Super Bowl LX is a week away, and the spectacle of America’s signature sporting event really springs to life Monday night with media day.
The viral soundbites, the zany and baiting questions from “reporters” who haven’t covered an NFL game all season, every storyline hit from every angle all at once — it truly is one of the most unique days on the entire sports calendar.
The buildup in the week leading up to the Big Game is so exhaustive that, frankly, this past week after the conference championships was a needed respite and reset just to conjure the energy to consume all that is to come leading up the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks finally taking the field in Santa Clara, California, next Sunday.
And we’ll be feeding into the frenzy here every day between now and then as well, breaking down the matchup, diving deep into the depths of the notable narratives and, generally, setting the stage for a Super Bowl showdown nobody — don’t even try to claim otherwise — could have seen coming in August.
First, though, let’s kick it all off on our end with five early thoughts already percolating ahead of Super Bowl week.
GO TO: Sam Darnold’s NFL Impact | Seattle’s “Dark Side” Defense | New England’s Challenge | Drake Maye’s Supporting Cast | Mike Vrabel’s Icon Status
Seahawks QB Sam Darnold’s Broader Impact On The NFL
The ripple effects of Sam Darnold’s unusual path to Super Bowl starting QB are being felt around the NFL right now.
Obviously, there is the primary and direct impact of what Darnold delivered for the Seahawks as a substantial upgrade over former starter Geno Smith.
Maybe it’s not a Washington apples-to-apples comparison as other changes took place for Seattle’s offense since last season, including replacing one-and-done first-time NFL offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb with Klint Kubiak, who is now a coveted head coach candidate widely expected to land the still-vacant Raiders job.
But facts are still facts.
Seattle ranked 14th in the NFL in total offense last season (332.2 yards per game) and 18th in scoring (22.1 points per game), as Smith passed for 4,320 yards but with a meager ratio of 21 touchdowns with 15 interceptions (1 off the league high) and limited downfield passing proficiency. Per NFL Next Gen Stats, Smith ranked 25th among NFL QBs with at least 200 passing attempts last season in air yards per completion (basically how long the pass traveled before the catch) at 5.1.
This season, the Seahawks ranked 8th in total offense (351.4 YPG) and 3rd in scoring (28.4 PPG). Darnold finished the regular season with 4,048 yards, 25 TDs and 14 INTs (3rd-most in the league, 3 behind … Smith in two more games). While those raw passing stats don’t show a glaring difference, this does — Darnold was 4th in air yards per completion (6.9) among QBs who started at least 10 games, matching his mark from last season with Minnesota.
That 1.8 yard per-completion difference may not seem like much on the surface, but perhaps the better way to put it in context is to see it as a 35.3% difference extrapolated over 400-plus attempts.
This might even get more to the heart of it.
Per PFF, where Darnold truly excelled this season was on downfield play-action passes. On those, he led the NFL with an average depth of target of 11.7 yards — and led it by a significant margin with the gap between No. 1 and No. 2 on that list the same as the gap between No. 2 and No. 10. Additionally, his 90.7 PFF passing grade on play-action throws led all quarterbacks.
Actually, let’s make the point even simpler.
Darnold had 101 fewer pass attempts this season in 17 games than Smith had in 17 games for the Seahawks last year, yet their passing totals were just 272 yards apart.
Seattle simply got a more efficient and proficient downfield passing attack, and while the switch to Kubiak as OC is a factor, Darnold played strikingly similar to the QB he was for the Vikings last season. So it’s fair to say his imprint was prominent on that year-over-year offensive improvement for Seattle, not to mention third-year receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba going from very good/borderline great to outright elite this season.
Smith-Njigba led the NFL with 1,793 receiving yards in the regular season — a massive jump from his previous high of 1,130 in the same number of games last year — while also setting career-bests with 119 catches and 10 TDs. His yards-per-reception also shot up from 11.3 to 15.1, which ranked 4th in the league among receivers with at least 50 catches but first by a wide margin among those with at least 100 receptions.
