Seattle, New England primed for Super Bowl week

The journey officially began just more than six months ago. It featured 272 games over an 18-week span, and another 12 games of playoff action. And now, it has all come down to this.

Super Bowl 60. The New England Patriots versus the Seattle Seahawks on center stage in Santa Clara, Calif.

The Seahawks and Patriots are scheduled to arrive in the Bay Area on Sunday, and that kicks off a whirlwind of a week that will climax with next Sunday’s contest and the hoisting of the Lombardi Trophy.

Here are some of the most compelling storylines to follow throughout the week.

1. Goodell’s state of the league address

The first order of business will take place Monday afternoon. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell will hold his annual Super Bowl week news conference where he will field questions on all things NFL (both on and off the field). Look for Goodell to provide updates on a wide range of topics, including the prospects of an 18-game season, business matters like broadcast deals, playing surfaces, salary-cap increases and more.

2. Opening night circus

We’ll hear from all of the key figures for the first time Monday night as the players and coaches from each team take the podium and discuss their journeys to this point (and everything else under the sun). Live coverage of those interviews will air on NFL Network beginning at 8 p.m. ET.

3. NFLPA updates

The NFL Players Association has endured a topsy-turvy year and finds itself in the middle of a search for its next executive director. However, leaders of the players union will still hold their annual Super Bowl news conference Tuesday. Interim executive director David White and president Jalen Reeves-Maybin will address the media, providing updates on their executive director search, where things stand on potential negotiations regarding an 18-game schedule, the players’ goal of advocating for natural grass playing surfaces and other key issues that they face. NFLPA leaders also will recognize this year’s winner of the Alan Page Community Award — the highest individual honor handed out by the union each year. This year’s finalists are Denver Broncos lineman Garett Bolles, Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Nakobe Dean, Buffalo Bills offensive lineman Dion Dawkins, Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry and Bears quarterback Caleb Williams.

4. Pro Bowl festivities

For the first time, the NFL will incorporate the Pro Bowl into Super Bowl week. For years, the Pro Bowl has taken place on the Saturday or Sunday in between the conference championships and the Super Bowl. But this year’s festivities, which include the skills challenge and seven-on-seven flag football format that the league recently shifted to, will take place Tuesday at 8 p.m.

5. NFL Honors

The NFL’s celebration of excellence takes place in the form of its prime-time awards ceremony for the unveiling of the top individual awards. Thursday night, we’ll learn the winner of the Associated Press MVP (believed to be Matthew Stafford over Drake Maye), offensive and defensive rookies of the year, offensive and defensive players of the year, and latest additions to the Pro Football Hall of Fame — a class that we know will not include former New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick.

6. History revisited

Eleven years ago, the Seahawks and Patriots met in Super Bowl 49 in a contest that came down to the final seconds. Trailing 28-24, Seattle marched 79 yards to reach the shadow of the New England goal line only for Russell Wilson to get picked off by Malcolm Butler in the end zone. The play slammed the door on Seattle’s repeat bid and gave the Patriots their fourth Super Bowl win of the Belichick- Tom Brady era, ending a nine-year drought.

Now, Seattle and New England meet again — the Seahawks seeking their first Super Bowl victory since the 2013 season, and the Patriots seeking their first in seven years. Gone are Belichick and Brady, and in their places are one of the best defensive minds of this generation in Mike Vrabel (trying to become the first head coach to win a Super Bowl with the same franchise that he won with as a player) and a fresh-faced quarterback in Maye. Gone are the Legion of Boom, Pete Carroll and Wilson, and in their places are a new, highly disruptive gang of defenders, second-year coach Mike Macdonald and the resilient Sam Darnold.

Both teams boasted top-10 offenses this season, but Maye and the Patriots have sputtered somewhat in the postseason. Yet, they’ve reached this point by doing just enough to get by while leaning heavily on a defense that has dominated opponents, holding them to just 209.7 yards and 8.7 points per playoff contest. The Seahawks, meanwhile, have fired on all cylinders, torching foes for 36 points per contest (the most in this postseason) while Seattle’s defense has held teams to 16.5 points per contest. The Seahawks have forced four turnovers in their two playoff games while not losing a fumble or throwing an interception of their own.

Which members of this new era will shine the brightest on the biggest stage?

7. Maye vs. Darnold

Both teams offer compelling quarterback storylines. Maye has rescued New England from a brief post-Brady quarterback wilderness that featured an aging Cam Newton and the ineffective Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe. The second-year pro put up MVP-caliber numbers, ranking among the league leaders in passing yards and using his legs to keep defenders off-balance and masking the deficiencies of a patchy offensive line all season. Now, he becomes the youngest quarterback in NFL history to start a Super Bowl. Maye, who will be 23 years and 162 days old on Super Bowl Sunday, also has a chance to become the youngest starting quarterback to hoist the Lombardi Trophy, surpassing Ben Roethlisberger, who won his Super Bowl at 23 years and 340 days.

