The road to the Super Bowl hasn’t exactly been paved evenly for the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots, even though both teams wrapped up the regular season with identical 14-3 records. On paper, it might look like a fair fight. But when you dig into the journey each team took to get here, it’s clear why Seattle enters the big game as the clear favorite.
Let’s start with the Seahawks. They didn’t just survive the NFC West - they conquered it.
This wasn’t your average division. The NFC West made history this season by producing three 12-win teams, and Seattle beat the other two - the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams - twice each, including in the postseason.
That’s four wins against elite competition, and they weren’t just squeaking by. Against the 49ers alone, the Seahawks outscored them 54-9 in their last two meetings.
That’s not just winning - that’s domination.
Contrast that with New England’s path. The Patriots had the softest schedule in the league, with their opponents combining for a .391 winning percentage.
That’s the lowest in the NFL. They only played three games all season against teams with winning records - Seattle, by comparison, had eight such matchups.
So while both teams ended up with the same record, Seattle had to earn every inch of it against a gauntlet of playoff-caliber opponents.
The playoff paths tell a similar story. Seattle had to take down the Rams in the NFC Championship - a team many had pegged as Super Bowl favorites earlier in the season.
Meanwhile, the Patriots faced a Denver Broncos squad missing its starting quarterback, Bo Nix, in the AFC title game. That’s a significant difference in the level of challenge.
Still, anyone thinking this Super Bowl is a foregone conclusion might want to pump the brakes. Former Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck offered a timely reminder during an interview with Seattle Sports’ Wyman and Bob earlier this week.
“No one cares if you had this amazing year in the NFC,” Hasselbeck said. “It’s one game on Feb.
- Whoever wins it is Super Bowl champs.”
He’s not wrong. The NFL is a one-game season when it comes to the Super Bowl, and past dominance doesn’t guarantee future success. Hasselbeck emphasized that Seattle can’t afford to overlook New England, pointing to the Patriots’ defense and the dynamic skill set of rookie quarterback Drake Maye.
New England’s defense was no joke this year - fourth in the league in points allowed at just 18.8 per game. That kind of consistency on the defensive side of the ball keeps you in games, no matter who you’re facing. And then there’s Maye, whose mobility could be the X-factor in this matchup.
“I think the matchup part that would scare me is that his ceiling is so high, Drake Maye,” Hasselbeck said. “But what he is really good at is something that I think the Seahawks could struggle with, and that’s when he gets out, gets loose out of the pocket, scrambles.”
It’s a fair concern. Seattle’s defense has been lights out this season - the top-ranked scoring defense in the league - but mobile quarterbacks have given them fits at times. Hasselbeck pointed to the Carolina game earlier this season, where despite an otherwise dominant defensive showing, Panthers QB Bryce Young was able to create plays with his legs when the pocket collapsed.
Maye brings that same kind of threat, only with a bigger arm and more physical tools. If he can extend plays and keep Seattle’s defense off balance, the Patriots have a real shot to make this game interesting.
So yes, the Seahawks have been battle-tested in a way the Patriots haven’t. They’ve proven themselves against elite competition and come out on top. But come Super Bowl Sunday, none of that matters if they can’t stop Maye from doing what he does best - making plays when everything breaks down.
Seattle might be the favorite, but New England isn’t just happy to be here. They’ve got a defense that can keep them in it, and a quarterback who might just be dangerous enough to flip the script.