In just nine days, a new Super Bowl champion will be crowned when the New England Patriots face the Seattle Seahawks in Santa Clara, California. As both teams gear up for the Big Game, fans and media members alike will be talking about various aspects of Super Bowl LX. That bears the question: what is the most interesting storyline in this year's Super Bowl? Thankfully, we have identified and ranked the six storylines that will be on everybody's minds.
6. Will the Patriots break their tie with the Pittsburgh Steelers?
As things currently stand, there is a tie between the Patriots and the Steelers for most Super Bowl wins, with both teams having six apiece. If New England is able to knock off Seattle next Sunday, then they will have the most Super Bowl victories in NFL history.
The Pats' standard of excellence has catapulted them into the conversation of the best franchise in NFL history. The Steelers had a massive advantage over the Patriots in terms of Super Bowl wins, with four victories in the 1970s. By the turn of the millennium, it looked like New England would never come close to catching the Steelers, let alone winning a Super Bowl. And then, Tom Brady happened. Alongside head coach Bill Belichick, Brady led the Patriots to three Super Bowl Championships in four years. It looked like New England was destined to catch up to the Steelers. However, Pittsburgh had a fantastic end of the 2000s, making it to three Super Bowls and winning twice to bring their total to six. Though the Patriots didn't fall off during this period, they fell well short of expectations, reaching the Super Bowl twice from 2005 to 2013 but losing both times. They were never out of it, though, and ended up winning three Super Bowls over five years to move into a tie with the Steelers.
Following the departure of Tom Brady, the Pats looked like they wouldn't come close to sniffing another Super Bowl. But now, just six years after Brady moved on from New England, the Pats are back in the Big Game and have a chance to surpass the Steelers for the most Super Bowl victories in NFL history. Honestly, this might be the least-talked-about but most important storyline heading into next Sunday.
5. A rematch 11 years in the making.
We have actually seen these teams go head-to-head for a Lombardi Trophy before. On February 1st, 2015, the Patriots took on the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX. The Pats were looking to end their ten-year Super Bowl drought, while the Seahawks were trying to be the first team to go back-to-back since New England did it in 2004-05.
One of the most famous moments in NFL history came in Super Bowl XLIX. Down four points on New England's one yard line with 26 seconds to go in the game, the Seahawks decided to attempt a pass instead of using All-Pro running back Marshawn Lynch to power his way into the end zone. This wound up being "one of the dumbest calls offensively in Super Bowl history," as one Patriots play-by-play announcer called it, because the pass was picked off by New England defensive back Malcolm Butler, ending Seattle's comeback attempt and securing the victory for the Patriots.
For the most part, almost every single key contributor from that game is no longer playing or coaching in the NFL. However, Seahawks general manager John Schneider is still with his team and knows that this game can give Seattle the revenge it has been seeking for the last 11 years. On the other side, though, Pats offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, who was the OC in that Super Bowl, wants to make sure that New England improves to 2-0 against the Seahawks. Either way, the long-awaited rematch of Super Bowl XLIX is finally here.
4. The Patriots' remarkably fast turnaround.
We talked about this before the AFC Championship Game, but New England has done an incredible job of returning to Super Bowl contention. The Patriots are not supposed to be here right now. They're supposed to be in the middle of a rebuild. After all, the Pats had the lowest combined winning percentage in the NFL from the start of the 2023-24 season to the end of the last season (.235). With an 8-26 record, New England had fewer wins during those two years than the Tennessee Titans, New York Giants, and Arizona Cardinals.
As it turns out, those back-to-back horrendous seasons put the Patriots on the road to success. After Bill Belichick went 4-13 in his final year, New England secured the third overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, which was used to select quarterback Drake Maye. With Belichick no longer leading the charge, the Pats tried out former linebacker Jerod Mayo as head coach. He failed to meet the Patriots' expectations, which led to his firing and the eventual hiring of Mike Vrabel, who has been the leader of this single-season turnaround. It just goes to show that the most important thing in the NFL is finding a head coach and quarterback who work well together.
Now that they have made it to the Big Game, the Pats have a chance to make history. If they win next Sunday, they will be the fifth team in NFL history to go from last place in their division to Super Bowl champion the following year. They'll also be the Super Bowl Champion with the lowest winning percentage in NFL history in the season before they won the Vince Lombardi trophy (.235). Currently, that mark belongs to the 1999 Rams, who went 4-12 the season before winning Super Bowl XXXIV. But if the Pats win next weekend, they will become the new standard of worst-to-first in the National Football League.
3. Is New England battle-tested enough to hang with Seattle?
As disappointing as it sounds, a lot of the discussion around the 2025-26 Patriots has not been the team's on-field performance. Rather, people have been talking about how weak the Patriots' schedule was this season. Unfortunately for New Englanders, there is some validity to that argument.
The Patriots had the easiest strength of schedule in the NFL this season. They only faced two teams during the regular season with a winning record - the Buffalo Bills and the Pittsburgh Steelers - while going 1-2 in those matchups. Of the 17 regular-season games New England played, 11 came against teams that wound up firing their head coach. When the playoffs started, it was believed that the Pats would finally play well-rounded teams. But that didn't happen. They faced a Los Angeles Chargers team missing two Pro Bowl offensive linemen, a Houston Texans squad that finished the game without its number one wide receiver, running back, and tight end, and a Denver Broncos team that had a backup quarterback making his fifth career start. It doesn't feel like the Patriots had to beat a lot of really good teams to get to this point.
