NFL Super Bowl 60 preview: Patriots and Seahawks meet again, 11 years after a classic
- - NFL Super Bowl 60 preview: Patriots and Seahawks meet again, 11 years after a classic
Frank SchwabJanuary 26, 2026 at 10:56 AM
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Super Bowl LX will have a familiar matchup, though the two teams have changed a lot since their first Super Bowl encounter.
The last time the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks faced each other in the Super Bowl, it was one of the greatest games in NFL history. Super Bowl XLIX ended with Russell Wilson throwing an interception to Malcolm Butler in one of the most infamous coaching decisions ever. It has been 11 years since that game, and we get a rematch between the two franchises.
The Seahawks haven’t been back to the Super Bowl since that Wilson interception, but Mike Macdonald led a great turnaround for the franchise, going 14-3 in the regular season and then beating the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams in the playoffs to win the NFC. This time, Sam Darnold leads Seattle into the Super Bowl at the end of his first season with the team. Seattle is chasing its second Super Bowl title; it won the first one by blowing out Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII.
It’s a much different Patriots team than the one that beat the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX, or even the last Super Bowl title of the Tom Brady and Bill Belichick-led dynasty seven seasons ago. Brady is in the broadcast booth and Drake Maye has started a new era of great quarterback play in New England. While Belichick is off at North Carolina, his former linebacker Mike Vrabel has brought back a championship mentality after the roster fell off in the final years of the Belichick era and Jerod Mayo’s one season coaching the team. The roster was overhauled in the offseason through some heavy spending on talented players and then a good draft. And even though most of the names are different from the Patriots’ dynasty, it will be familiar seeing those uniforms on Super Bowl Sunday. This will be New England’s 12th Super Bowl appearance. The Patriots have won six championships.
The NFL is getting a pretty good matchup for its Super Bowl in Santa Clara, California. But it will be hard to live up to the first Super Bowl meeting between the two.
Super Bowl LX at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.New England Patriots vs. Seattle Seahawks (6:30 p.m. ET, NBC)Why the Patriots can win
The Patriots showed how an elite coach/quarterback combination can change an entire franchise. Drake Maye developed rapidly in his second season, and will finish either first or second in the NFL MVP voting. Mike Vrabel was hired after the team quickly moved on from Jerod Mayo following a 4-13 season, and Vrabel will likely win NFL Coach of the Year. Vrabel led a big improvement on defense, and some quality additions in free agency helped. The offense grew with Josh McDaniels coordinating it and Maye having a great season.
[Get more Patriots news: New England team feed]
The Patriots don’t have any big weakness. New England might have caught a break with the NFL’s easiest regular-season schedule — the Patriots beat one team that ended with a winning record — but they have played very well in the postseason (against three very good defenses) with their own defense peaking. It won’t be easy for the Patriots’ offense facing a stellar Seattle defense, but Maye has played at a very high level all season.
Why the Seahawks can win
Seattle has been playing championship football for most of the season. Its offense has been efficient, with the third-most points and the eighth-most yards in the NFL. Sam Darnold has been very good most of the season, especially when he throws to Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who had an NFL-best 1,793 receiving yards.
[Get more Seahawks news: Seattle team feed]
But the driver of the Seahawks’ success is their defense. Seattle allowed the fewest points in the NFL this season. Mike Macdonald came to Seattle after a successful run as the Ravens’ defensive coordinator, and in his second season as the Seahawks’ head coach his schemes took hold and Seattle had a fantastic season. The Seahawks do everything well, but their defense in particular is a championship unit. If Seattle can run on a New England defense that had a few poor games stopping the run before turning it back on in the playoffs, the Seahawks will have a good shot at their second Super Bowl title in franchise history.
Who has the juice going in
It’s hard to not side with the Seahawks, who played very well near the end of the season and capped an NFC title by beating a very good Rams team. Seattle has been the best team in the NFL over the course of the season and it should feel confident heading into Super Bowl LX. New England isn’t in the Super Bowl by accident, however. The Patriots barely remember what it’s like to lose. Since a 1-2 start, New England has won 16 of 17 games including the playoffs. The Patriots are very well coached with an MVP-level quarterback in Drake Maye. They’ll feel good about their chances as well. Seattle probably feels a little bit better, but it should be a very competitive Super Bowl.
Source: “AOL Sports”