That was all a rather thorough way of stating the obvious — Darnold directly elevated the Seahawks’ passing offense this season and is a big reason why they’re in the Super Bowl.
But even more intriguing to consider is his broader impact on the league.
Ripple Effect of Minnesota’s Decision to Let Darnold Walk
On Friday, Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah was fired. Given the timing of the move, it’s not hard to connect the dots there.
Adofo-Mensah’s draft picks had produced mixed results overall, but nonetheless he oversaw a Vikings roster that was talented enough to win 14 games last season. Ultimately, he made one fateful decision (well, two) to seal his demise.
He let Darnold walk as a free agent last offseason after he passed for 4,319 yards, 35 TDs and 12 INTs — ranking 5th in the NFL in both passing yards and TDs in a breakout season — during that 14-win campaign, to go all-in on untested former No. 10 overall pick J.J. McCarthy, who missed his entire first season due to injury.
So the first fateful decision, of course, was investing that much draft capital and money in McCarthy, who sure didn’t look the part for much of this fall (when healthy). But even more worthy of criticism was the decision to not build on what Darnold had done for the offense in 2024 while letting McCarthy continue to develop behind him, and more to the point, to go all-in on a truly untested young QB with really no safety net.
Not only did the Vikings let Darnold depart as a free agent, they had Daniel Jones on the roster as well and let him leave for a modest one-year $14 million deal with the Colts and chose not to pursue veteran free agent Aaron Rodgers.
Instead, they took a playoff-caliber roster into the season with McCarthy at QB1 having never taken an NFL snap, a well-past-reliable Carson Wentz as the lone experienced backup and undrafted free agent Max Brosmer behind him. (ESPN’s Kevin Seifert reported that Wentz was only acquired at head coach Kevin O’Connell’s urging after the initial plan was to have Sam Howell as the primary backup, so clearly O’Connell had some doubts about the situation).
The point is not to get deep into the weeds on the Vikings’ internal strife but to simply connect the obvious dots that the Darnold decision directly cost Adofo-Mensah his job in Minnesota. What other outcome could be interpreted from the timing — nearly a month after the Vikings’ season ended, as their former QB is now preparing to lead another team into the Super Bowl and a day after Adofo-Mensah gave an awkward answer in reflecting on (and lamenting?) the Darnold decision.
Moving on, there is also, of course, the New York Jets, who drafted Darnold out of USC with the No. 3 overall pick in 2018 and then gave up on him after three uninspiring seasons and traded him to the Panthers.
The Jets still haven’t found their answer at QB, whiffing on another first-round pick in Zach Wilson and starting nine different QBs in the five seasons since dealing Darnold.
Darnold’s Super Bowl spotlight has given fresh life to this wild quote from former Jets GM Joe Douglas, made around the time he traded the QB: “Whether I look bad or not [for trading Darnold], I could give two [expletive] about that. I know that he’s gonna have success. The timing didn’t really work out for him here. We couldn’t turn this around fast enough for him. And that’s not his fault. I root for good people, and that dude’s a good man, and he’s gonna do good things. I believe that.”
Sounds like someone who was maybe worth keeping around a little longer then, no?
We’ll leave the Panthers out of this, as Darnold wasn’t great in his limited time there and they had the draft capital to take a big swing on a QB (Bryce Young) with the No. 1 overall pick in 2023. (Even if there was at least some cause and effect, as GM Scott Fitterer traded fan favorite Christian McCaffrey while moving on from Darnold to have the resources to then trade up in the draft for Young, only to get fired after Young’s lackluster rookie season.)
And, honestly, the Raiders and their wretched offensive line were probably doomed with or without the trade to acquire Smith from Seattle, but it’s a ripple in the pond from the Darnold pebble all the same.
