Sunday will be bittersweet. It’s the game that we’ve been waiting for since the season kicked off with training camp way back in August. At the same time, we won’t have football for another 6 months after this game. There weren’t many experts that would have picked the Patriots and the Seahawks at the beginning of this season, but here we are. This game hopes to be as good as the last time these two teams played with a pick at the goal line from Malcom Butler to cap off one of the greatest finishes in the game’s history. Here’s our Super Bowl 60 preview.
How they Got Here
The Patriots were downright bad a year ago, but Mike Vrabel came in, took over, and can now win a Super Bowl in year one. The Patriots benefited from an easy schedule in 2025, but they still backed it up with their play. They own the second-best scoring offense and the fourth best scoring defense. Drake Maye put up MVP numbers in just his second season and a youth infusion on the other side of the ball put them in the hunt.
For Seattle, they had to get through the toughest division in football to earn the No.1 seed in the NFC and then went through the playoffs having to face their division again. They blew out the 49ers in the divisional round and got the best of the Rams in the NFC Championship. Sam Darnold was the unlikely hero at QB for this team, but they really rely on their defense which ranks first in the league in scoring allowed.
What to Watch For
For New England, it’s how their offense can jumpstart itself against this Seattle defense. The Hawks secondary is lethal and will cause turnovers while they allow the fewest rushing yards per game to their opponents. The Pats will need to try and get their two-headed monster in the backfield going and take a little pressure off their young quarterback. There was snow to deal with, but this team struggled against the Broncos in Denver and the offense never really jelled together against the Texans in the divisional round.
For Seattle, I continue this trend: will Sam Darnold have his meltdown game? He has avoided it up to this point and now must prove to the world that he has grown from mistakes in years past. Darnold was at the Super Bowl in 2023 when he was a member of the 49ers. He didn’t get in the game but got a taste of the pressure. That might do him some good in this one.
Prediction
There is something about that Hawks defense that is just too much to overcome. When they are clicking, they are lethal. I think Seattle will end up with more possessions in this game and you can run the offense through Kenneth Walker while opening the passing game. If Darnold holds it down, the Hawks are getting a Super Bowl win. Seahawks 23 Patriots 17
Super Bowl MVP Prediction
As I say just that, my prediction is that Darnold gets over the hump. This could come down to who the better QB is. Maye is young, and he is prone to turnovers. This might be the week where that is just too much to overcome and with Darnold relying on Jaxon Smith-Njigba, he is going to throw for a few scores.