There is only one final game left in the 2025-26 NFL Season, and just like I accurately predicted last week, we have a Super Bowl 49 rematch between the NFC Champions, the Seattle Seahawks, and the AFC Champions, the New England Patriots. This will be the eight time in NFL History that there will be a Super Bowl Rematch from before. Man, the one year the Chiefs miss the playoffs, the empire strikes back and the Patriots are back in the Super Bowl. Also, for the first time since 2003, the Super Bowl will feature two teams that missed the playoffs the previous season. An fun fact before we begin. Super Bowl LX will be the third time that both head coaches share the same first name. In all three instances, the coaches name was Mike. We had Mike Shanahan (Patriots vs Mike Holmgren (Packers) in 1998. We had Mike Tomlin (Steelers) vs Mike McCarthy (Packers) in 2011. Now, we will have Mike MacDonald (Seahawks) vs Mike Vrabel (Patriots).
Both teams have been one of the best in the league, but they have had quite different paths to reach these points. The Seahawks played two games against their NFC West rivals and two really good offensive teams. The 49ers were top-10 in both passing and scoring offense. The Rams were the best team in the league in terms of scoring and passing offense. On the other hand, the Patriots faced a lot of great defensive teams in the Chargers, Texans, and the Broncos. They just defeated the Broncos in a snowy blizzard last week in Denver. To sum up what I am trying to say, the Seahawks have went up against high-scoring offenses, while the Patriots have faced top-10 defenses. That’s what makes this matchup really interesting. These two teams have changed a lot since Super Bowl 49. Last time it was Tom Brady vs Russell Wilson and Bill Belichick (who should’ve been inducted into the HOF) vs Pete Carroll.
The Patriots barely defeated the Broncos in a low-scoring 10 – 7 score game. The Broncos made it really close, even without Bo Nix. That was why the Broncos had very limited options when it came to their offense. Their defense got timely stops, but it seems that both offenses weren’t really able to do anything when the snow started pouring. Jarrett Stidham had a solid touchdown drive in the first half to put the Broncos up 7 – 0. Sean Payton should’ve definitely went for the field goal to put the Broncos up 10 – 0 in the first quarter. That ended up costing them badly later. That also speaks volumes on the Patriots defense, who has stepped up all these playoffs. However, if Drake Maye and the rest of the Patriots offense don’t figure it out against the Seahawks, they will have a tough time in that game. Drake Maye will join Tom Brady as the only QBs in Patriots franchise history to reach the Super Bowl in either of their first two seasons as starters. Another interesting fun fact is that the Patriots are only the second team ever to lose to the team that will pick #1 in the upcoming draft. That happened back in 1997 when the Packers lost the Colts, yet the Packers made the Super Bowl and the Colts ended up drafting Peyton Manning.
Even though the Patriots have had an “cupcake” or an easy schedule, their offense is one of the best in the league and they blew teams out in the regular season. The Patriots offense is nearly top 5 in all categories as they are ranked 2nd in points scored with 28.8, 4th in passing yards with 250.5, and also 6th in rushing yards with 128.9. Drake Maye is the second-youngest QB to reach the Super Bowl in NFL History at 23 years, 148 days old. The youngest was Dan Marino at 23 years and 113 days old. Mike Vrabel will become the first person to start for and also coach the same franchise in a Super Bowl. Vrabel also won three Super bowls with the Patriots during his time as a player. I would also like to add that the Patriots will not have faced a team that has a top 10 offense when it comes to yards or points per drive. However, they went up against top-10 defenses, not to mention that they have a really good defense as well. In the playoffs, the Patriots defense has only allowed 8.7 points per game, 138.3 passing yards per game, and only 71.3 rushing. yards per game. The Patriots also have a +3 turnover differential. Specifically, they are number one in scoring defense. When it comes to their offense, the Patriots score 18 points per game, have around 148 passing yards per game, and a solid 104 rushing yards per game. Their offense needs to show up in the Super Bowl as they were only 10th amongst the 14 teams that qualified for the postseason. That will be an crucial x-factor for them, especially since they are going up against a pretty good Seattle defense. The Patriots offense will need to score touchdowns and not settle for field goals if they want to have any chance.
