New England Patriots-Seattle Seahawks To Face Off In Super Bowl LX
If you had walked into a sportsbook five months ago and placed a wager on Sam Darnold and the Seattle Seahawks facing off against a Drake Maye-led New England Patriots squad in Super Bowl LX, the teller probably would have checked your temperature. Yet, here we are. We are staring down the barrel of one of the most improbable championship matchups in modern NFL history.
We aren’t looking at the Chiefs, the 49ers, or the Eagles heading to the Super Bowl. We are looking at two teams that entered the season with 60-1 odds to hoist the Lombardi Trophy. According to the stat geeks over at Sports Odds History, we haven’t seen a Super Bowl matchup of two preseason long shots like this since the Bengals played the 49ers in 1982.
The “Long Shot Bowl” Has Vegas Sweating
For the first time in what feels like an eternity, specifically since the Rams upset them in 2002, the New England Patriots are entering the Super Bowl as underdogs.
That’s right. The dynasty that Tom Brady built and Bill Belichick fortified is now getting points. The Seattle Seahawks opened as 3.5-point favorites, and the sharp money didn’t hesitate to hammer that line until it drifted up to -4.5 or -5, depending on where you shop.
But the real sweat isn’t on the spread; it’s in the futures market. There is a bettor out there who dropped $50,000 on the Seahawks to win the Super Bowl back when everyone else was writing them off. If Sam Darnold lifts that trophy in Santa Clara, this mystery gambler walks away with $3 million. They’ve already cashed nearly $1.5 million just on Seattle taking the NFC. You have to respect the audacity.
Sam Darnold vs. The Ghosts Of New England
Speaking of Darnold, can we take a moment to appreciate the narrative arc here? The guy was written off more times than one can count. He was seeing “ghosts” in New York, struggled in Carolina, and was viewed as a bridge quarterback at best. Now, he’s the guy leading an offense that just put up 31 points in the NFC Championship against the Rams.
However, there is a massive elephant in the room. Darnold’s track record against New England is, to put it mildly, the stuff of nightmares. He is 0-4 lifetime against the Patriots. But the record isn’t the ugly part; it’s the scoreboards. Across those four losses, his teams have been outscored 123-23. That is not a typo. He has thrown 9 interceptions and just 1touchdown against this franchise.
Sure, most of those games happened when he was piloting a hapless Jets squad, but psychological scars don’t care about context. If Seattle wants to win this Super Bowl, Darnold has to exorcise some serious demons.
The Young Gut and the Blizzard
On the other sideline, you have Maye. The kid has stepped into the biggest shoes in sports history, and he hasn’t blinked. While Seattle was winning a shootout indoors, Maye and the Patriots were playing football in a snow globe. Their 10-7 win over Denver in a whiteout blizzard was ugly, gritty, and beautiful in that old-school football way. It wasn’t about flash; it was about survival. Maye threw 31 touchdowns this season, finding a connection with veteran Stefon Diggs that feels borderline telepathic.
This isn’t the Patriots of old, winning with robotic precision. This is a scrappy, young team that frankly doesn’t know they aren’t supposed to be here.
What To Expect In Santa Clara
So, what happens when the unstoppable force of the Seahawks’ offense meets the immovable object of Patriots history? Seattle brings firepower. Kenneth Walker III is running like a man possessed, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba has turned into a highlight reel waiting to happen. They want a track meet. They want to put 30 on the board and force the rookie across the field to keep up.
New England wants to drag this game into the mud. They want to remind Darnold of those “ghosts,” force a few turnovers, and let Maye work his magic in the fourth quarter.
We’re heading to Levi’s Stadium for a Super Bowl nobody predicted, featuring a redemption story on one side and a rebirth on the other. Whether you’re betting the Seahawks to cover or praying for a Patriots upset, one thing is for sure: Super Bowl LX is going to be unmissable.