At the very least, though, Darnold’s unlikely path from perceived first-round bust to journeyman backup to Super Bowl starter directly helped swing the Seahawks’ fate and elevate the franchise, is haunting fans and now-former decision-makers of at least the Jets and Vikings, and may lead other GMs around the league to take a fresh perspective on the potential of former first-round QBs who simply didn’t find the right fit or immediate success out of the gate.
Could such thinking help former No. 15 overall pick Mac Jones, for instance, land a fresh chance as a starting QB — either as a free agent next offseason or via trade this winter — after he did a solid job filling in with the 49ers in 2025?
Either way, Darnold has arguably already had more residual impact on the league than any free agent QB in quite a while.
Get To Know Seattle’s “Dark Side” Defense
Seattle is hoping it has the second coming of the “Legion of Boom” defense that delivered the franchise’s only Super Bowl championship (after the 2013 season) and nearly a second a year later.
But this unit wants its own identity.
“Throughout the season, we were just feeling like we had a really special defense, special players and we were also doing special things. And we always hear of ‘Legion of Boom,’ especially being here, and we were starting to get to a point where we were like, ‘Hey, maybe we deserve our own name,'” defensive lineman Leonard Williams said. “Guys started coming up with names and stuff like that, and I think ‘The Dark Side’ just kind of stuck with us. …
“I think a few of us were on the bus … some of the older guys, and we were talking about how it’s like dark here [in Seattle], and we always talk about a style nobody wants to play … and I think ‘The Dark Side’ just kind of represents that.”
That unit has certainly made for some dreary and dismal days for opposing offenses.
The Seahawks, built in the vision of second-year head coach and former Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald, gave up the fewest points in the league in the regular season at 17.2 per game and the sixth-fewest yards (285.6 per game).
Over the last two months, though, they really leveled up.
Since Nov. 30, only the Rams (twice, including the 31-27 NFC championship game last week) have had any notable offensive success against Seattle.
Take out those two games, and “The Dark Side” allowed 0 points and 162 yards to the Vikings (how fitting), 9 points and 274 yards to the Falcons, 16 points and 220 yards to the Colts, 10 points and 139 yards to the Panthers, 3 points and 173 yards to the 49ers with the NFC’s No. 1 seed at stake, and 6 points and 236 yards to the Niners again in the divisional round of the playoffs.
That’s 7.3 PPG and 200.7 YPG vs. any other team but the Rams (arguably the best offense in football) over the last two months.
So Who Are The Stars Behind This Dominating Defense?
That’s the thing. There’s too many to single out.
Williams was asked who ultimately gets credit for coining “The Dark Side” nickname and said, “I don’t think one person would want to take credit for it, honestly. It was kind of a group effort.”
That goes for the group’s success on the field as well.
The Seahawks actually landed no defensive players on the AP NFL All-Pro first team, meaning no players regarded as the best of the best in the league at their position, but Seattle had three second-team All-Pro selections in Williams at DT, LB Ernest Jones IV and CB Devon Witherspoon (not to forget second-team All-Pro punter Michael Dickson).
Williams had 62 tackles, 9 tackles for loss, 7 sacks and a team-high 22 QB hits during the season, Jones led the unit with 126 tackles, 5 interceptions (tied for 2nd in the NFL, including a TD return), 7 passes defended and 4 tackles for loss in 15 games, and Witherspoon had 72 tackles, 1 INT, 7 PDs and 2 TFL in just 12 games.
Those three are certainly stars, but the supporting cast has been every bit as important.
The Seahawks tied for 7th in the NFL with 47 sacks but had no individual in the top 30 in that category. Williams, fellow DT Byron Murphy II and LB Uchenna Nwosu had 7 each while LB DeMarcus Lawrence, another Pro Bowl selection, had 6 (plus a team-high 11 TFLs and 3 forced fumbles).
