The Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots will meet in Super Bowl LX on Feb. 8 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, setting up a rematch of one of the most dramatic championship games in NFL history.
Seattle defeated the Los Angeles Rams 31-27 in the NFC Championship Game at Lumen Field on Sunday, while New England beat the Denver Broncos 10-7 in the AFC title game at Mile High Stadium amid heavy snowfall. The two franchises last met in the Super Bowl following the 2014 season, when Malcolm Butler’s goal-line interception sealed New England’s victory. No players or coaches from that meeting remain on either roster.
Sam Darnold Exorcises Rams Demons
The narrative entering Sunday’s NFC Championship centered on Sam Darnold’s struggles against Los Angeles. He was sacked nine times in last year’s playoff elimination with Minnesota. Darnold had struggled against the Rams in 2025, throwing four interceptions in a Week 11 loss and two more in a Week 16 game before rallying for an overtime victory.
Sunday was different. Playing through a lingering oblique injury that required a pain-killing injection before kickoff, Darnold completed 25 of 36 passes for 346 yards and three touchdowns without a turnover. Jaxon Smith-Njigba hauled in 10 catches for 153 yards and a touchdown, while Kenneth Walker III added 19 carries for 62 yards and a score on the ground.
JSN IN THE FIRST HALF:
🔥 7 REC
🔥 115YDS
🔥 TD(via @nfl) pic.twitter.com/qjMP583ERt
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 26, 2026
Disaster nearly struck in the third quarter. With Seattle leading 31-20, cornerback Tariq Woolen drew a taunting penalty on third-and-12 that gave the Rams an automatic first down. Matthew Stafford promptly connected with Puka Nacua for a 34-yard touchdown, cutting the deficit to 31-27.
The Rams reached the Seattle 6-yard line with under five minutes remaining, but Stafford’s fourth-down pass to Konata Mumpfield fell incomplete. The Seahawks ran all but 31 seconds off the clock before punting, leaving Stafford at his own 7-yard line with no timeouts. Two completions to Nacua moved the ball to the Seattle 28, but Nacua couldn’t get out of bounds and time expired.
It’s Seattle’s first Super Bowl appearance since the 2014 season. Mike Macdonald, in his second year as head coach, has guided the Seahawks to a 14-3 regular season record, a franchise best.
Vrabel’s Remarkable Turnaround
The Patriots’ path here was remarkable; they went 4-13 last season and cycled through their second consecutive head coach change. Mike Vrabel arrived with +6000 odds against reaching the Super Bowl, yet became just the eighth coach in NFL history to get there in Year 1, the first since Gary Kubiak’s 2015 Broncos run.
What makes this even more striking is that no team in the Super Bowl era has ever reached the championship after winning four or fewer games the previous season with a new head coach. Vrabel himself won three Super Bowls as a Patriots player, catching touchdown passes from Brady in XXXVIII and XXXIX, and now has a chance to become the first person to win a Super Bowl as both player and head coach for the same franchise.
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Drake Maye contributed minimally through the air with 86 passing yards but scored New England’s only touchdown on a second-quarter scramble and converted a crucial third-down run in the final seconds. Christian Gonzalez’s coverage lapse on the game’s opening drive, surrendering a 52-yard completion, set up Denver’s early scoring opportunity, but he redeemed himself with a game-sealing interception in the fourth quarter.
Denver’s Bo Nix was dealing with a fractured ankle from the divisional round, leaving Jarrett Stidham as the starter. New England advances to its 12th Super Bowl appearance, an NFL record, their first championship game since the 2018 season when they beat the Rams 13-3 in Super Bowl LIII.
The PFSN Playoff Predictor gives Seattle a 55.81% chance of winning, with New England at 44.19%. The Seahawks enter as the NFC’s No. 1 seed with the league’s top-ranked passing defense, while the Patriots have won three consecutive playoff games by a combined 13 points.
Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET on Feb. 8 at Levi’s Stadium.