The Seahawks won a NFC Championship thriller against their NFC West rival Rams last week. That was their third divisional win in the last four weeks. The Seahawks have had one of the best offense in the league the entire year. Their run game has significantly improved from last year as they finished 11th in rushing offense. In nearly every game since Week 16, the Seahawks have averaged over 150 rushing yards. Even though the Seahawks did not have their leading RB in Zach Charbonnet last week, the Rams were able to effectively run the ball, and Kenneth Walker even had a rushing touchdown. Sam Darnold has been amazing in these playoffs and have definitely silenced the doubters. He has been effective throwing the ball and also has zero turnovers. Last week, he had one of the best games he’s played all season as he threw for nearly 350 yards and had three passing touchdowns. By the way, his passer rating of 127.8 is the 4th highest all time in a conference championship game. Darnold will become the first starting QB from the 2018 draft class to reach the Super Bowl. That draft class included players like Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, and Baker Mayfield. Darnold will also be the first QB from USC to start in a Super Bowl. As a fun fact, there have been 26 QBs drafted out of USC, which is most by any school. The Seahawks offense have been solid in their two games they have played in the playoffs. They have scored 36 points per game, had nearly 214 passing yards per game, and 125 rushing yards per game. That’s all despite the fact they have played in two games and one less game than the Patriots. The 36 ppg is the best by any team that qualified for the playoffs. Seahawks WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba (JSN) is tied for the 4th most receiving yards amongst all receivers this season, including playoffs. JSN also has the most receiving yards (1,965) by any receiver aged 23 or younger in any season (including playoffs). He is followed by Justin Jefferson (1,856) at 2nd and Ja’Marr Chase (1823) at 3rd.
On the other hand, their defense has not been the best. Even though they allowed nearly 500 passing yards from opposing QBs and 222 rushing yards, the Seahawks have only allowed 16.5 points allowed on average, which is pretty solid. Overall, the Seahawks are balanced on both sides of the ball. Their special teams has also played good. Rasheed Shaheed had a touchdown to open up the game against the 49ers, and they also recovered a muffed in their territory against the Rams last week. Shaheed has been a critical factor to the Seahawks in these playoffs. He has only returned three kickoffs in these entire playoffs, and he is averaging nearly 50 yards per return, including a 95 yard return for a TD against the 49ers. The Saints definitely regret letting him go. The Patriots have to be careful about the Seahawks special teams, which is definitely one of the best in the entire league.
Even though the Patriots have faced great defensive teams and have been able to secure those wins, the Seahawks faced two offensive powerhouses. The 49ers had a top-10 rushing and passing offense, and the Seahawks were able to shut them down to only 6 points. That was the second time they did it in three weeks. To add to the pain, the 49ers might see the Seahawks lift the Lombardi in their home stadium. The Rams also had the number one passing and scoring offense in the entire league, however the Seahawks had the number one defense in terms of points allowed. We saw last week that the Seahawks were able to stay in the game despite allowing the Rams to score two touchdown in the third quarter. Woolen also allowed a touchdown after getting a taunting call, which wasn’t a good sign.