Meanwhile, Seattle was 5th in the league with 18 interceptions in 17 games while getting them from 10 different players. Second to Jones was free safety Coby Bryant with 4 picks. CBs Josh Jobe and Riq Woolen had 1 INT each but also a team-high 12 passes defended apiece, while rookie S Nick Emmanwori had 1 INT and 11 PDs along with 81 tackles and 9 TFLs.
LB Drake Thomas also contributed across the board, ranking second on the team with 96 tackles and 10 TFLs with 8 PDs.
The Seahawks just kind of do everything well at every level while relying on every contributor — like what any unit in football would strive to be — and have been shrewdly assembled.
Of those players mentioned, Macdonald inherited Witherspoon (the No. 5 overall pick in the 2023 draft), Williams (acquired via trade from the Giants during the 2023 season), Nwosu (free agent signing in March of 2022), Bryant (fourth-round pick in 2022), Woolen (fifth-round pick in 2022) and Thomas (claimed off waivers in August 2023 as an undrafted free agent cut by the Raiders). The Seahawks then drafted Murphy with the 16th overall pick in 2024, claimed Jobe off waivers from the Eagles in August 2024, traded for Jones (from the Titans) during the middle of last season, signed the veteran standout Lawrence as a free agent in March and then traded up to draft Emmanwori with the 35th overall pick last spring.
A Challenge Unlike Any New England Has Faced
The Patriots had a favorable path along the way of their breakout season, and that’s not at all to say they didn’t earn every bit of this Super Bowl spotlight. It’s just reality.
We ran down this list in a column last week, but it’s worth reiterating.
After a 1-2 start, New England won 13 of its final 14 regular-season games — losing only to Josh Allen’s Bills — plus three playoff wins to get to this point. Here are the quarterbacks the Patriots have faced from that starting point:
Carolina’s Bryce Young, the one outlier Allen in a statement win over the Bills in the teams’ first meeting, New Orleans’ soon-to-be-benched Spencer Rattler, Tennessee rookie Cam Ward, Cleveland’s soon-to-be-benched and obviously overmatched rookie Dillon Gabriel, Atlanta’s talented but struggling Michael Penix Jr., Tampa Bay’s Baker Mayfield just before his season fell off an absolute cliff, the New York Jets’ Justin Fields in his last game before being benched, 40-year-old Cincinnati backup Joe Flacco, New York Giants rookie Jaxson Dart, Baltimore as star Lamar Jackson left early to be replaced by Tyler Huntley for most of the game, New York Jets undrafted and underwhelming rookie Brady Cook in his third career start, Miami rookie Quinn Ewers also in his third career start, Los Angeles Chargers star Justin Herbert but behind one of the worst offensive lines in the league, Houston’s C.J. Stroud in the midst of the worst two-week playoff meltdown in recent memory and then Denver backup Jarrett Stidham throwing his first NFL passes since 2003, in what became a blinding snowstorm by the fourth quarter last week.
We’re just saying … the path has fallen into place nicely for the Pats.
Patriots Preparing for a Different Type of Test in Super Bowl LX
So this will be the biggest challenge outside of the Bills and Allen that this Patriots defense has faced all year. But add in that stifling Seahawks defense on the other side, and the larger point is New England simply hasn’t faced a matchup anywhere near this tough all season.
The Bills would be the closest, but it really isn’t that close. They gave up the 12th-most points in the league and were anything but consistent despite having the reigning MVP carrying the team on his back most weeks — and that is the one team that bested the Patriots since September.
The Broncos would have been a similar challenge last week, but QB Bo Nix’s unfortunate injury the week prior and a snowstorm that made offense nearly impossible on both sides over the final quarter-plus changed the dynamics greatly. The Patriots were able to prevail with just 206 yards (including 86 passing yards from MVP candidate Drake Maye).
Before that, Houston was as tough as any defense in the NFL this year and did limit the Patriots to 248 yards, but that was moot with the Texans’ offense giving away 5 turnovers.
