This past Sunday, we saw the New England Patriots defeat the Denver Broncos on the road and the Seattle Seahawks down the Los Angeles Rams to send themselves to Super Bowl LX in Santa Clara, California. The game will be played on Sunday, Feb. 8, at Levi’s Stadium, home of the San Francisco 49ers.
This is New England’s 12th Super Bowl appearance in franchise history, the most in NFL history. Pittsburgh, Dallas, and Denver are next with eight apiece. A win would give the Pats their seventh Super Bowl victory, breaking a tie with Pittsburgh for first place. Each of their victories have come since 2000.
Seattle will be making their fourth appearance in the big game, with a 1-2 record. Their lone win came in a 43-8 dismantling of the Broncos in Bowl XLVIII.
These two teams have met at this stage once before, at Super Bowl XLIX in Glendale, Arizona. That game included perhaps the greatest ending in the game’s history. Clinging to a 28-24 lead, Malcolm Butler intercepted Seahawks QB Russell Wilson at the goal line to hold onto the Patriots’ 28-24 lead en route to their fourth Super Bowl win.
Seattle’s Mike Macdonald and New England’s Mike Vrabel become the sixth and seventh head coaches named Mike to make a Super Bowl appearance, extending the name’s lead as the most common in Super Bowl coaching history. This is only the third time in Super Bowl history that both coaches will have the same first name… the other two times were both Mike as well.
A Boston native, Macdonald is in his second season with the Seahawks. He led the team to a 10-7 record last season. They improved to 14-3 this year, enough to lock up the NFC’s number one seed.
Vrabel won three Super Bowls in New England as a player, but this is his first season coaching the team. After two consecutive 4-13 seasons, Vrabel spearheaded a remarkable turnaround. The Patriots also finished 14-3 this season to earn the AFC’s second seed. Both coaches were named finalists for the NFL’s Coach of the Year honor.
This matchup brings to the table two interesting quarterbacks. Sam Darnold’s journey to his first Super Bowl has been an unlikely one. The 28-year-old was drafted by the New York Jets, where he spent three seasons. He then spent two seasons in Carolina, one in San Francisco, and finally broke out into stardom last season with the Minnesota Vikings. Despite their unexpected success, Minnesota decided to move on, and Seattle signed Darnold to a three-year, $100.5 million contract. Darnold passed for 4,048 yards and 25 touchdowns while completing 67.7% of his passes this season. He threw 14 interceptions and ended the regular season with a 55.7 quarterback rating.
On the other sideline, Drake Maye emerged in a big way this season. After a rocky rookie campaign in 2024, Maye has made himself into an MVP candidate this season. Maye threw for 4,394 yards, 31 touchdowns, and 8 interceptions. He led the NFL in completion percentage (72), yards per attempt (8.9), and quarterback rating (77.1).
Each quarterback faces a tough task Sunday. Seattle is widely regarded as one of the NFL’s best defenses. They allowed the fewest points per game (17.2) in the NFL this regular season. New England’s defense has come on late, however. They have given up just 26 total points in their three playoff games thus far.
Super Bowl LX kicks off at 6:30 pm EST and can be seen on NBC and Peacock. Mike Tirico, Cris Collinsworth, Melissa Stark, and Kaylee Hartung are on the call.
Charlie Puth will perform the national anthem and Bad Bunny, Spotify’s most-streamed artist in 2025, will perform at halftime.
In other news, be sure to follow @bwspm on Instagram for a look at the Baldwin Wallace University Sports Management Club’s trip to Super Bowl LX!
