Eleven years. That's how long Seattle fans have been replaying Malcolm Butler's goal-line interception in their heads. Every February, the wound reopens. And now, after all that waiting, they get a shot at redemption in Santa Clara on February 8th.
Look, I'll be honest with you: nobody saw this Super Bowl coming. If you told me back in September that we'd be watching Drake Maye and Sam Darnold fight for the Lombardi Trophy, I would have asked what you were drinking. Yet here we are.
Two turnaround stories collide at Levi's Stadium
The Patriots went 4-13 last year. This year? 14-3 and holding the Lamar Hunt Trophy. Mike Vrabel walked into Foxborough in January 2025, looked at the wreckage, and said "we'll fix this." Twelve months later, he's the third person in NFL history to reach the Super Bowl as both a player and head coach for the same franchise.
"It feels good, it feels great," Vrabel said after the AFC Championship win in Denver. "I can't tell you how proud I am to be associated with these guys."
The man won three rings as a Patriot linebacker. He scored touchdowns in Super Bowls XXXVIII and XXXIX as a defensive player lined up at tight end. Bill Belichick trusted him in the red zone more than most actual tight ends. Now he's built something special on the other sideline.
Seattle's story is quieter but just as improbable. Mike Macdonald, 38 years old, led the NFL's best defense in just his second year as head coach. The Seahawks allowed 16.4 points per game during the regular season. In the divisional round, they held San Francisco to six points. Six.
"This is the power of 12 as one, man," Macdonald said during the George Halas Trophy presentation. When asked about being preseason underdogs, his response was blunt: "We did not care. It's about us. It's always been about us."
The quarterback duel nobody predicted
Drake Maye is 23 years old. He led the league in passer rating (113.5), completion percentage (72%), and QBR (77.1). His game against the Jets in Week 17 was historic: 19-of-21 passing, 256 yards, five touchdowns. No quarterback had ever combined 90%+ completion rate, 250+ yards, and 5+ touchdowns in a single game. Ever.
He's an MVP finalist. He broke Tom Brady's franchise record for single-season completion percentage. The kid from North Carolina went from the No. 3 pick in a rebuilding disaster to Super Bowl starter in 20 months.
"The Pats are back, baby," Maye said after the AFC Championship. "Now, gotta win one."
Sam Darnold's journey is stranger. The third overall pick in 2018 for the Jets. Thirteen wins in 25 starts. 39 interceptions in three seasons. Traded to Carolina. Backup in San Francisco. Basically finished at 26 years old.
Then Minnesota happened. Then Seattle happened. Now he's in the Super Bowl, fresh off throwing 346 yards and three touchdowns against the Rams in the NFC Championship.
"I just come to work every single day with these guys," Darnold said. "That's what it's about to me, man."
The former USC quarterback became just the second player behind Tom Brady to post back-to-back 14-win seasons. Read that again.
Super Bowl LX complete schedule
Here's everything happening on February 8th at Levi's Stadium:
| Event | Time (ET) | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Opening ceremony | 6:00 PM | Green Day performs; Super Bowl MVPs honored |
| "Lift Every Voice and Sing" | ~6:15 PM | Coco Jones |
| "America the Beautiful" | ~6:20 PM | Brandi Carlile with deaf artist Julian Ortiz (ASL) |
| National anthem | ~6:25 PM | Charlie Puth |
| Kickoff | 6:30 PM | Patriots vs. Seahawks |
| Halftime show | ~8:00 PM | Bad Bunny (Apple Music) |
Green Day brings it home
The Berkeley punk legends are opening the 60th Super Bowl in their own backyard. Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, and Tré Cool will usher generations of Super Bowl MVPs onto the field before kickoff.
"We are super hyped to open Super Bowl 60 right in our backyard!" Armstrong said. "We are honored to welcome the MVPs who've shaped the game and open the night for fans all over the world. Let's have fun! Let's get loud!"
This is Green Day's moment. The band formed in 1986, sold 75 million records worldwide, and now they're christening the biggest sporting event in America. The timing couldn't be better.
Bad Bunny makes history at halftime
Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio becomes the first solo Latin artist to headline the Super Bowl halftime show. The Puerto Rican superstar hasn't performed in the mainland U.S. all year due to concerns about ICE raids. This is his only scheduled stateside appearance of 2026.
"It's for those who came before me and ran countless yards so I could come in and score a touchdown," Bad Bunny said in his announcement. "This is for my people, my culture, and our history."
The selection sparked controversy. President Trump called it "absolutely ridiculous." Speaker Mike Johnson suggested Lee Greenwood as an alternative. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced ICE agents would be present at the stadium.
Bad Bunny's response? He told critics on Saturday Night Live that they had "four months to learn" Spanish.
His Puerto Rico concert residency generated an estimated $733 million for the island economy, according to the Associated Press. The man fills stadiums worldwide performing primarily in Spanish. Now he's bringing that to 100+ million American viewers.
Broadcast and viewing info
| Network | Coverage starts | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| NBC | Coverage begins in afternoon | Main broadcast |
| Peacock | Streaming simulcast | Free streaming |
| Telemundo | Spanish broadcast | Full game coverage |
| Universo | Spanish broadcast | Full game coverage |
The ghost of Malcolm Butler
Super Bowl XLIX ended on the 1-yard line. Russell Wilson threw a slant to Ricardo Lockette. Malcolm Butler stepped in front of it. Patriots 28, Seahawks 24.
Seattle fans have spent 11 years asking why Marshawn Lynch didn't get the handoff. Why throw when Beast Mode could have punched it in? Pete Carroll's explanation never satisfied anyone. The wound never healed.
Different teams this time. No Brady. No Belichick. No Wilson. No Legion of Boom. But the franchises remember. The cities remember.
The Patriots have beaten the Broncos, and the Seahawks have beaten the Rams. Now they meet in Santa Clara, 25 miles from where Tom Brady grew up in San Mateo. If New England wins, they become the only seven-time Super Bowl champions in NFL history.
What to watch for
Seattle's defense is suffocating. They haven't allowed a 100-yard rusher in 27 straight games. They faced Christian McCaffrey twice, Kyren Williams twice, Bijan Robinson, Jonathan Taylor. Nobody broke through. Opposing run success rate against them: 34%, lowest in the league.
New England's offense has scored 18 points per game in the playoffs. The fewest by any Super Bowl team since the 1979 Rams. But they've allowed just 8.7. This is going to be ugly. This is going to be physical. This is going to come down to one or two plays.
Maye needs to protect the ball. He fumbled six times in his first two playoff games. Seattle's defense had 25 takeaways during the regular season, fifth-most in the league.
Darnold needs to keep his second-half slump from resurfacing. His QBR dropped from 77.9 in Weeks 1-9 to 37.4 in Weeks 10-18. The good version showed up against LA. It better show up again.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba finished the season with 119 catches for 1,793 yards. That's double any other Seahawks receiver. New England's secondary needs to bracket him constantly.
My take
I keep going back to coaching. Vrabel and Macdonald are both Coach of the Year finalists for good reason. They built cultures that outlasted bad stretches, survived injuries, and peaked at exactly the right moment.
The Patriots shouldn't be here. Neither should the Seahawks. But that's football. Sometimes the story writes itself.
Eleven years is a long time to wait for a rematch. Seattle fans will finally get closure on February 8th, one way or another. Either the Seahawks win their second championship and exorcise the Butler ghost forever, or the Patriots add another painful chapter to Seattle's Super Bowl history.
Either way, we're getting a game nobody saw coming between two teams that refused to accept what everyone expected them to be.
I can't wait.