There will be x-factors for both teams that might determine the outcome of the game. First will be turnovers. When it comes to turnover differentials, the Patriots are +3, while the Seahawks are +4. Both teams have forced turnovers. Like I said before, the Patriots have faced elite defenses in these playoffs, which means they should be ready to prepared to face the Seahawks. For the Patriots specifically, it will be Drake Maye and their rushing offense. Maye has been solid rushing the ball in these playoffs. He went for 66 yards rushing against the Chargers in the Wild Card round, and also had 65 rushing yards alongside a touchdown last week against the Broncos. Maye was able to ice the game with a run of his own last week. He will need to gain some extra yards if he sees the pressure coming at him. The Patriots backfield duo in TreVeyon Henderson and Rhamondre Stevenson has also played well in these playoffs. Another x-factor for the Patriots will be their O-Line preventing Drake Maye from getting sacked. Maye has been sacked 5 times in all three playoff games the Patriots played in. The three 5-sack games are the most by any team in any postseason. That is a concern going up against the dominant Seahawks defense. If the Seahawks pass rush can get to and sack Drake Maye like the Chargers, Texans, and Broncos did, it will be a tough night for the Patriots. On the other hand, the Patriots pass rush has also been dominant and historically good in these playoffs. They have only allowed 8.7 points per game in these playoffs, which is the second fewest points per game allowed by any playoff team that has played at least three games since 2000. Even though the Patriots went up against a really good Broncos O-line last week, they were able to pressure Jarrett Stidham, force him out of the pocket, make bad throws. Stidham also had an fumble near the Patriots red zone, which led to the only Patriots TD last week. Even though they faced a backup QB last week, the Patriots defense has been really exceptional throughout the playoffs. The Seattle O-Line will need to protect Sam Darnold, otherwise things could also get ugly for them.
There are a couple more X-factors that will decide this. First will be the QB matchup between Sam Darnold and Drake Maye. Another key matchup to look out for is JSN going up against Christian Gonzalez. Kenneth Walker will also need to have a big game. He has really stepped it up after the injury to Zack Charbonnet and will need to carry that momentum into the Super Bowl. So far in these playoffs, Walker has rushed for 256 yards and 4 touchdowns. His dominance on the ground has opened up the offense for the Seahawks. The Seahawks should look to run the ball (LOL) as much as possible and take advantage of the ground game and waste time.
Overall, I still believe that the Patriots have had an easy schedule this season and throughout the playoffs. They had the #1 easiest strength of schedule amongst any team. However, it’s not their fault and they had to play whatever was in front of them. I think it will be a competitive game, especially if Patriots defense shows up like they did in these playoffs. If they can get to Sam Darnold and slow down the Seahawks rushing offense, they might have a chance to win this game. Even though the Patriots have defeated top-10 defenses en route to the Super Bowl, they now have to face the number one defense in the entire league in terms of points allowed. The Patriots defense will also have their hands full trying to limit JSN and Kenneth Walker. Even though Drake Maye has gotten some experience going up against these top-10 defenses so far, the Seahawks are more experienced and will be completely different than any other team the Patriots have faced all season. By the time the Patriots finish the game, they will have played four of the top-six best defensive teams this season.Maye also had some turnovers and was even sacked 15 times in these playoffs like I just said.
That being said, its time for my final prediction. I have the Seattle Seahawks beating the New England Patriots and getting their second Super Bowl win. They will avenge the loss from Super Bowl 49. I also believe that the Seahawks are just too good on both sides of the ball and everything seems to be clicking at the right time. They also have a dominant special teams side which can make things ugly real quick. The Seahawks have problems for two top-10 offenses in the Rams and Seahawks this postseason. They didn’t allow the 49ers to score a touchdown and also forced some timely turnovers against the Rams. Overall, I predict the Seattle Seahawks to win Super Bowl 60.
(Winner Prediction: Seattle Seahawks)
Point Spread: Seattle 4.5
Before I sign off, I have to say a couple more things. An fun fact is that whenever a new Pope has been elected, the Seahawks have gotten the number one seed in the NFC and made it to the Super Bowl that year. That happened in 2005, 2013, and now 2025. It’s crazy to think that either Sam Darnold or Drake Maye will win their first Super Bowl ring. What a story it would be for Sam Darnold as he would overcome the bust allegations just two years ago and now he is on cusp of leading his team to a Super Bowl win. It would also be crazy if Drake Maye, in his second year, leads the Patriots back to promiseland and revives the dynasty. The Patriots were also 4 – 13 last year and were rebuilding. The Empire would officially be back. And finally. The Seahawks, if you are at the one-yard line with the game on the line, don’t throw and please run the ball.
