Eleven years ago, Russel Wilson led the Seahawks to their second straight Super Bowl appearance after winning it the previous year. In the AFC, Tom Brady was solidifying his legacy aiming for his fourth ring. Ultimately, the Patriots came out on top due to a goal-line interception with under two minutes left. 28-24, Patriots win. Seattle has been waiting for blood ever since.
Patriots 2025-26 Recap:
Entering the season, Mike Vrabel’s Patriots found themselves ranked 22nd on the NFL’s preseason power rankings. Nobody knew what to expect about this Patriots squad entering this season. With that being said, one could argue that New England was the best team in football this year. Two of their three total losses came within the first three weeks. The Raiders and Steelers got the better of New England. Not many teams have been capable of stopping them since.
Drake Maye has been nothing short of an MVP finalist in his sophomore campaign, and an early-career Lombardi would be the cherry on top for Maye’s season. He posted 31 touchdowns with 8 interceptions for just under 4,400 yards. In the Wild Card round, they faced the Justin Herbert led Chargers and held them to 3 points. In the Divisional versus Houston, Maye passed for three touchdowns while the defense picked Texans Quarterback CJ Stroud off four times enroute to a victory.
Their championship win at Mile High stadium was impressive despite the fact that Bo Nix did not play. Even with Nix, the outcome would have been the same: an ugly Patriots win. They have the talent, coaching, and the gift of getting hot at the right time. New England heads into February 8th’s matchup with their heads held high.
Seahawks 2025-26 Recap:
Not many additions were made to the Seahawks 10-7 roster that missed out on the 2024-25 playoffs. Seattle, however, lost wide receiver DK Metcalf to the Steelers. The addition of quarterback Sam Darnold left questions in Seattle with a new first option in Jaxon Smith-Njigba. In the preseason power rankings, Seattle was 19th.
Their young defensive core featuring Byron Murphy, Riq Woolen, and Devon Witherspoon looked to improve on a disappointing last season. Fast forward to February 2026 and they are the favorite to win the super bowl. What happened in that 5 ½ month span?
Smith-Njigba shot onto the scene leaving no questions on his ability to be a main option. He led the NFL in receiving yards with 1,829. As for Sam Darnold, he comfortably fit in with this offense, and was the leader of a 14-3 powerhouse with 25 touchdowns. Kenneth Walker’s reliability gave another 1,000 yard season to his name. The defense is arguably the most difficult to face in the league. They allowed a league best 3.7 yards per run, and 6.0 yards per pass, also a league best. On the season they outscored opponents by 191. That’s an average of a 11 point (two score) win every Sunday. Consistency is the staple to Seattle’s game, and they might just be too much for New England to handle.
Super Bowl 60 Prediction:
Both teams are strong on both sides of the ball– too strong. It’s to the point where there is no telling which side this scale will tip. The deciding factor of this game might end up being the difficulty of schedule during the regular season for both teams. The Seahawks have accumulated 8 wins against playoff teams this year. New England on the other hand only played 4 playoff teams, and are coming off a weak offensive showing with just 10 points against the Broncos. Drake Maye was held to under 100 passing yards, and this Seahawks defense is not going to be any smaller of a task. Stefon Diggs’ first chance at a ring will be a difficult matchup in the secondary, and stopping Smith-Njigba is a whole different issue for New England. However, no team makes the super bowl without deserving that spot, and any given Sunday the Patriots can be firing on all cylinders and be victorious.
Sam Darnold has his turnover issues. He led the NFL in the regular season for turnovers with 20. His ball security on the biggest stage has to be better than ever. It will be hard for Seattle to overcome the deficit of multiple Darnold turnovers. If that happens, the momentum will tip in New England’s direction. Drake Maye has been incredible when in the driver’s seat with momentum at his back. The defense is streaky, and sometimes they can be undisciplined with immature flags. On paper they might just be the best defense in the league, and they probably are. Even the special teams for Seattle have been good with a return touchdown to show for Rasheed Shaheed in the playoffs.
Ultimately, Seattle is due for revenge. Not giving Marshawn Lynch the ball still haunts Seahawk fans to this day, but this week they will take it back. Their explosive defense matches up well across the board for this matchup. From the secondary, to the offensive linemen, the Seahawks are the better team. It’ll be interesting to see how many Seahawks fans there are at the game with it being only 800 miles from Seattle, whereas it is over 3,200 miles from New England. The 12th man could play a role, and the team has less traveling to do in preparation for the game.
