Super Bowl LX (60) Recap
Sunday, February 8, 2026, 6:30pm
AFC New England Patriots at NFC 14-3 Seattle Seahawks — The Patriots under first year head coach Mike Vrabel and second year quarterback Drake Maye built a good team with a great defense. They won the AFC East for the first time in five years. The Patriots went on the road and played the AFC Title Game in a blizzard. The Patriots survived Denver 10-7 in a winter wonderland slugfest. The Seahawks under second year head coach Mike McDonald and first year quarterback Sam Darnold built a team with a tenacious defense in winning the NFC West. While not as flashy as the vaunted Legion of Boom, this defense is brutal. After blasting San Francisco to pieces, the Seahawks survived the Rams 31-27 in the NFC Title Game.
As fans know, these teams met in the Super Bowl 11 years ago. Rather than hand the ball to Marshawn Lynch at the one yard line, the Seahawks opted to throw an interception and lose the Super Bowl. These are two completely new teams that rebounded far quicker than rival fan bases wanted. With Bill Belichick and Pete Carroll elsewhere, these teams were supposed to go through long rebuilds. Instead, great coaching got them right back on top. Vrabel is a belichick disciple and former teammate of Tom Brady.
Both teams love stone age football, running and defense. Maye and Darnold are both competent quarterbacks who will not lose a game for their team. Darnold was cast aside last year after going 14-3 in Minnesota. Vrabel was fired from Tennessee after injuries derailed them team one year after being the top seed. Minnesota and Tennessee both made big mistakes and became cellar dwellers.
Vrabel, like Belichick and Belichick’s mentor Bill Parcells, know how to develop game plans to take down supposedly superior opponents. Parcells’s 1990 Giants stopped the supposedly unstoppable Buffalo offense. Belichick began the Patriots dynasty in 2001 by shocking the Rams Greatest Show on Turf.
Yet those defeated teams won with offense. The Seahawks have a fast, tough and nasty defense. With weather not being a factor, the Seahawks were expected to utilize their speed. On offense, they love to pound the ball. The Patriots were playing in their NFL record 12th Super Bowl, with 10 of them being this century. The Seahawks were in their 4th Super Bowl.
The first three quarters were all defense, with the Seattle defense in particular suffocating the New England offense and sacking Maye multiple times. Jason Myers hit field goals of 33 three minutes into the game, from 39 in the second quarter, from 41 to end the half, and after a lengthy delay called a halftime show that has nothing to do with football, from 41 in the third quarter for a 12-0 Seahawks lead. At the end of the third quarter, Maye was hit and fumbled for the first turnover of the game. The Seahawks began the fourth quarter at the New England 37. Darnold went to AJ Barner for 11. On 3rd and 9 from the New England 25, Darnold went to Cooper Kupp for just enough. Darnold went to Barner for a 16 yard score. New England’s stout defense finally broke. The first touchdown of the game had the Seahawks up 19-0 only 90 seconds into the fourth quarter.
The lowest scoring Super Bowl in history featured 16 points. This game now had 19 points. No team had ever been shut out in the Super Bowl. Two teams had been limited to 3 points and one team scored their only 7 points on a kickoff return touchdown. All those records quickly fell by the wayside. The Patriots took over at their own 35. Maye went deep to Mack Hollins between 4 defenders for a 24 yard gain. Maye then went deep to Hollins again for a 35 yard touchdown. That drive took only 60 seconds as the Patriots were on the board down 19-7 with 12 1/2 minutes left in regulation. The Patriots held on defense and had all the momentum when a great punt pinned the Patriots at their own 4 yard line. They moved to their own 44. Maye went deep over the middle and was intercepted by Jobe Love, who returned the pick 35 yards to the New England 38. With 8 1/2 minutes left, the Seahawks had another chance to finally put the game away. Myers hit his 5th field goal from 26 to make it 22-7 Seahawks with 5 1/2 minutes to go.
One minute later came the exclamation point that made the vaunted Legion of Boom proud. This modern iteration is known as The Dark Side. On 1st and 10 from the Seattle 44, Maye was belted down hard and fumbled. The 7th sack of Maye tied a Super Bowl record. Witherspoon forced the fumble and Nwosu picked it up and rumbled 44 yards for the defensive touchdown. With 4 1/2 minutes left, the exclamation point had the Seahawks up 29-7. he Patriots got a garbage touchdown with 2:20 left, but this game was no contest. The Seahawks held up the Vince Lombardi Trophy for the second time in franchise history. The 2025 NFL Season is now in the history books. The NFL Draft is in 3 months. 29-13 Seahawks