The Chargers too were an above-average defense and indeed caused some fits for New England in the wild card round, sacking Maye 5 times and forcing him into an interception and lost fumble while allowing only 16 points. But the Chargers’ depleted offensive line withered late in the season and couldn’t protect Herbert (6 sacks and zero time to throw vs. New England) at all in the end.
New England is a good team — a great team even, with one of the absolute best coaches in the NFL in Mike Vrabel and an emerging star young QB in Maye who ranked top-4 in the league in passing yards and passing TDs — but it simply hasn’t had to be great on both sides of the ball yet this postseason.
It will in the Super Bowl to hang with these Seahawks, who have it all — elite defense, sturdy offensive line, proficient rushing attack, talented quarterback with big-play ability and one of the best wide receivers in the NFL.
Seattle is a 4.5-point favorite a week out from the game, per DraftKings Sportsbook, which actually seems very respectful to New England.
Again, we’re not saying the Patriots aren’t an excellent team or that they can’t win this game — sure, they can.
In fact, these are the only two teams that ranked top 4 in the regular-season in both points scored and points allowed, so it’s a fair fight.
But, nonetheless, the paths taken to get here by New England and Seattle (prevailing in by far the best division in football, totally dominating an otherwise potent 49ers offense twice and outdueling the loaded Rams twice since mid-December) are not equal.
It will be interesting to see next Sunday how notable that actually proves to be, or if the Patriots’ fortuitous circumstances along the way to Santa Clara actually were merely coincidental and immaterial.
Drake Maye Making Most Of Modest Supporting Cast
There are a lot of reasons Maye is one of the top two favorites for the MVP award, to be announced this coming week, along with veteran Rams QB Matthew Stafford.
There is the raw production — his 72% completion rate, 113.5 passer rating and 77.1 QBR (ESPN’s own “total quarterback rating” metric) in the regular season were all best in the NFL. Maye’s 4,394 passing yards ranked 4th, his 31 TD passes were 3rd, his 8 INTs tied for second-fewest among QBs who started all 17 games (1 more than Caleb Williams and Ward). Factor in his plus mobility and his 4,844 combined passing/rushing yards was tops in the league.
Then there is the highlight reel and unscientific eye test — Maye is already one of the best downfield passers in the NFL, he delivered some of the most impressive deep-shot dimes of the season, and his willingness to take those aggressive throws makes his league-leading efficiency all the more impressive.
There is also the compelling narrative — former No. 3 overall pick helps lift storied franchise back to Super Bowl in just his second season.
But on top of all that, there is again context.
In full transparency, my MVP vote would go to Stafford, who had the best raw passing numbers (4,707 yards, 46 TDs and 8 INTs) and led the best offense in the league in his age-37 season, but augmenting the case for Maye is the comparison of the QBs’ supporting casts.
Stafford has one of the absolute best WR duos in the league in Puka Nacua and Davante Adams along with one of the better backfields in the NFL, while Maye put up his numbers with a supporting cast made up substantially of castoffs from other teams.
The only targets he has with any Pro Bowl or All-Pro accolades on their resumes are 32-year-old WR Stefon Diggs coming off a torn ACL last season in Houston and on his third team in three years (fourth overall) and 31-year-old No. 2 TE Austin Hooper, who made two Pro Bowls back in 2018-19 with Atlanta and is on his fifth team.
Diggs was a bit of a gamble for the Patriots as the Bills had seemed fine moving on from him even before his injury-shortened lone season in Houston, but Maye helped put Diggs in contention for NFL Comeback Player of the Year with 85 catches for 1,013 yards and 4 TDs during the season.
His No. 2 target?
That would be 31-year-old tight end Hunter Henry, who in his eighth and ninth years in the league has had his two highest receiving totals while catching passes from Maye — a career-high 66 catches for 674 yards and 2 TDs last season, followed by a career-best 768 yards on 60 receptions with 7 TDs this season not counting 81 yards and a TD in the playoffs so far.
