Seahawks and Patriots Advance to Super Bowl LX

Two teams that did not reach the playoffs last season will battle for the Vince Lombardi Trophy in this season’s Super Bowl.

The AFC Championship game matched the top two seeds in the conference, with #2 New England at #1 Denver. Much of this game was played in a snowstorm with swirling winds; only one of five field goal attempts was successful. The Broncos had the misfortune of having to start backup QB Jarrett Stidham, who had taken just one snap all season, due to the injury to starter Bo Nix in the Divisional Round. Stidham did about as well as could be expected, completing 17 passes for 133 yards and a touchdown, but he threw a costly late 4th quarter interception. New England QB Drake Maye completed 10 passes for 86 yards, but ran for 65 yards and a touchdown. In the end, the one successful field goal attempt, a 23 yarder by New England’s Andy Borregales, was the difference in the 10-7 New England victory.

Highlights

There was a lot more scoring, and much better weather in Seattle, where the #1 seeded Seahawks hosted the #5 Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Championship. The two NFC West rivals had split their two regular season games. Both quarterbacks had fine games, with the Rams’ Matthew Stafford completing 22 passes for 374 yards and three touchdowns and Seattle’s Sam Darnold completing 25 passes for 346 yards and three touchdowns. Darnold, who was the #3 overall pick by the New York Jets in the 2018 NFL draft is playing for his fifth NFL team and has, it would appear, found the right organization. The Seahawks had a 17-13 lead at halftime, and the two teams matched each other with 14 points each in the third quarter and scoreless fourth quarters for a 31-27 Seattle victory.

Highlights

This is the first Super Bowl for the Patriots since the 2018 season, their 12th overall, and the first in the post Tom Brady Era. New England is 6-5 in The Big Game. Seattle is making its fourth appearance and first since the 2014 season, when the opponent in that game was the New England Patriots. New England won that one 28-24. The Seahawks are 1-2 in Super Bowls. These two teams did not meet during the 2025 regular season.

Super Bowl LX is at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California on February 8th.