Redemption, Rematch, And Records: Super Bowl LX Is Filled With Great Storylines

Before the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots even kick off for Super Bowl LX in San Francisco on Sunday, the game will already be in the record books as the first Super Bowl to feature two teams that missed the playoffs the previous season.

The unusual Super Bowl matchup is a fitting ending to a season that saw the downfall of past seasons’ dominant teams and the rise of new talent. At the beginning of the 2025 season, neither the Seahawks nor the Patriots were expected to compete for a Super Bowl. The Seahawks, coming off a 10-7 record in 2024, were overlooked in a stacked NFC West division this year. The Patriots, meanwhile, were believed to be in the middle of a long rebuild with a young quarterback after finishing with just four wins last season.

But now, both teams have clawed their way to the biggest game in sports.

At first glance, Super Bowl LX seems to lack the intrigue that NFL fans are accustomed to. There’s no dynasty looking to collect more hardware and there’s no superstar quarterback who’s expected to dominate the game. But Super Bowl LX has plenty of storylines to make it a must-watch game.

Redemption on Both Sides

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON – JANUARY 25: Sam Darnold (Photo by Kevin Sabitus/Getty Images)

When Seattle runs out of the tunnel and onto the field at Levi’s Stadium, it will be led by quarterback Sam Darnold, whose NFL career appeared to be reduced to playing full-time backup just two years ago. Darnold was picked No. 3 overall in the 2018 draft by the New York Jets with the hope that he would become the team’s franchise quarterback. The hype around Darnold in New York, however, lasted only three seasons as he went just 13-25 with the Jets before he was traded to the Carolina Panthers ahead of the 2021 season.

In Carolina, Darnold played well in some games, but dealt with injuries and battled to remain a starter before he was let go and signed by the San Francisco 49ers in 2023. In San Francisco, Darnold backed up young QB Brock Purdy and made his first Super Bowl appearance, but he didn’t contribute much to the Super Bowl run, only appearing in one game all season.

In 2024, Darnold got another chance on a one-year contract with the Minnesota Vikings, where he became the starting quarterback and led the team to a surprising 14-3 record and a playoff appearance. Darnold’s solid season with the Vikings wasn’t enough to keep the critics off his back as many analysts and commentators slammed him for choking in big games down the stretch. His impressive record with the Vikings also wasn’t enough to keep him in Minnesota as the team opted to let Darnold go, and he was quickly signed by the Seahawks.

Many thought of Darnold as a reliable veteran who could lead a team to some wins while it continued to build up the offensive line and receiving core, but despite leading the league in turnovers this season, Darnold did enough to lead the Seahawks to the best record in the NFC and a dominant playoff run.

DENVER, COLORADO – JANUARY 25: Mike Vrabel (Photo by Lauren Leigh Bacho/Getty Images)

There’s a redemption arc on the New England sideline, too, where head coach Mike Vrabel is hoping to win a Super Bowl in his first year with the Patriots after being fired by the Tennessee Titans in 2023. Vrabel, a former Patriots linebacker, is also looking to become the first person in NFL history to win Super Bowls as a player and a coach for the same franchise.

Vrabel’s journey to the big game was likely not what he envisioned. Just a few years ago, Vrabel appeared destined to be the man to lead the Tennessee Titans into glory. Under Vrabel, the Titans made a remarkable playoff run in 2018, defeating Tom Brady and the defending Super Bowl champion Patriots and then beating the AFC’s best team, the Baltimore Ravens, to reach their first AFC championship game since 2002. The Titans would eventually lose to Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs, who went on to win Super Bowl LIV.

Vrabel reached the playoffs with the Titans again in 2020 and 2021, attaining the #1 overall seed in the AFC in 2021. The Titans, however, struggled in those playoff appearances, losing in the wild card round to the Baltimore Ravens in 2020 and getting upset by the Cincinnati Bengals in the divisional round in 2021.

In a shocking decision, the Titans fired Vrabel after rough seasons in 2022 and 2023. Vrabel took a break from coaching the following season before he was hired by the Patriots ahead of the 2025 season. In just one season with New England, Vrabel has already proven that he should have never been fired, but a Super Bowl ring would put an exclamation point on his return to the NFL.

“From Day 1, he set that standard. That culture,” Patriots linebacker Harold Landry said of Vrabel. “And he brought in guys to kind of help him with that message. [Vrabel] is just at the forefront of it all. Guys have a lot of respect for him because he’s been here and done it as a player.”

Rematch of the Unforgettable

GLENDALE, AZ – FEBRUARY 01: Malcolm Butler #21 of the New England Patriots intercepts the pass at the goal line late in the fourth quarter against the Seattle Seahawks during Super Bowl XLIX. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images)

The Seahawks and Patriots last met in the Super Bowl on February 1, 2015, in Glendale, Arizona. It’s a game that won’t be soon forgotten — no matter how hard Seahawks fans try to erase it from their minds. Simply saying the phrase “2nd down from the one-yard-line” or the name “Marshawn Lynch” is all that’s needed to evoke memories of that unforgettable game when Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll inexplicably decided to throw the ball on a game-deciding play from the one-yard line instead of handing it off to one of the league’s most dominant running backs, and Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler jumped the route and intercepted Russell Wilson.

Of course, this year, Carrol is not calling plays on the Seattle sideline, and Wilson and Lynch won’t be lining up together. New England’s team is no longer defined by Tom Brady and Bill Belichick’s dynasty, but the shadow from that 2015 Super Bowl still looms, and if Seattle lines up at the New England one-yard line late in the 4th quarter, there will be no escaping the comparisons to the play call from more than a decade ago.

An Opportunity for History

DENVER, CO – JANUARY 25: Drake Maye (Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images)

While Sam Darnold goes for redemption, 23-year-old Patriot Drake Maye is seeking to become the youngest starting quarterback to ever win the Super Bowl. If he hoists the Lombardi trophy on Sunday night, Maye — who is 23 years and 162 days old — would surpass Steelers great Ben Roethlisberger, who won his first Super Bowl at 23 years and 340 days old.

Maye, who was taken by the Patriots as the third overall draft pick in 2024, became one of the NFL’s most consistent quarterbacks in his second season. Maye ranked fourth this season in total passing yards at 4,394, which was just ahead of Darnold’s 4,048 yards. Maye was also third in the NFL in total touchdown passes with 31.

The New England quarterback has a lot to live up to after Brady’s two decades of MVPs and Super Bowl championships for the Patriots. But the young gunslinger Maye is off to an impressive start, and if he gets his Super Bowl ring on Sunday alongside his new head coach, things in New England will look eerily similar to 2002 — only Maye would be one year younger than Brady was when the all-time great won his first Super Bowl.