As for Maye’s No. 2 WR behind Diggs?
Well, it sure isn’t future Hall-of-Famer Davante Adams.
How about the duo of Kayshon Boutte (a former sixth-round pick in his third season) and 32-year-old journeyman Mack Hollins, who is on his fifth team in five years and sixth overall.
Boutte had 33 catches for 551 yards and 6 TDs in 14 games while Hollins had 46 receptions for 550 yards — both the second-highest totals of his career — and 2 TDs in 15 games. Boutte starred in the playoff win over Houston with 75 yards and a TD, while Hollins returned from injury to account for 51 of Maye’s 86 passing yards in the brutal blizzard in Denver.
DeMario Douglas, another 6th-round pick from 2023, had 31 receptions for 447 yards and 3 TDs during the season, and Hooper had 21 catches for 263 yards and 2 score.
Running backs Rhamondre Stevenson (32-345-2) and dynamic-but-still-developing rookie TreVeyon Henderson (35-221-1) are capable pass-catchers too.
But start ranking that group of late-round draft picks and well-traveled veterans and see how far down it slots league-wide.
Other Super Bowl Teams Without a Star-Studded Supporting Cast
More to the point, among Super Bowl teams, the best comparisons would probably be …
– Maybe the 2018 Rams, who lost to the Patriots with Robert Woods and Brandin Cooks the top WRs after a young Cooper Kupp tore his ACL in a Week 10 game. But both Woods and Cooks put up 80 receptions and 1,200 yards and would have been at least No. 2 WRs on most any team in the league, which can’t be said for Boutte or Hollins.
– So the right answer is the 2015 Panthers, who lost to the Broncos the last time the Super Bowl was in Santa Clara. QB Cam Newton had a star TE in Greg Olsen, but his top wideouts were veteran role players like Ted Ginn Jr. (on his fourth team at age 30) and Jerricho Cotchery (in his final season at age 33), rookie Devin Funchess and Corey Brown in the second season of a short three-year NFL career.
If Maye does win MVP, it’s certainly a fair outcome.
Mike Vrabel On His Way To Solidifying Patriots Icon Status
There is some very notable history at stake as Vrabel could become the first person ever to win a Super Bowl as a player and head coach for the same team.
He was asked about this by CBS’ Jim Nantz after the AFC championship game and downplayed the significance.
“I won’t win it,” Vrabel said. “It’ll be the players that’ll win the game. I promise you. It won’t be me that’ll win it, and I promise I’ll do everything that I can to, and our staff, to have them ready for the game.”
But how high has he already climbed on the list of Patriots legends?
Vrabel won three Super Bowls with the Patriots as a linebacker (and goal line TD target) from 2001-08 and he was already inducted into the team’s Hall of Fame in 2023. Now, he has New England in the Super Bowl in his first season as head coach, reviving the proud franchise from a lull after three straight losing seasons, including back-to-back 4-13 finishes.
Vrabel Chasing NFL History
Vrabel may well win NFL Coach of the Year — he should — and he’s actually already made history as just the second person to ever at least make the Super Bowl as player and head coach for the same franchise, with the other being former Denver backup QB Gary Kubiak, who coached the 2015 Broncos to a Super Bowl title.
But Vrabel wasn’t just part of Super Bowl teams — he was a defensive leader during the Bill Belichick dynasty, a first-team All-Pro selection in 2007 and one of the more beloved Patriots of that era.
That might be the right way to also describe how his players now speak of his impact as head coach.
Leading the franchise to its first Super Bowl title without Belichick or Tom Brady would no doubt put Vrabel in a special tier of New England sports lore, but there’s also no reason to think his Pats won’t have more opportunities in the years to come with Maye.
It sure seems like a fresh Patriots run led once again by an elite head coach and star quarterback is starting anew — talk about a franchise of fortuitous good fortune, indeed.
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