Super Bowl is set: Takeaways and predictions | A to Z Sports All-NFL newsletter

Our All-NFL newsletter from January 26, 2025.

Adam Zientek — NFL News Writer

Jan 26, 2026 1:02 PM EST

Only two teams remain in the NFL as the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots survived the NFC and AFC Championship games to go to Super Bowl LX.

The season had plenty of ups and downs, but I don’t know if anyone would have seen the rise of the Patriots coming from a mile away. With no Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs, or Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens, the AFC was wide open for the taking, and the Patriots rose to the occasion.

After back-to-back 4-13 seasons, New England is back to the dance after six years. It’s a rematch against the Seattle Seahawks, 11 years in the making.

A big reason for the rise of the Patriots has been the ascension of quarterback Drake Maye. The MVP front-runner has poured it on in his second season, and while he hasn’t performed well in the postseason, he’s done more than enough to help get his team back to the Super Bowl.

In the regular season, the Patriots finished second in the AFC with a 14-3 record. Maye was outstanding, finishing his sophomore season with 4,395 yards and 31 touchdowns with a 72% completion percentage. The AFC East was owned by the Buffalo Bills for five straight seasons, but no longer. The Patriots are the new sheriff in town.

For Seattle, the resurgence of Sam Darnold needs to be monitored. From “seeing ghosts” in his time on the New York Jets to now punching his ticket to the Super Bowl, it’s been a remarkable journey for the veteran quarterback.

It took five different teams, but Darnold is the first quarterback in the 2018 draft class to reach the Super Bowl. That draft class consisted of Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen, Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield, Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, and former Arizona Cardinals quarterback Josh Rosen.

Darnold had a career resurgence with the Minnesota Vikings after signing a one-year deal. He led the team to the postseason, earning Pro Bowl honors and a nomination for AP Comeback Player of the Year. The team went 14-3 with Darnold throwing for over 4,000 yards and 35 touchdowns. Minnesota wanted to move in a different direction, and Seattle was quick to swoop him up. The rest, as they say, is history.

With all of that behind us, let’s recap the crazy championship games and provide a prediction on who we think is going to win the whole darn thing.

Super Bowl: (2) New England Patriots at (1) Seattle Seahawks

The New England Patriots took care of business in Denver in a game where the second half was ravaged by snow. It was coming down in bunches, with the wind and snow making things difficult for either offense to get going.

Quarterback Drake Maye handled the conditions better than the Broncos, scoring New England’s only touchdown on a six-yard run, helping New England get to their 12th Super Bowl with a 10-7 victory in the AFC Championship game. Maye wasn’t outstanding, only throwing for 86 yards, but did damage with his legs, rushing for a touchdown and 65 yards on the ground, including a crucial third-down conversion in the closing moments.

The Patriots didn’t shoot themselves in the foot with turnovers, but capitalized on Denver’s mistakes. Quarterback Bo Nix was unavailable for the contest, so backup quarterback Jarrett Stidham got the nod. He threw an interception to Christian Gonzalez with a few minutes left, along with a controversial fourth-down call in the second quarter. Denver’s defense was no joke, though, bringing down Maye five times.

The Seattle Seahawks and Los Angeles Rams had an instant classic, a high-scoring affair with both offenses flexing their muscles. Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold had perhaps the best game of the season, finishing with 346 yards and three touchdowns with no turnovers. Rams QB Matthew Stafford put on a clinic as well, throwing for 374 yards and three touchdowns as well. Neither quarterback had an interception.

The Seahawks’ “Dark Side” defense came up with a huge fourth-down stop, helping Seattle advance to the Super Bowl. Seahawks’ Mike Macdonald had nothing but high praise for his quarterback.

“You can’t talk about the game without talking about our quarterback,” Macdonald said. “He shut a lot of people up tonight, so I’m happy for him.”

Having a No. 1 receiver is fun, as both the Rams with Puka Nacua and the Seahawks with Jaxon Smith-Njigba dominated the contest. Smith-Njigba finished with 153 yards receiving and a touchdown on 10 catches. It was the second-most yards in a playoff game in franchise history. Nacua finished with 165 yards on nine catches and a touchdown.

Special teams was the name of the game, as the Rams have struggled all season, specifically with that unit. A muffed punt in the third quarter was one of the critical errors from the Rams, setting up Seattle for a 17-yard touchdown.

The Patriots have been carried by their defense throughout the postseason, with Maye struggling against some of the top defenses. Seattle will be no different. However, Maye has faced the No. 5, No. 1, and No. 2 defenses in the league on his way to his first Super Bowl appearance. At the end of the day, New England just finds ways to win.

However, I think that the Seattle defense is going to put the clamps on New England, with Sam Darnold having another fantastic game despite a lingering oblique injury. Once again, it’ll be a battle, coming down to the closing moments of the contest. Seattle will force a crucial stop late in the fourth quarter that will allow Darnold and company to march down the field to kick the game-winning field goal in the Super Bowl.

Final Score Prediction: Seahawks 24, Patriots 21
Betting Odds: SEA -4.5, O/U 46.5
ESPN Predictor: 60.2% Seahawks, 39.8% Patriots