's championship game between the Seahawks and Patriots is fascinating because it's one of the most unlikely Super Bowl pairings in recent seasons.
Both teams entered 2025 as 60-to-1 odds to make the Super Bowl. The Patriots won four games last season. The Seahawks changed their offensive coordinator, starting quarterback and had to contend with two other NFC West teams (Rams, 49ers) that also made the postseason to get the top seed.
Super Bowl LX will be the first time in a decade that the game won't feature a quarterback named Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, or Matthew Stafford.
Play a bold game, expect some bold predictions:
The former Eagles iDL, who had two sacks for the Birds in last year's Super Bowl trouncing of the Chiefs, could make history with another big game. He already has 2.0 sacks this postseason, giving him 5.0 total for his playoff career – tied for 17th-most in NFL history.
Only two players in NFL history have at least two sacks in two different Super Bowls – Von Miller for the Broncos in Super Bowl 50 and for the Rams in Super Bowl 56, and Justin Tuck for the Giants in Super Bowls 42 and 46. With two sacks against the Patriots, Williams would become just the third player in league history with multiple sacks in different Super Bowls and the first interior defensive lineman in the sport's history to accomplish that feat.
Seahawks QB Sam Darnold has been sacked five times already in Seattle's two playoff games. Seahawks center Jalen Sundell was PFF's 19th-ranked pass blocking center this season and RG Anthony Bradford was their fourth-worst among all NFL guards.
Williams will cook – into the history book.
No disrespect to Sam Darnold or Drake Maye, but this game should be low-scoring and defensive-oriented. But defensive players almost never win Super Bowl MVP. The last to do it was the previously mentioned Von Miller in Super Bowl 50 with 2.5 sacks and a pair of forced fumbles against the Panthers and Cam Newton.
But this game also features three wide receivers who have once led the NFL in receiving – Patriots WR Stefon Diggs (1,535 yards in 2020) and Seahawks WRs Cooper Kupp (1947 in 2021) and Jaxon-Smith Njigba (1,793 in 2025). While Kupp is now more of a role player, he's had some vital catches during the playoffs, while Diggs and Smith-Njigba are the centerpiece of each team's passing attack.
Look for either Diggs or Smith to come away with some extra hardware. The last two non-QBs to win Super Bowl MVP were Kupp (Super Bowl 56) and Pats WR Julian Edelman (Super Bowl 53).
It's time for another.
In nearly every Super Bowl, there's a major special teams moment that swings the pendulum.
Eagles fans are still haunted by Kadarius Toney's 65-yard punt return in Super Bowl 57 that put the Chiefs back on top after they had fallen behind in the third quarter. Rams fans are still haunted by Adam Viantieri's 48-yard FG as time expired for Tom Brady's first Super Bowl ring in Super Bowl 36.
Patriots fans bristle at Desmond Howard's 99-yard kickoff return and MVP award from Green Bay's Super Bowl 33 win over New England. Bills fans won't ever forget Scott Norwood's wide right kicking blunder in Buffalo's 20-19 loss to the New York Giants in Super Bowl 25. Peyton Manning surely can't shake the sight of the Saints executing an onside kick to start the second half of a 31-17 win over Manning's favored Colts in Super Bowl 44.
The Seahawks have an excellent special teams unit, and it's already helped them get here. Rashid Shaheed's 58-yard punt return TD against the Rams in Week 17 helped Seattle stave off Los Angeles for the No. 1 seed in the NFC. Seattle also turned a muffed Rams punt return into a touchdown in the NFC Championship.
This game won't end without special teams having a major impact on the outcome.
It's been an amazing season for Sam Darnold but don't forget he led the NFL with 11 fumbles to go along with 14 interceptions. Darnold has been near-perfect in the playoffs, but he's a risk-taker who gets antsy when the pocket starts to collapse. Glimpses of the old Sam Darnold have been there all season.
Drake Maye threw eight interceptions and fumbled eight times in the regular season. In the postseason, he's been picked off twice and fumbled six times – yes, six times. Neither of these QBs has played in a Super Bowl, so expect some jitters from both.
In what should be a low-scoring affair, the turnovers will be greater than the passing touchdowns.
Seattle's offense reached a new level after Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald fired offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb after last season and hired Shanahan tree disciple Klint Kubiak, whose offensive concepts blended perfectly with Darnold's experience last year in Kevin O'Connell offense.
But as the Eagles found out last year, losing your Super Bowl OC can be debilitating. Kubiak will be off to coach the Raiders next year, and the Seahawks will be behind the 8-ball in looking for a replacement in a dried-up well. It seems every other NFL team has hired an OC in the past six weeks.
The Patriots got fat this year on a cupcake schedule. They finished with the worst strength of win (.370) and strength of schedule (.391) of any NFL team to make the postseason. Credit them for still making the Super Bowl, but let's be real: they caught a break facing Jarrett Stidham, in a snowstorm, in the AFC Championship.
Next year, the Patriots will play a first-place schedule and won't be sneaking up on anyone, especially Josh Allen and the Bills.
One of these two teams, if not both, will miss the postseason next year. Book it.
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