Maye’s counterpart, Darnold, has reached the Super Bowl after pulling off one of the most dramatic career resurrections the league has seen. Drafted third in 2018 out of USC, he was supposed to spearhead a revival for the New York Jets. But after three fruitless seasons, Darnold got traded to the Carolina Panthers, who then wrote him off after a season and a half. After a career reset as a backup with the San Francisco 49ers, Darnold experienced a resurgence in 2024 while helping lead the Minnesota Vikings to a 14-win season. But he couldn’t carry that success into the playoffs, where he and the Vikings collapsed against the Los Angeles Rams. The Seahawks rolled the dice on Darnold in the offseason, however, and he rewarded them by leading them to the NFC West title, the NFC’s No. 1 seed in the playoffs and now the Super Bowl. Can he complete his storybook turnaround with a victory in Santa Clara?

8. Redemption quests

Darnold isn’t the only player with a chance to dramatically redefine himself with a Super Bowl victory. In some ways, you could call this the Super Bowl of the castoffs. Teammates such as Leonard Williams and Cooper Kupp also have a chance to prove critics wrong.

Williams, like Darnold, entered the NFL as a heralded USC product drafted by the Jets. The sixth pick of the 2015 draft, Williams was viewed as a can’t-miss prospect and potential game-wrecker. He reached the Pro Bowl in Year 2, but the Jets eventually gave up on Williams, just as they did Darnold, and traded him to the New York Giants, where in 2020 he recorded his first double-digit sack season (11 1/2). But three years later, the Giants traded Williams to Seattle. Under Macdonald’s guidance, Williams has developed into a true tone-setter in the trenches and one of the most dominant defensive linemen in the league. A back-to-back Pro Bowl selection in Seattle, Williams now has a chance to help Seattle’s defense live up to its championship-caliber potential.

Kupp spent the first eight seasons of his career with the Rams and earned Super Bowl 56 MVP honors after recording eight catches for 92 yards and two touchdowns in his team’s victory over the Cincinnati Bengals. But last winter, Rams brass thought Kupp was done and released him after urging him to retire. Kupp, as it turns out, still has something left in the tank. This postseason, he has nine catches for 96 yards, and he scored a touchdown last week to help eliminate the Rams. Now, he has a chance to win his second Super Bowl in five years.

One of Kupp’s leading counterparts also knows a thing or two about rejection. New England’s Stefon Diggs once thought he would help Josh Allen deliver a long-awaited Super Bowl to Buffalo. But after four prolific Pro Bowl seasons and more shortcomings by the Bills, Diggs was traded to the Houston Texans in 2024. He suffered a torn ACL during that season, but the Patriots were willing to give him an opportunity, viewing him as a valuable and experienced weapon for the young Maye. Diggs had 85 catches for 1,013 yards (his seventh 1,000-yard campaign in the last eight seasons) and four touchdowns this season. In the postseason, Diggs has added 11 catches for 73 yards and a touchdown, and a Super Bowl ring would provide great validation for the wide receiver who has often felt underappreciated.

9. Bad Bunny

The Super Bowl halftime show always ranks among the most widely viewed 15 minutes of the year, and in an attempt to appeal to its ever-growing worldwide audience, the NFL selected Puerto Rican star Bad Bunny as the headliner for this year’s entertainment. The decision drew strong criticism from portions of the league’s fan base and from President Donald Trump. However, the NFL remained unwavering in its decision, and the global icon’s show will indeed go on. Since joining forces with Roc Nation in 2019, the NFL has delivered some highly entertaining halftime shows, with Dr. Dre and friends (2022), Rihanna (2023) and Kendrick Lamar (2025) delivering epic performances. Can Bad Bunny deliver in similar fashion, or will this calculated gamble fall short of its intended mark?

10. Officiating

Of course, we can’t forget the third team on the field. As always, officiating has drawn great scrutiny this NFL season despite this year’s expanded implementation of technology. Apparently inconsistent enforcement of rules has proved frustrating for teams and fans alike, as have questionable outcomes of the review process. Even this postseason, with the stakes at their highest, we’ve seen controversial calls and non-calls affect outcomes. The NFL and the members of this year’s hand-picked officiating crew would prefer that the zebras remain largely invisible. But rarely is that possible. Can this year’s crew, led by referee Shawn Smith, manage to fly under the radar and leave the outcome of this year’s game to the players?

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