The Patriots are 4.5-point underdogs for Super Bowl LX, but that’s just one of the many things you need to know ahead of Sunday’s game.
After two weeks of waiting, Super Bowl LX is nearly here. The Patriots are set to take on the Seahawks in Santa Clara, California, in the year’s biggest sporting event. Drake Maye and Mike Vrabel have helped quickly return New England to prominence, with the second-year quarterback sitting on the precipice of history after finishing as the runner-up in MVP voting.
Seattle is a familiar foe in the Super Bowl for New England, too. The two teams previously faced off in Super Bowl XLIX in Arizona back in February 2015. That game famously ended with Malcolm Butler making one of the greatest plays in Super Bowl history — a goal-line interception to seal a Patriots win. Will we see another epic game like that? Who knows, but let’s take one last deep and closer look at Super Bowl LX.
Here are 60 things to know about Sunday’s game — from stats that could determine the winner, fun facts about key figures, and trends that might help with your wagers.
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### Key Facts and Stats Ahead of Super Bowl LX
1. **Patriots’ Super Bowl Appearances:** New England is playing in their 12th Super Bowl, extending their NFL record. No other team has more than eight appearances.
2. **Seahawks Super Bowls:** Seattle is making its fourth Super Bowl trip, with all four appearances in the last 21 seasons. The Seahawks are 1-2 all-time in the Super Bowl, with their last appearance a loss to New England in Super Bowl XLIX.
3. **Super Bowl Rematches:** This is the 11th Super Bowl rematch in NFL history. Teams that won the first matchup are 6-3 in the second meeting. (Note: The Cowboys and Steelers have met in the Super Bowl three times.)
4. **Historic Turnaround Opportunity:** If the Patriots win, it would be the greatest single-season turnaround in NFL history — going from winning four games in the previous season to 18 wins this year. Only one other team has won a Super Bowl after winning four or fewer games the prior season.
5. **Seahawks’ Defense:** Seattle had the NFL’s sixth-best defense by yards allowed in the regular season, making them the “worst” defense New England has faced this postseason in that regard. The Patriots hold the record for most playoff wins (three) against teams with a top-five defense.
6. **Scoring Defense vs. Scoring Offense:** The Seahawks led the league in scoring defense (17.2 points per game), while the Patriots ranked second in scoring offense (28.8 points per game) during the regular season.
7. **DVOA Rankings:** According to FTN Fantasy’s Aaron Schatz, the Seahawks rank as one of the best teams ever by DVOA — the sixth-best since 1978. Only one of the five teams with a better DVOA failed to win the Super Bowl: the 2007 Patriots.
8. **Stefon Diggs’ Quiet Postseason:** Patriots star wide receiver Stefon Diggs has recorded only 11 receptions for 73 yards and a touchdown in the playoffs after a 1,013-yard regular season.
9. **Tight End Matchup:** Could Hunter Henry have a big day? The Seahawks allowed 63.9 receiving yards per game to tight ends this season—the fifth-worst mark in the league and worst among playoff teams.
10. **Young Quarterback in the Spotlight:** Drake Maye will be the second-youngest quarterback to start a Super Bowl; Dan Marino is the only younger QB to have started one. If the Patriots win, Maye would be the youngest quarterback ever to win the game at 23 years old.
11. **Maye’s Deep Passing:** During the regular season, Maye was the NFL’s best deep passer (throws 20+ yards downfield) with a 132.7 passer rating on such throws.
12. **Drop in Postseason Deep Passing:** Maye’s passer rating on deep passes has dropped to 75.8 in the playoffs, completing just 34.6% of those throws compared to 61.2% in the regular season.
13. **Sacks Taken:** Maye has been sacked 15 times this postseason—the most by any quarterback to reach the Super Bowl since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970.
14. **Seahawks’ Pressure Rate:** Seattle boasts the fourth-highest pressure rate (38.1%) despite having the fifth-lowest blitz rate (22.3%) this season.
15. **Maye Under Pressure:** Maye has thrived under pressure with a 103.3 passer rating on pressured throws—the best in the NFL. His passer rating without blitz pressure is also impressive at 94.5, ranking fourth-best.
16. **Scrambling Ability:** Maye leads the NFL in scrambling stats on first and second downs, with 46 carries for 330 yards and 16 first downs.
17. **Historical Stat Against Maye:** All-Pro quarterbacks are 1-5 all-time when facing the league’s No. 1 scoring defense in the Super Bowl, which doesn’t bode well for Maye.
18. **Seahawks’ Defensive Pressure:** No Seahawks player recorded eight sacks or more, but defensive tackle Leonard Williams had the second-most pressures among defensive tackles (58).
19. **Patriots’ Offensive Line:** Patriots offensive tackle Will Campbell has allowed 11 pressures, tied for most among tackles, with a 6.9% pressure rate—fourth-worst among offensive tackles.
20. **Patriots’ Rushing:** New England’s rushing average has dropped to four yards per carry in the postseason from 4.4 in the regular season.
21. **Seahawks’ Run Defense:** Seattle led the NFL in run defense, allowing just 3.7 yards per carry.
22. **Running Back Resurgence:** Patriots running back Rhamondre Stevenson has gained 613 yards of total offense over the last six games, averaging 5.7 yards per carry during that span.
23. **Receiving by Running Backs:** The Seahawks have allowed 39.2 receiving yards per game to opposing running backs — the sixth-worst mark in the NFL.
24. **Special Teams Impact:** Seahawks wide receiver Rashid Shaheed has scored three return touchdowns in 11 games since joining the team, including two kickoff and one punt return.
