February 07, 2026
It's a little harder to get excited for the Super Bowl when you're the fan of a good football team that didn't make it.
If the Eagles were bad, or even mediocre, it might be a little more fun this week — with the biggest sporting event of the entire year kicking off Sunday evening. But having a good team, a Super Bowl caliber team and the defending champs fall flat makes it a tough to get amped for the Seahawks and Patriots.
No Super Bowl matchup has ever featured two teams with longer odds, which in itself is a fact that should appeal to Eagles fans. If you're a sports gambler, you've probably already got some sort of rooting interest. But what about the rest of us?
Here's a quick guide to help you decide if you're pulling for New England or Seattle this weekend.
You want former Eagles to win rings. Both Super Bowl combatants have Eagles ties, but the Pats have the most former players most fans would recognize, headlined by pass rusher Milton Williams, who won a ring last February with the Birds. Joining him on the roster are old friends Mack Hollins and Christian Elliss — with Patrick Johnson on the practice squad.
You prefer underdogs. Philly is the ultimate underdog city, and their proudest achievement was surely the 2017-18 Eagles who won it all as underdogs in every playoff round. The Seahawks are 4.5-point favorites over the Patriots, so technically rooting for them would be rooting for the upset.
You want another Patriots dynasty. This might sound like a troll-type thing to say, but hear me out. The NFL is at its best when it has a dynasty or potential dynasty in the works. The 1980s 49ers and 1990s Cowboys were beloved or hated and nothing in between. More recently, greatness by way of the Tom Brady-led Pats or the Patrick Mahomes-led Chiefs gave the league and its fans an easy target and measuring stick. Patriots quarterback Drake Maye is just 23, and has a few years left on his rookie contract. The Patriots have talent on both sides of the ball and one of the best game-planning coaches in the sport. If the Pats win, it could propel them toward being favorites again in 2027. Seattle doesn't have the same opportunity for future success. They play in the toughest division in football and Darnold will turn 30 soon. They have a bevy of free agents coming off the books and a less sustainable path forward.
You still hold a grudge for Spygate, and Deflategate, and all the other Patriots drama from the past 25 years. The Pats beat the Eagles in the Super Bowl back in 2005. This win came on the heals of a scandal that alleged Bill Belichick and the Pats were recording opponents' practices. The Patriots were known as cheaters, and they also succeeded without precedent for two decades. Old biases die hard — and it would make total sense for Eagles fans to still hate the Pats, even under a new regime.
You believe defense wins championships. Seattle had the NFL's best defense by many metrics this past season, including DVOA where they rank first and scoring defense, they allowed an NFL best 17.2 points per game. The Patriots were very good too in many measurable categories, but nowhere near as dominant.
You believe in second chances. Well, technically it's a fifth chance. Seattle's quarterback Darnold has not followed the typical path of a Super Bowl quarterback. A brief refresh on his NFL journey:
• He was the third overall pick in 2018 and proceeded to go 13-25 for the lowly Jets — and was traded for a fourth and sixth round pick
• He played in 18 games for the Panthers over two seasons and had a below average 77.3 QB rating
• He was signed as a free agent by the Vikings on a one-year deal and after first round pick J.J. McCarthy got knocked out for the season in training camp, Darnold proceeded to lead them to 14 wins with 35 touchdown passes
• When Minnesota elected to stick with McCarthy and let Darnold walk, he led the Seahawks to 14 wins and a Super Bowl berth
Hard not too root for that guy.
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