The 2026 Super Bowl is just around the corner, with a rematch on the big stage between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots. 2015 hosted Tom Brady’s dynasty Patriots against Russel Wilson’s Seahawks, which ended in a game-winning interception by Malcolm Butler for the Patriots to secure a fourth Super Bowl title. It has been six years since Brady left the New England Patriots, and those six years have been a brutal collapse of a dominant era.
The 2024 Seattle Seahawks were second in the National Football Conference – Western Division, behind the Los Angeles Rams with a 10-7 record. Although not a bad season, this was the third consecutive season where the Seahawks struggled in the playoffs. With the mediocrity of the 2024 season, Seattle fired tenured head coach Pete Caroll and hired veteran coach Mike Macdonald, the Baltimore Ravens’ defensive coordinator, to fill the position. The 2025 regular season was very promising under Macdonald, leading to a 14-3 record – a franchise-best – and first in the NFC West.
The 2025-2026 season will be Seattle quarterback Sam Darnold’s 8th season in the NFL, and he has cemented himself as a veteran who has had a rough few years. After the 2024 season with the Vikings and the 2025 season with Seattle, though, he has shown that old dogs can learn new tricks. Darnold, alongside veteran wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba and many heavy hitters, has brought this mostly veteran-built team back to the Super Bowl for the first time since their loss to the Patriots.
In the six years after the collapse of the Patriots’ dynasty, there was no getting a footing. In 2024, the tenured coach Bill Belichick parted ways with the Patriots after multiple unsuccessful seasons, and was replaced by Jarod Mayo and general manager Eliot Wolf, who was drafted by the Patriots in 2008. Jared Mayo held the position for one season, which was another unsuccessful 4-13 season, and was quickly replaced with current head coach Mike Vrabel.
Vrabel and Wolf spearheaded the team’s rebuild over the 2025 season with the 2024 third overall pick, quarterback Drake Maye, to lead from behind center. With multiple free agent picks and one of the largest salary cap spaces in the NFL for the 2025 season, the Patriots were able to reinforce and build a genuine threat around the young quarterback. With possibly the quickest rebuild in NFL history, the Patriots have fought their way to a 14-3 record and second in the AFC East. Now the Patriots find themselves in a rematch against Seattle in their first return to the Super Bowl since 2019.
Where Seattle has been thriving, and will likely thrive in the Super Bowl, is in their run defense. Seattle’s run defense is the best in the NFL, currently only allowing a low 3.7 YPC (Yards per Carry), with other teams only having a success rate of 34% on designed run plays. New England, on the other hand, thrives in their pass offense through Maye. With a 0.23 EPA (Expected Points Added) per play, the Patriots are the best in the NFL when it comes to pass plays, and are going to need to exploit that as much as possible.
Both betting and stat analysts believe Seattle will win Super Bowl LX with their strong defense being their defining factor. There is the possibility that Maye could become flustered with the tools that Seattle has on defense, and it will be too much for the sophomore quarterback. Seattle is an all-around veteran squad that will provide a strong fight for the New England Patriots, but this does not put the Patriots out of the fight. If Maye and the Patriots offense can get settled and not rely too heavily on their defense to cover their mishaps, then this will be an electrifying and physical long-awaited rematch.
