There’s been plenty of change across a wild 2025 NFL season, but when Super Bowl LX kicks off, it will feel like déjà vu.

The New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks are headed to the sport’s biggest game in Santa Clara, Calif., reviving a Super Bowl match-up that still echoes through league history. 

The two franchises last met about a decade ago in 2015 in Super Bowl XLIX. The former Patriots cornerback Malcom Butler’s goal line interception from Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson ended the game 28-24. Now, the teams face each other again with unlikely new quarterbacks, coaches, and newfound success. 

The Seahawks have one Lombardi Trophy; the Patriots have six. History leans toward New England, but momentum favors Seattle. 

Fans from both sides see this game as a turning point. For junior sports communication major and Seattle native Torin McCann-Braun, it is a long-awaited return to relevance. 

“Seattle’s run has surprised just about everyone, myself included,” McCann-Braun said. “After years of disappointment, it’s exciting to finally be here.” 

From the Patriots’ side, confidence comes from what many fans see as a favorable match-up in the trenches and the secondary. 

“I think the Patriots have a great chance,” junior sports communication major Tobey Roberts said. “Their interior pass rush and turnover-forcing secondary line up well against Seattle, which could be the difference in this game.”

Drake Maye’s Emergence

At the center of it all is Patriots quarterback Drake Maye, a 23-year-old MVP candidate, who led the league with a 72.0 completion percentage during the regular season. He threw for 4,394 yards and 31 touchdowns, added 450 rushing yards, and accounted for four scores on the ground. 

Still, the postseason has been tough for Maye thus far. Through three games, he has completed just 55.8 percent of his passes for 533 yards, with four touchdowns and two interceptions. 

The offensive line was average in the regular season, but subpar at best in the postseason, including letting up five sacks against the Denver Broncos. Ball security has been a concern with Maye fumbling six total times already this postseason. He is also going into the Super Bowl with a right shoulder injury, being projected as questionable on the team’s injury report.

Against elite defenses and brutal weather, Maye has made the plays New England needed. That ability — more than raw numbers — has pushed the Patriots into their NFL-record 12th Super Bowl appearance. 

NFC Championship Recap: Seattle Seahawks 31, Los Angeles Rams 27

If New England’s path to the Super Bowl was about survival, Seattle’s was about making statements. 

The Seahawks outlasted the Los Angeles Rams in their third match-up of the season, beating them 31-27 in a back-and-forth NFC Championship Game. Seattle’s performance showed a new dimension to a team known primarily for defense. Seattle entered the postseason with one of the league’s best scoring defenses, only allowing 16.5 points per game, but that night proved they could also win a shootout.

Under second-year Head Coach Mike Macdonald, Seattle has engineered one of the league’s most impressive turnarounds, besides New England. After going 10-7 in Macdonald’s first season, the Seahawks surged to the NFC’s top seed this year, finishing with a 14-3 record.

Their postseason run included a dominant 41-6 divisional round win over the San Francisco 49ers, culminating in the franchise’s first Super Bowl appearance since 2015. 

A Season of Revivals

Seattle’s offense has been fueled by one of the NFL’s most unexpected stories: quarterback Sam Darnold.

Once thrown away as a bust by the New York Jets, Darnold enjoyed a full-scale career revival with the Minnesota Vikings and now the Seahawks. Darnold has the most wins in the regular season out of any quarterback since 2024, with a 28-6 record during that span. 

He completed 67.7 percent of his passes during the 2025 regular season for 4,048 yards, 25 touchdowns, and 14 interceptions. Most notably, he has yet to throw a postseason pick.

Darnold threw for 364 yards and three touchdowns in the NFC Championship, proving any doubters of his ability to win big games wrong, and his teammates had his back. 

“Sam’s a baller,” Seattle linebacker Ernest Jones IV said postgame to Seattle Seahawks reporter John Boyle. “You can doubt Sam if you want to, but Sam’s going to show up every time.”

Darnold’s favorite target has been superstar receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who led the league with 1,793 receiving yards on 119 catches while adding 10 touchdowns. Together, they’ve powered an offense that ranked third in scoring, despite the Seahawks’ defensive identity. 

A Familiar Showdown, New Faces

Super Bowl LX will mark these two franchises’ second showdown in the big game, but almost everything else feels new. New England no longer leans on Tom Brady or Bill Belichick. Seattle’s sideline is no longer commanded by Pete Carroll, nor is Wilson under center. 

Instead, it’s Mike Vrabel versus Macdonald, Maye versus Darnold, and two defenses built to impose their will. 

The Patriots enter the Super Bowl having won 16 of their last 17 games, ripping the AFC East crown away from the Buffalo Bills and reaching the postseason for the first time in four years. Seattle arrives as the league’s hottest team, having won nine straight games, and emerging from the NFC gauntlet with confidence. 

Seattle’s defense will face its stiffest test yet against a Patriots offense that thrives on patience, big plays downfield, and Maye’s mobility outside of the pocket. Meanwhile, New England’s resurgent defense must slow down a Seahawks attack capable of striking quickly through the air and a run game with Kenneth Walker III that hasn’t slowed down this postseason. 

Will Seattle get their redemption? Or will New England find themselves back on top of the NFL? In a season filled with rapid rebuilds and unexpected contenders, Super Bowl LX offers a fitting finale: a familiar match-up, reshaped by time. 

Super Bowl LX will be played at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, on Feb. 8, 2026, aired on NBC at 6:30 p.m.