In an NFL season highlighted by several changes in conference domination, two teams not expected to make much noise prior to the season commencing have proven themselves as true contenders this year and have fought their way to the largest stage the sport offers, the Super Bowl.
Super Bowl LX will be held in Santa Clara, California, on Sunday, Feb. 8 at 6:30 p.m. to showcase the battle between the AFC Champion New England Patriots and the NFC Champion Seattle Seahawks.
This Super Bowl is a rematch of Super Bowl 49, a tightly fought Patriots victory that was preceded by Seattle’s first Super Bowl win the year prior in Super Bowl 48.
The Patriots and Seahawks each finished their regular season 14-3. The Seahawks had secured the No. 1 seed in the National Football Conference, so they did not play a Wild Card game, unlike the Patriots, who had finished as the No. 2 seed in the American Football Conference behind the No. 1 Denver Broncos, the team they ended up beating in the AFC Championship Game to pave their way to the Super Bowl.
That game was driven by defense with snow all over the field, and the Patriots secured a 10-7 road victory to stamp their Super Bowl spot. After giving up a touchdown early to Denver’s backup-quarterback-led offense, New England only gave up one field goal afterwards. The Patriots scored a touchdown off a fumble by Denver’s quarterback in their own territory in the second quarter, then scored a field goal in the subsequent quarter for a final score of 10-7. They previously beat the Los Angeles Chargers 16-3 in the Wild Card Round and the Houston Texans in the Divisional Round 28-16, with both games played at home.
The Seahawks beat two division rivals, the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams, in the NFC Divisional Round and Championship Game, respectively, en route to the Super Bowl. The former of the two games was a one-sided match from the start, beginning with a Seattle kickoff return touchdown on the very first play. The score was 24-6 at halftime and had a final score of 41-6.
The Championship game was more down to the wire, particularly in the fourth quarter after Seattle’s 11-point lead in the third was cut to four points before the fourth began. The score then was 31-27, and the last 15 minutes were all defense from both sides as neither team let the other score, ultimately resulting in a 31-27 Seahawks victory.
Loyola students gave their thoughts on the upcoming game, the playoffs, and how this season has progressed to lead up to the matchup coming up on Sunday.
Drew Carrier ’26 felt that this season’s lack of a clear frontrunner made the competition more exciting.
“I think it’s been a really balanced playoffs this year, lots of exciting games, and it’s just been awesome to watch. I feel like there hasn’t been a team like the Chiefs like we’ve seen the last few years that’s been overly dominant,” Carrier said.
Kevin Spezzano ’28 was surprised with how the season turned out.
“At one point, I was thinking surely the Patriots don’t make it this far, right? Like, they’ll play a real team with a real defense, and they’ll get demolished. But now, I was completely wrong about that … The Seahawks, in terms of [the] NFC, I kind of saw it … They have a really good offense, really good defense,” Spezzano said.
Spezzano further said how it will be interesting to see how New England will match up against Seattle’s defense after how the Patriots fared against the Broncos’ defense, which Spezzano believes was one of the best defenses in the league, in the AFC Championship.
Matt Kalinski ’28 anticipates a clash between the New England’s Drake Maye and the Seattle’s defense.
“[The playoffs were] exhilarating, every single NFC playoff matchup had me on the edge of my seat. So I’m very interested to see how the Seahawks will handle this methodical run game of the Patriots and how Drake Maye will respond … because we have seen him tested against these elite defenses,” Kalinski said.
President Terry Sawyer discussed his thoughts on the Super Bowl in this month’s edition of Talks with Terry on The Greyhound, explaining how his favorite team, the New York Jets, is playing a role in which team he will be rooting for in this year’s game.
“So Sam Darnold is the starting quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks. Sam Darnold was drafted by the New York Jets. He was one of ours, so he’s still mine … He was my guy. So I’m rooting for him. He didn’t get treated fairly by the Jets, he didn’t get treated fairly by San Francisco or Minnesota, and so now he is gonna hopefully win the Super Bowl,” Sawyer said.
Kalinski mirrors the same sentiments about Darnold and the Seahawks that Sawyer holds, and also stated his opposition to a New England victory.
“I am a Sam Darnold faithful. I followed Sam Darnold since he played at USC and drafted third overall by the Jets … [and] I hate the Patriots. I cannot stand the Patriots. There’s no part of me that wants the Patriots to win. So I’ll be cheering for Sam Darnold and the Seahawks come Super Bowl Sunday,” Kalinski said.
Carrier said that even though his roommates are Patriots fans, he will play the contrarian in his household and will be rooting for the Seahawks just because that makes the game a more fun experience for him. He also credits the skill that Seattle has, which he believes can be leveraged for a victory.
“[Seattle’s] defense is just really good. And I think Jaxon Smith-Njigba, he’s just a ridiculous player. I really think they might be the winners in this one,” Carrier said.
Sawyer mentioned the short time window the Patriots experienced from winning six Super Bowls between 2002 and 2019 to playing on that stage again this season.
“I apologize to all of our friends and family in [the] New England area, but you’ve had enough success. I mean enough. It is supposed to take a decade to rebuild a dynasty. I mean the Jets haven’t done it since Joe Namath … I call it an embarrassment of riches. So, I cannot tolerate another Patriots victory,” Sawyer said.
Spezzano expressed similar hostility towards the Patriots.
“I’m a Steelers fan, so the Pats have been my worst enemy my entire life pretty much. They would just beat us every single time. So it’d be cool to see Seahawks [win], especially after last time, instead of running the ball with Marshawn Lynch, we know what happened there … [and to] get Sam Darnold his first ring,” Spezzano said.
When asked about favorite parts of the Super Bowl, the students said getting together with a bunch of friends, getting to watch stress-free football without their favorite team in the game, and getting to see guys who used to play on their favorite team now get the chance to compete in larger, higher-level games. Kalinski, a Saints fan, said he is excited to see former Saints wide receiver Rashid Shaheed get the chance to play in the Super Bowl with the Seahawks.
Sawyer gave his final score prediction for this year’s Super Bowl Sunday matchup.
“The Patriots have not been scoring a lot of points. I actually don’t think their offense has looked very good. They got very lucky in playing a backup quarterback in Denver. So I think it’ll be a low-scoring game, I’m gonna say 21-17 Seahawks, that’s my prediction,” Sawyer said.
Super Bowl LX will air on NBC at 6:30 p.m. and will feature a halftime show starring Bad Bunny, who won a Grammy Award earlier this week for Album of the Year. A game with all the stakes one can ask for and entertainment at its forefront will serve as what fans hope to be a great final game to end the NFL season.