25. **Punt Return Ace:** Patriots corner Marcus Jones holds the best punt return average of all time (14.3 yards per punt return) with two punt return touchdowns this season.
26. **Offensive Player of the Year (OPOY):** Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba won OPOY after leading the league in receiving yards, but OPOY winners have gone 2-6 in the Super Bowl in the same season.
27. **Defensive Matchups:** Patriots Pro Bowl cornerback Christian Gonzalez is expected to cover Smith-Njigba. Gonzalez generally allows fewer than 50 yards but has given up more than 50 yards in the Patriots’ last two games.
28. **Turnover Leader Without Playoff Turnovers:** Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold led the league with 20 turnovers in the regular season but has none in the playoffs so far.
29. **Darnold Under Pressure:** Darnold has a 7.2% turnover-worthy play rate under pressure—the worst among starting quarterbacks.
30. **Patriots’ Blitz Rate Increase:** New England’s blitz rate has jumped from 27.4% in the regular season to 41.4% this postseason, yielding fewer than three yards per play when blitzing.
31. **Patriots’ Pressuring Defenders:** Edge rusher K’Lavon Chaisson and defensive tackle Milton Williams rank second and third in pressures this postseason.
32. **Williams’ Super Bowl Experience:** Williams recorded two sacks, four pressures, and a forced fumble in last season’s Super Bowl win with the Eagles and could become the eighth player to win back-to-back Super Bowls with different teams.
33. **Seattle’s Right Guard Weakness:** Right guard Anthony Bradford ranks among the worst in pass-blocking and pressure rate, possibly giving the Patriots an edge.
34. **Third-and-Long Defense:** The Seahawks have the second-worst conversion percentage on third-and-long situations this season.
35. **Patriots’ Third-and-Long Defense:** New England boasts the third-best defense against third-and-long conversions.
36. **Run Defense Strength:** The Patriots have allowed only 3.5 yards per carry in games where linebacker Robert Spillane plays.
37. **Seahawks’ Kenneth Walker:** Walker has rushed for 426 yards, averaging 5.3 yards per carry, with five touchdowns over the last five games.
38. **Seahawks’ Run-Block Win Rate:** Seattle boasted the eighth-best run-block win rate this season at 73%.
39. **Seahawks Score First Record:** Seattle is 11-0 when scoring first this season and was the only team not to lose a game after scoring first in 2025.
40. **Patriots’ Halftime Leads:** New England has held a lead at halftime 15 times and was tied twice in their last 17 games.
41. **Patriots’ Uniforms:** The Patriots are 5-0 this season wearing all-white uniforms, which they will wear in Sunday’s game.
42. **Super Bowl White Jerseys:** The Patriots are 4-1 in their last five Super Bowls wearing white jerseys.
43. **Seahawks’ Uniforms:** Seattle will wear all-navy uniforms and is 6-0 in that look this season.
44. **White Jersey Trends:** Teams wearing white jerseys in the Super Bowl have a 16-5 record in the last 21 years and 37-22 all-time, but the last two champions wore home jerseys.
45. **Halftime Show:** Bad Bunny will headline the halftime show, becoming the first Latin and Spanish-speaking solo headliner.
46. **Halftime Show Guest Speculation:** The last five halftime shows featured guests; rumors suggest Cardi B, partner of Stefon Diggs, might join Bad Bunny on stage.
47. **Seahawks Defensive Play Caller:** Head coach Mike Macdonald calls defensive plays. If Seattle wins, he would be the first head coach to call defensive plays for a Super Bowl-winning team.
48. **Macdonald’s Background:** Born in Boston and raised partly in Scituate, Macdonald once dreamed of being the Boston Red Sox general manager.
49. **Young Head Coach:** At 38, Macdonald could be the third-youngest head coach to win a Super Bowl.
50. **Mike Vrabel’s Super Bowl Legacy:** Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel aims for his first Super Bowl win as a coach; he played in four as a player, going 3-1 and scoring touchdowns in two.
51. **Vrabel’s Historic Quest:** He seeks to become the first person to win a Super Bowl as a player and coach with the same team.
52. **Coach of the Year & Super Bowl:** Vrabel is also aiming to be the first coach to win both Coach of the Year and the Super Bowl in the same season since Bill Belichick in 2003.
53. **National Anthem Performer:** Charlie Puth, a Berklee College of Music alum, will sing the national anthem.
54. **Ad Costs:** A 30-second commercial during the Super Bowl costs approximately $10 million.
55. **Gatorade Color Wager:** Orange has been the most frequent Gatorade color poured on the winning coach in the last 24 Super Bowls (24.8%), while blue is the most common in the past decade (40%).
56. **Point Spread:** The Patriots are 4.5-point underdogs. Underdogs have gone 5-0 against the spread in the last five Super Bowls and are 4-1 straight up.
57. **Underdog Records:** Historically, underdogs are 20-37 straight-up in Super Bowls. However, underdogs favored by three or more points are 9-2 against the spread since 2003.
58. **Coin Toss Trends:** The coin toss winner is 25-34 all-time in the Super Bowl, so rooting against your team to win the coin toss might be strategic.
59. **Bay Area Super Bowls:** This is the third Super Bowl held in the Bay Area. The designated home team won each of the first two and the Patriots are the designated home team on Sunday.
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With all these storylines and stats, fans have plenty to look forward to in Super Bowl LX. Whether it’s a historic turnaround for the Patriots, a chance for the Seahawks to avenge their previous loss, or the high-stakes battles across the field, Sunday promises to be an unforgettable football showdown.
https://www.boston.com/sports/new-england-patriots/2026/02/07/patriots-seahawks-super-bowl-lx-preview-stats-halftime-show/
