Super Bowl LX Pick: Grunge Match

Here we go folks, that bittersweet time for every football fan. As much as Super Bowl Sunday is a celebration of the NFL’s championship, it’s also the culmination of another football season. Come Monday, it’s all over for actual NFL football for another eight months until it all starts over again. Eight long months. So, before we talk draft and free agency for the New Orleans Saints, let’s break down this final game of the season.

The AFC Champion New England Patriots face the NFC Champion Seattle Seahawks in the biggest spectacle in American professional sports. New England enters the game with a 14-3 record and field the NFL’s second-ranked offense in points scored, while Seattle enters the game with a 14-3 record and field the NFL’s third-ranked offense in points scored. These two franchises faced each other in Super Bowl XLIX 11 years ago, hopefully this game will be as entertaining as that one was. Let’s now take a look at Super Bowl LX.

Two weeks ago, I went 1-1

I told you so: Patriots over Broncos!

What do I know: Rams over Seahawks?

“So, Sam Darnold is actually good now?”

The New England Patriots are back in the Super Bowl. For five of the past six years, the Kansas City Chiefs represented the AFC in the Super Bowl, leading many to decry “Please, anyone in the Super Bowl but the Chiefs… Anyone!”. Now we see the return of the team that represented the AFC in four of the five Super Bowls right before the Chiefs started their streak, leading those same fans to decry “Wait, not the Pats… We meant anyone but the Pats!”. Here we are though. The Patriots/Chiefs stranglehold on the AFC continues, and likely only continues to strengthen, so who will be the annual NFC “savior” from this oppression? This year, of course, it is the Seattle Seahawks, led by… Sam Darnold.

Yes, that Sam Darnold, the top-three pick who washed-out after three seasons with the Jets, who muddled through two seasons in Carolina, splitting time with Cam Newton then Baker Mayfield, famously beating Dennis Allen’s Saints going 5 for 15 with only 43 yards and 2 interceptions. Sam Darnold, who went to San Francisco to back up Brock Purdy and get a chance to experience Super Bowl LVIII, who then went to Minnesota and became the quarterback it was believed he could be when he was drafted, before flaming out in the playoffs and reigniting all the questions about him, his mental toughness, his “clutch factor” and his value as a franchise quarterback.

Second-year Seattle Head Coach Mike Macdonald took a chance on Sam Darnold at quarterback, and making an equally important move in hiring former New Orleans Saints offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak to lead Darnold and his offense. Both moves were masterstrokes by Macdonald, who already had his defense locked down. The trade deadline acquisition of Saints WR and returns specialist Rashid Shaheed, shored up the special teams and made Seattle the most complete team in the NFL.

The New England Patriots are certainly no slouches themselves. They have reigned atop the AFC along with Denver, all season long. They have Drake Maye, the second-year superstar QB who nearly won NFL MVP. First-year Head Coach Mike Vrabel, the NFL Coach of the Year, has led one of the most remarkable one-year turnarounds we have witnessed in quite some time. Sure, these aren’t the Bill Belichick and Tom Brady led Dynasty Patriots from 2002-2018, but they should not be discounted in this Super Bowl simply for that. The Patriots are in the Super Bowl for a reason, but their path to get here has been filled with with few top-caliber opponents. You can only play who is put in front of you, but who was put in front of New England simply isn’t in Seattle’s class.

Obviously, none of the players that took part in Super Bowl XLIX will take the field in Super Bowl LX, but the fans from the city that birthed Grunge have certainly held a grudge with the franchise that took away their chance at Back-to-Back Super Bowl Championships at the goal line. Years have passed, faces have changed, but history cannot be forgotten, and Seattle looks to make history of their own here. It would stand to reason that if Mike Macdonald finds himself in the same position that Pete Carroll once found himself in, you’d better believe Kenneth Walker III will be getting the ball at the goal line.

Both teams were top-three in points-per-game scored on offense and top-four in points-per-game allowed on defense during this past regular season. So this game should be close, like 24-21 close, but these Seahawks are something these Patriots haven’t experienced this season and in these playoffs. This is a game Seattle will show they are more well-rounded in most areas. The Pats are very good, but they are arguably a year ahead of schedule, and they are just facing a buzzsaw right now in the Seahawks. New England will produce a magnificent drive in the fourth quarter, ending with a touchdown that cuts the Seattle lead to six-points, the Patriots will then immediately kickoff the ball to Rashid Shaheed, who takes the kick to the house with an electric return that will be long remembered in Super Bowl lore, cementing Seattle’s stranglehold on the game, and the Super Bowl title.

So, is Sam Darnold actually good now? The answer is not only yes, the answer is that he always was good. He simply found the benefit of high-end coaching and high-end talent around him, something he never had, outside of a short stint with Kevin O’Connell and Justin Jefferson in Minnesota, and that franchise had it’s own playoff demons to battle. Darnold isn’t one of the quarterback greats, but he’s quite good, and certainly ready to lead his team to the title without having to do it all himself. I only picked two games incorrectly in these entire playoffs. Both were the games the Seattle Seahawks won. This is a mistake I won’t be making again. The Seattle Seahawks will be holding the Lombardi Trophy at the conclusion of this Super Sunday.

Super Bowl LX Champion: Seattle Seahawks

Final Score: Seahawks 30 – Patriots 17

Super Bowl LX MVP: WR – Rashid Shaheed

There you have it folks, another Super Bowl and another NFL season in the books. I can’t wait to get it started all over again. Let’s get ready for the march to Los Angeles for Super Bowl LXI. Now it’s your turn, leave us your final score and MVP picks in the comments section below!