The opposite is true for the Seahawks, who had the fourth-hardest schedule in the NFL this season. They went 4-2 against the Los Angeles Rams and the San Francisco 49ers, who were a combined 27-12 this season. Seattle also had head-to-head wins over the Jacksonville Jaguars, Carolina Panthers, and Pittsburgh Steelers, all of whom made the playoffs.
In total, the Seahawks have had a much harder path to the Super Bowl. During the regular season and the postseason, they have played ten games against playoff teams. Meanwhile, New England has just seven of those matchups, and three of those games came within the first five weeks of the season. Considering the cupcake schedule they have played in the regular season and the playoffs, the Pats could be in for a rude awakening next Sunday.
2. Is this the start of a new Patriots dynasty?
Regardless of whether or not New England wins Super Bowl LX, they're back to being a perennial playoff team. If they actually defeat the Seahawks on February 8th, then we could be looking at the start of the next Patriots dynasty. Based on everything they currently have, New England is set up to make a dynastic push.
They have the quarterback, which is the most important part of any dynasty. Just go back and look through the history books; every great dynasty was led by a Hall of Fame quarterback. Bart Starr, Terry Bradshaw, Joe Montana, Troy Aikman, Tom Brady, and Patrick Mahomes were key to their franchise's success. Considering the year-two leap that Drake Maye has taken, it's safe to say that he can be the guy to consistently lead his team to the Super Bowl.
Mike Vrabel has established himself as a winner. He did it in Tennessee with the Titans, and he has already done it in his first season with New England. In the seven years he has been a head coach, he has only had two losing seasons, and they both came with the Titans. Outside of that, he has made the playoffs four times, where he has five wins in eight games. Mike Vrabel has shown that he can be a culture-changing leader and create a standard of winning wherever he goes.
Lastly, they have a brilliant general manager in Eliot Wolf, who hasn't gotten enough credit for creating the current Patriots' roster. Not only did he nail the Drake Maye selection and his head coaching hire, but he has also added several contributors to the offense and defense. Offensively, he brought in starters like TreVeyon Henderson, Stefon Diggs, Mike Onwenu, Jared Wilson, and Austin Hooper while re-signing Hunter Henry. On defense, he acquired Milton Williams, Carlton Davis, Harold Landry III, Robert Spillane, and K’Lavon Chaisson. Wolf is a good GM and will likely be an integral part of New England's success for many years.
A Super Bowl win isn't necessary for the Patriots to be good for the next decade. They already have everything required of championship-caliber teams to be highly competitive. But if they are actually able to beat the Seahawks next Sunday, then it will signal the beginning of a new Patriots dynasty once again led by an excellent quarterback, head coach, and GM.
1. Can Sam Darnold finish his career redemption arc?
Undoubtedly, the most interesting story of Super Bowl LX is Sam Darnold and his career resurgence, considering he looked like a lost cause not that long ago. Hell, he was cast off by the Vikes this past off-season.
Darnold was taken by the New York Jets with the third overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft with the expectations of being the franchise's savior. As is the case with most Jets QBs, he never found his footing in the Big Apple. He missed multiple games in each of his first three seasons, and when the Jets had the opportunity to move on from Darnold with the number-two overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, Gang Green traded him to the Carolina Panthers. Things didn't get any better for Darnold in Carolina. After one year as the starting QB, he was benched in favor of Baker Mayfield. Though he played some games for the Panthers, he was never viewed as a franchise quarterback and left the team to enter free agency when it became clear they were going to take a QB in the 2023 NFL Draft. That led us to the lowpoint of Darnold's career, when he was designated as a backup in San Francisco.
After accepting his backup role, Darnold decided to go to Minnesota, where everything changed. When the Vikings used the tenth overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft on J.J. McCarthy, it seemed like Sam Darnold was once again destined to be a benchwarmer. But after McCarthy suffered a season-ending injury in the preseason, Darnold was thrust into the starting role, where he thrived. He was named a Pro Bowler after throwing for 4,319 yards and 35 touchdowns while also leading the Vikes to a 14-3 record and a playoff berth. However, Darnold struggled mightily in his first playoff game, taking nine sacks and posting a 77.6 passer rating in a blowout loss. His poor performance led to Minnesota letting him test out free agency, after the narrative shifted from "Sam Darnold is a terrible quarterback," to " Sam Darnold will never be good enough to win your team meaningful games."
When he signed a three-year $100.5 million deal with the Seattle Seahawks last Spring, fans and media members criticized the move, arguing that Darnold would never be able to get the Seahawks over the hump. However, the opposite ended up being the case. Darnold once again put up fantastic numbers and earned a second-straight Pro Bowl berth. And in the playoffs, he was able to thwart the big-game choker narrative, with back-to-back playoff wins over Divisional opponents to earn a spot in the Super Bowl.
Now, Sam Darnold sits at the precipice of greatness. He can become the 36th starting quarterback in the history of the National Football League to win a Super Bowl. More importantly, he can complete this arc of his NFL career: the "redemption arc." He can finally close the book on the first half of his career, going from an NFL Draft bust to a Super Bowl champion. If he can finish that part of the story, he can begin the next chapter of his NFL career as an elite quarterback trying to earn a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
