Super Bowl 2026: Seattle Seahawks v New England Patriots – live | Super Bowl LX

David will be here shortly. In the meantime, here are our authors’ score predictions:

The final score will be…

Seahawks 27-24 Patriots. The best unit on the field is Seattle’s defense. After that, everything else feels like a wash. The Seahawks pass rush is relentless and deep; they had six different players record at least 35 pressures this year, while no other team had more than four such players. The Patriots offensive line is vulnerable – and passers usually decide championship games. It will take a special performance from Maye (and maybe a trick to steal a possession) to keep the Patriots in the game. Olivier Connolly

The Seahawks. By a lot. The Seahawks are a top-to-bottom juggernaut that can beat you in plenty of ways. New England’s high blitz success has gotten them this far, but Seattle can beat them in plenty of ways. Quarterback protection? Check. A faithful racing game? Check. High octane passing attack? Check. Seattle’s offense is essentially quarterback-proof, especially when your quarterback can compartmentalize his rags-to-riches story. Meanwhile, New England’s offense isn’t quite quarterback-proof, and Maye’s mistakes will hurt the Patriots a lot more than in their previous three matchups. It’s easy to imagine Maye forcing bad throws once blinded by Seattle’s defense, and Vrabel and McDaniels getting too cute after losing a few scores. Melissa Jacobs

Seahawks 27-17 Patriots. Darnold settles in and plays yet another clean playoff game on the verge of earning MVP honors and finally cementing the iconic win of his career, in a redemption story that gives critics more reason to lash out at the Jets for stunting his progress. Mike Macdonald is making coaching defense sexy again, and the loss of Kubiak — who is reportedly headed to Las Vegas after this game — marks the start of the talent raid among Seattle’s coaching staff. The Patriots fought valiantly, but Maye’s arm ultimately proved too weak – but the loss only sets them up for an epic revenge tour that ends with a return to the same place next year. André Laurent

Seahawks 17-27 Patriots. Gonzalez wins the match against Smith-Njigba, reducing Darnold’s options as he regresses for the world to see. It’s not because Darnold isn’t good: he’s a great quarterback and a wonderful story, and I’m really happy for him. He’s about to face a rookie coaching staff that has the game plan and elements necessary to make Darnold uncomfortable, frustrated and error-prone. Maye will have just enough to get into the end zone twice, and will be helped by a Gonzalez interception that he takes to the house. That means we need to see more of Robert Kraft post-game amid the red, white and blue confetti. Yuck. David Lengel

Seahawks 31-32 Patriots. The rise of a 70-1 ranked team in August is a heartwarming story often lost in a sport dominated by extreme wealth, statistics and shooting. Yes, their schedule was “easy” – and they even lost to the Raiders – and yet here we are. No team with preseason odds better than 40-1 has won the Super Bowl since Tom Brady’s legendary first victory in the 2001 season. Coincidence? Graham Searles