The 2026 Super Bowl at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, CA, has finally been set after a season that many fans will always remember. This year the New England Patriots will take on the Seattle Seahawks. This is a rematch of Super Bowl XLIX where the Patriots beat the Seahawks 28–24 in one of the most memorable Super Bowls in the modern era.
These two teams are far different than they were 12 years ago though, representing the new age of the NFL.
The Patriots are back in the Super Bowl for the first time since 2019 when they took down the Los Angeles Rams 13–3. Since then, Tom Brady left the team for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before officially retiring in 2019. Legendary Head Coach Bill Belichick left the organization as well. Many more great Patriots players of the past have either retired or moved on to other teams.
Now, since 2019, the Patriots have managed to do what so many other teams have spent their entire existences doing: rebuild.
At first, the organization attempted to keep the same core. They did manage to make it back to the playoffs in the 2020 season, but were beat down 47–17 by the Buffalo Bills.
The Patriots would spend the next three seasons adrift, seemingly unsure of what to do for the future. Following a 4–13 2023 season, the organization decided to finally move on from Belichick. They hired Jerod Mayo as their new head coach and took Drake Maye out of North Carolina to be their new franchise quarterback.
However, this new era for the Patriots was not much different as they finished the season 4–13 once again.
Despite this, Maye showed promise once he began starting games. In order to help develop Maye even more, it was decided that Mayo had to go. In his place, former Titans head coach, and legendary Patriots player, Mike Vrabel was brought in to turn the culture around.
And turn around it did. Vrabel took a team that had gone 4–13 in 2024 and turned it into a 14-win team, earning the Patriots the second seed in the AFC.
Maye turned into an MVP candidate in just his second year, earning chants of “MVP, MVP!” even when he was playing on the road. He threw for 4,394 yards with a 72% completion rate and 113.5 QBR, with 35 total touchdowns with only eight turnovers.
He was aided greatly by the signing of star receiver Stefon Diggs, who had helped Josh Allen elevate his early career. Diggs finished as the Patriots leading receiver with 85 receptions for 1,013 yards and four touchdowns.
The Patriots also reinvigorated their ground game with second round rookie running back TreVeyon Henderson. He bursted onto the scene as an absolutely electric back, gashing defenses throughout the season for big runs. He finished his rookie campaign with 911 yards and nine touchdowns on just 180 carries.
One of the best turnarounds for the Patriots was their defense. The defense went from being ranked 22 overall according to PFF to 4 under Vrabel. Still, many NFL fans question if this Patriots team is even good. Despite being 14–3 and making the Super Bowl, many are not convinced they deserve to be there. The Patriots had the easiest schedule in the entire league, only playing two teams with a winning record: the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Buffalo Bills.
Their path to the Super Bowl is questionable as well. They have made the Super Bowl averaging only 17.0 points per game in the playoffs, the lowest for a Super Bowl attendee since the 1979 Rams.
They have played some of the best defenses in the NFL. Yet, their final two games against top defenses, the Houston Texans and Denver Broncos, have massive asterisks to go with them.
The Patriots beat the Texans 28–16, not because Maye and the offense played great, but rather because Texans QB C.J. Stroud threw four interceptions. In the AFC Conference Championship game, they beat the Broncos 10–7 in a snowstorm and facing backup Jarrett Stidham after starter Bo Nix was ruled out with a broken ankle.
This all makes for a very suspect team heading into this game. Especially when looking at their opponents, the Seahawks.
The Seahawks had a more arduous path since the 2015 Super Bowl than the Patriots. The team had seemingly been cursed since that fateful interception on the goal line that cost them the game. The Seahawks have failed to return to the Super Bowl since 2015.
Similar to the Patriots, that team has long since disappeared. The Legion of Boom was dismantled, Russell Wilson left for Denver in 2022, and legendary Head Coach Pete Carroll stepped down from the team following the 2023 season.
Just like the Patriots, they have also rebuilt, though it involved less losses. Ahead of the 2024 season, Seahawks hired defensive guru Mike Macdonald as the new head coach. In his first year he went 10–7, barely missing the playoffs.
The team retooled ahead of the 2025 season, bringing in new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak. They also signed a new quarterback, former third overall pick Sam Darnold. Darnold led his new team to a 14–3 record and the first seed in the NFC. He finished the regular season with 4,048 yards, 25 touchdowns and 14 interceptions.
Darnold and the Seahawks have one of the greatest offensive weapons in the NFL this season, with breakout star wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba establishing himself as the best in the league. JSN finished his monster season with 119 receptions for 1,793 yards and 10 touchdowns.
The Seahawks also had an amazing duo to jumpstart the offense. Their leading back was Kenneth Walker III. He took the bulk of the carries out the backfield, rushing for 1,027 yards on 221 carries. The second back was Zach Charbonnet who accounted for 730 yards on 180 carries.
Despite how good the Seattle offense is, their defense has helped them become the most dominant team in football this season.
Their defense was also strong, with four All-Pro members to help make it the best team in the NFL. On the line, Leonard Williams, Byron Murphy II and DeMarcus Lawrence terrified opposing quarterbacks while completely stuffing the run. They were aided by a top five linebacking group, led by Ernest Jones IV who led the team with 126 total tackles.
Even if a quarterback managed to evade pressure, he would find his receivers clamped by Devon Witherspoon or Riq Woolen. To add, Safeties Coby Bryant and Julian Love have helped make passing against the Seahawks nearly impossible, all the while Nick Emmanwori seems to be everywhere on the field at once.
This team is essentially the closest you can get to being perfect. It has even taken down the other best team in the league, the Rams, twice in the three times they have met this season.
On paper, this game has already been decided in favor of the Seahawks, a team packed with talent and starving to get back to the heights it saw in the mid 2010s. The Patriots, though, are equally as hungry, wanting to prove to the entire NFL landscape that they are not frauds, that they are not the product of just an easy schedule.
Both these teams prepare for what will be an all out war in the Bay Area, and I ,for one, look forward to it. Though by the time the dust settles, I think Seattle will have its revenge as we watch Sam Darnold lift the Lombardi trophy.