NFL winners and losers: The Super Bowl hurtles towards an inevitable stomp

Regardless of who has played in the Super Bowl over the last decade, we’ve truly been blessed. You might hate the teams, loathe some of the players involved, or been aching to see new combinations of talent — but since 2016 the average margin of victor in the big game has been 9.8 points, with two games going to overtime.

That envious parity will come to an end in 2026. By every available metric and indication we are headed to an epic butt-whooping in the Super Bowl, one which could rival Super Bowl XLVIII in 2014, when the Seahawks obliterated the Broncos 43-8 in the largest win in over two decades. The writing is on the wall once more, and the Patriots are in big, big trouble.

It’s fantastic that New England is here. The fact this team went from 4-13 a year ago to now being in the Super Bowl is incredible. The ascent of Drake Maye has been a blast, TreVeyon Henderson has the trappings of becoming a top tier running back, and Mike Vrabel is proving everyone wrong about his inability to guide a team deep into the playoffs. The list of accomplishments this team managed are too many to name, and the collective groans of 31 fanbases at the realization that “the Pats are back” prove the shift in the football landscape that’s been caused by New England getting good again.

What we haven’t seen, however, is that signature playoff win. Convincing, clear evidence that this team really is elite — and now just the benefactors of a weak AFC, and every break going their way. Whether that’s C.J. Stroud playing quarterback like a kid in his first year of pee wee, managing to dodge the Bills on an iffy call, or face a hobbled Broncos team in the AFC Championship without its starting quarterback, there’s simply no argument to make that suggests the Patriots had a tough road to get here.

On top of that they just haven’t been that good. Maye’s regular season brilliance has been replaced with postseason shakiness. The second year quarterback’s ball placement has been off, which was on display against the Broncos where he was almost picked off twice in the narrow win. Denver’s defense is good, there’s no doubt about that — but attempting 21 passes for 86 yards just isn’t going to cut it in the biggest game of the year.

Enter the Seahawks. If the Pats struggled with the Broncos, then everything Denver does, Seattle does even better. Their hybrid front, masked pressure rushes are designed to put a quarterback like Drake Maye in a blender. Only veteran offensive fronts with years of experience, and a quarterback like Matthew Stafford are able to mitigate the effectiveness of the ‘Hawks rush, and the Pats don’t have that.

What we saw in the late game was an extension of everything the Seattle Seahawks have done this season. They blitz aggressively, forcing an opponent’s passing game out of rhythm. The idea isn’t so much as to shut the passing game all together, but take away as many long developing explosive plays as possible. This had a mixed result against the Rams, with Stafford being able to pick up on the pressure and generate some big plays — but it wasn’t as pronounced as we’ve seen from the Rams.

Meanwhile on offense we had a narrative-busting game from Sam Darnold. A lot of the criticism levied against the quarterback is that he’s had an easy road in 2025 because of the defense. It meant he only needed to make one or two key plays a game, and that would carry them. However, against the Rams we saw him make plays all over the field to not only go toe-to-toe with the Rams in a shootout, but flourish. Forming such a quick bond with Jaxon Smith-Njigba has turned the Seahawks passing attack into one of the most difficult to defend units in the NFL — being able to attack on a number of levels, creating mismatches by putting Smith-Njigba onto either linebackers, safeties, or cornerbacks. This disrupts everything teams are trying to do with their defensive fronts, and whether it’s man or zone, JSN has been able to beat it in 2025.

Is it possible we’ll see a monster game in the Super Bowl from the Patriots? Can they return to their former selves when everything matters the most? It’s absolutely possible, but we don’t have a lot to go on right now that indicates they will. The pure fact of the matter is that New England had an incredible season, but at their absolute best they’re not on the same level as the Seahawks when they play to 70 or 80% of their capability. If Mike Macdonald can get Seattle firing for this game, well, we’re going to see one of the biggest blowouts in recent Super Bowl history — regardless of what the Pats do.

And now on to more winners and losers from the AFC and NFC Championship games …

Winner: Sam Darnold

Sam Darnold’s redemption arc has been one of the best stories in the NFL this season. We saw this start in Minnesota last year, but it was seen as a fluke, a lucky break, a product of having Justin Jefferson and the Vikings offense. However, he’s put it together again, and this iteration of Darnold is even better. He has some clutch to his game, and the tenacity to carry a team when other elements of the game plan aren’t firing.

Darnold will now the first USC quarterback to start a Super Bowl game. A truly incredible season.

Winner: Christian Gonzalez

It wasn’t a perfect game from the Patriots defense, or even Christian Gonzalez — but when the chips were down we saw Gonzalez shine. Finishing the game with a sack and an interception, he was the difference maker in a close game where everything was on the line.

Loser: Broncos fans

It stinks that Broncos fans never got to see their team at their best. It’s not that Jarrett Stidham played bad football, but what he lacked was the fourth quarter brilliance that Bo Nix displayed this past season. Based on what we saw out of both teams on Sunday there’s a very real chance that Denver would have won the AFC Championship with Nix playing.

Loser: The Atlanta Falcons

Two Super Bowl coaches, both interviewed — the Falcons picked the third.