NFL Preview | Super Bowl 2026

New England Patriots v Seattle Seahawks preview

The NFL’s 2025 season has delivered one of the most open Super Bowl races in recent memory.

Author | Peter Jones

New England Patriots prepare for the Super Bowl youtu.be/4UxGMpcPNmY?...

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Now only the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks remain, with the pair set to meet on Sunday to decide the league’s champions.

It is a familiar prize for New England, who have lifted the Lombardi Trophy six times, yet this marks their first Super Bowl appearance since 2019 and the post Tom Brady and Bill Belichick era.

A revitalised Patriots side has emerged from obscurity to reach Super Bowl 60 in California, securing a record-extending 12th appearance in the NFL’s showpiece occasion.

Seattle, meanwhile, have reached the Super Bowl for a fourth time and for the first time since 2015, when they were denied back-to-back titles by the Patriots.

There is also the prospect of history being made on the sidelines, with a Briton poised to become the first overseas coach to win what is arguably the biggest single fixture in world sport, having helped restore the Seahawks as genuine contenders.

Off the field, the occasion will feature a landmark half-time show from a Latin superstar, alongside heightened scrutiny of how US immigration authorities handle an event that has been the most-watched broadcast in American television for each of the past three years.

Who are the Super Bowl favourites?

New England, Seattle and Denver finished the regular season tied with the league’s best record of 14-3, yet despite their pedigree and an MVP contender at quarterback, the Patriots enter as Super Bowl underdogs for the first time since Brady’s maiden triumph in 2002.

Seattle are clear favourites with bookmakers after emerging from the ultra-competitive NFC West to claim the conference’s top seed, then overcoming divisional rivals San Francisco and the Los Angeles Rams in the play-offs.

Sam Darnold has forged a devastating partnership with Jaxon Smith-Njigba, the league’s leading receiver for yardage, while Seattle’s defence conceded a league-low 17.2 points per game.

Their sole Super Bowl triumph in 2014 was built on the fearsome Legion of Boom defence. In just two seasons, head coach Mike Macdonald and defensive coordinator Aden Durde have assembled a modern successor, one that has already acquired a nickname of its own, the Dark Side.