The New England Patriots’ turnaround from back-to-back 4-13 seasons to a Super Bowl LX berth under first-year head coach Mike Vrabel is one of the biggest storylines of the NFL season.
The Seattle Seahawks’ appearance in the big game is a surprise too, given how the last few seasons went in the pacific northwest.
Seattle went a respectable 10-7 during the 2024 campaign but missed the playoffs due to the Los Angeles Rams winning the tiebreaker with an identical regular season mark.
ESPN’s Mike Reiss noted that the Patriots-Seahawks Super Bowl LX matchup is the first in 22 years that features teams that missed the previous year’s postseason.
“NOTES: Players day off…1st Super Bowl matchup of teams that missed playoffs in prior season since 2003 (NE-CAR)…NE 12 playoff sacks…DT Cory Durden on Mike Vrabel – ‘He changed my life’…1st time Patriots underdogs in SB since 2001,” Reiss posted on Bluesky.
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Seattle also missed the playoffs in 2023 after going 9-8.
Vrabel also played a huge part of the Super Bowl XXXVIII battle between New England and the Carolina Panthers, finishing with six tackles, a game-high 2.0 sacks and one forced fumble.
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The former Patriots Pro Bowl linebacker also caught the first of his two career Super Bowl touchdowns, hauling in a one-yard pass from Tom Brady in the fourth quarter.
New England’s championship during the 2003 campaign was the first of back-to-back titles and second in a stretch of three crowns in four years.
Brady, Vrabel and company missed the tournament during the 2002 season, however, after going 9-7.
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The Panthers’ Super Bowl XXXVIII berth was their first ever and came in just their ninth season of existence. Carolina had missed the playoffs the previous six years.
Featured image via Kirby Lee/Imagn Images
