Preview: Super Bowl LX: New England Patriots vs. Seattle Seahawks - prediction, team news, lineups

Seeking an NFL record seventh Super Bowl title, the New England Patriots will battle the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, in a rematch of their epic showdown in 2015.

The Pats are back in the big dance after grinding out a 10-7 victory over the Denver Broncos in the AFC Championship Game, while the Seahawks claimed the NFC crown by edging the Los Angeles Rams 31-27.

Match preview

After three straight losing seasons in Greater Boston, Robert Kraft turned to a familiar face ahead of the 2025 regular season to try to restore the Patriots' dominance in the NFL.

Mike Vrabel’s hiring has done the trick with the Pats winning 10 more games in his first season in charge, and the former New England linebacker can become just the fifth person in league history on Sunday to lift the Lombardi Trophy as a player and a head coach.

New England enter this contest having won 16 of their previous 17 games, and are the first team to reach the Super Bowl following a 13-loss season.

During the 2025 regular season, the Patriots had the second-highest points per game average on offense (28.8) and will be making an NFL record 12th appearance in the showcase event with a chance to surpass the Pittsburgh Steelers for the most all-time Lombardi titles.

With 6.2 offensive yards per play in 2025, they were tied for the highest average in the NFL, though the offense has scored fewer than 22 points in their three playoff affairs.

While their offense has not been lighting it up in the playoffs, their defense has stepped it up, allowing their fourth-fewest points-per-game in the regular season and under 17 points in three straight games.

They are a perfect 9-0 away from Gillette Stadium this season, but lost their last game played at Levi’s Stadium to the San Francisco 49ers in September 2024 (30-13).

Meanwhile, the Pats secondary is coming in hot, allowing fewer than 195 yards through the air in 10 straight games and were most effective against tight ends, allowing a 98.2 rate to that position, good for 10th in the NFL.

If New England’s offense got them into the playoffs, you could say Seattle’s D got them to that stage, with the NFC champs allowing a mere 17.2 points per game during the regular season, the fewest in the league.

The Seahawks were 8-1 on the road in 2025, while Levi’s Stadium seems to be a good luck charm for Mike Macdonald, who is a perfect 2-0 as a head coach in Santa Clara.

Seattle’s secondary stymied wide receivers throughout the campaign, allowing an NFL-best 69.5 rate to that position, while they had three players with at least seven sacks during the regular season.

They were equally tough to run against in 2025, allowing runners just 3.5 yards per carry, the fewest in the league, but they also gave up five yards per carry to quarterbacks, the third-worst average in the NFL.

As the Pats offense has regressed in the post-season the Seahawks one is on the upswing, scoring 31+ points in back-to-back games.

The biggest concern for the NFC champions heading into their fourth Super Bowl in franchise history is turnovers, with this team committing 28 of them during the regular season, second only to the Minnesota Vikings (30).

Among the X-factors for them on Sunday will be their special teams, who are boasting the third-highest kickoff return average in the league (28.0) while also ranking third in average punt return yards (15.4).

Meanwhile, they were eighth in passing yards per game during the regular season (228.1), while boasting the 11th-most yards per game on the ground (123.3).

New England Patriots NFL Playoffs form:

Seattle Seahawks NFL Playoffs form:

Team News

An ankle issue kept Robert Spillane off the Patriots practice field for a time this week, while Harold Landry and Thayer Munford Jr. were limited with knee injuries.

Drake Maye is a leading contender for MVP, and although he has a minor shoulder issue, he will become the second-youngest quarterback to start the Super Bowl on Sunday, leading the league in passer rating this season (113.5).

He is 7-0 when taking at least four sacks in a game in 2025, with Stefon Diggs being his primary target in the regular season as the latter led the team at 1,013 yards receiving, while Rhamondre Stevenson is the top rusher in the playoffs with 194 yards.

Meanwhile K’Lavon Chaisson is second in the playoffs for QB pressures (14), while Christian Gonzalez will be called upon to make some game-changing plays, boasting one interception as opposing pass-catchers have a low 39.0 rate against him in the post-season.

On the Seattle side, Charles Cross has a sore foot, Nick Emmanwori is dealing with an ankle problem, as is Josh Jones, while Robbie Ouzts has a neck injury.

Sam Darnold’s oblique has been talked about throughout the playoffs, but the two-time Pro Bowl quarterback is only the second pivot to win 14 games in consecutive seasons, while he threw for 346 yards in the NFC title game and has never lost this season when taking 3+ sacks.

He’ll have plenty of weapons at his disposal, including Kenneth Walker, who ran for 1,027 yards in the regular season, with Jaxson Smith-Njigba leading the way through the air with 1,793 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Defensively, DeMarcus Lawrence has three sacks in his last four games, while Devon Witherspoon had seven passes defended with a pick in the regular-season and Ernest Jones leads them with 14 tackles and an interception in the playoffs.

Head To Head

While few will forget this Super Bowl showdown from the 2014 season, Sunday will only be the 21st time these two teams meet all-time.

The last time they squared off in 2024, Geno Smith was at quarterback for the Seahawks, throwing for 327 yards, with current kicker Jason Myers connecting on a 31-yard field goal in overtime in a 23-20 triumph.

The game everybody talks about was Super Bowl XLIX, when Russell Wilson and Tom Brady went toe-to-toe in an epic matchup.

Brady found Julian Edelman for a go-ahead score in the fourth quarter, but it was Malcolm Butler who saved the day with an interception at the goal line to preserve the 28-24 win.

Afterwards many were pointing the finger at Seahawks coach Pete Carroll for throwing the ball deep into Pats territory instead of handing it off to Marshawn Lynch.

The year after that loss, the Seahawks got their revenge as Doug Baldwin made three TD grabs in a 31-24 triumph at Foxborough.

Seattle lead the overall head-to-head between the two with a record of 11-9, but have lost two of their three Super Bowl appearances.

We say: New England Patriots 14-27 Seattle Seahawks

At the end of the day, we believe defense will win the day, which is why we are giving Seattle the edge, while their offense is also trending in the right direction, and their return game could easily shift the momentum of this encounter.

When you add all of those things up it is difficult to not go with Seattle who are keen for a little payback against the Pats on Sunday.