SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Throughout the year, folks looked at the New England Patriots a little sideways. Despite going 14-3 over the regular season and winning the AFC East, it was hard to take that record at face value and consider New England a new powerhouse firmly arriving on the NFL block.
These Patriots had the easiest strength of schedule since the 1999 St. Louis Rams — that’s across the NFL, not only Super Bowl-bound teams — as New England’s opponents posted a win percentage of .391. Then, the seas parted for them in the playoffs, facing flawed teams riddled by injury. So, as we arrived at Super Bowl LX, it wasn’t surprising to see the overwhelming consensus on the side of the Seattle Seahawks, a more proven team that had gone through the gauntlet of the NFC West.
And the analysts were right.
Seattle bulldozed to a 29-13 championship win at Levi’s Stadium. That final score doesn’t even truly reflect how one-sided this title bout was, as the Seahawks shut out New England for the first three quarters, forcing three turnovers and sacking Drake Maye six times. Particularly when it came to Seattle’s defense going up against the Patriots offense, it felt like the varsity squad beating up on JV.
“That’s the best team we’ve faced, obviously, this year,” dejected Patriots coach Mike Vrabel said postgame. “It’s only valuable if we understand what it takes and what we are going to need to do to improve. If we don’t do that, then it wouldn’t have been very valuable. We had a really, really good year and one that I am proud of, and this game is not a reflection of our year. We lost, and we were beat, outcoached and outplayed. And give them credit.”
While the Seahawks are a worthy champion and convincingly snatched the Lombardi Trophy, it’s hard not to think that the Patriots let a golden opportunity — of the likes they’ll never see again — slip through their fingers.
That remarkably easy schedule will be a distant memory in short order as New England will now play a first-place schedule in 2026 as opposed to the last-place schedule they enjoyed this year.
So, on top of the NFC North and AFC West divisions that they are scheduled to play next season, the Patriots will also draw fellow first-place teams from 2025 in the Jaguars, Steelers, and Seahawks. New England’s 2026 opponents have a combined win percentage of .531, making it the sixth most difficult schedule next season.
Now, let’s talk about that playoff path. From a sheer quarterback standpoint, going from Justin Herbert to C.J. Stroud to Jarrett Stidham to Sam Darnold in the Super Bowl is about as advantageous a path towards a championship as a team could hope for, and the Patriots couldn’t take advantage.
Next year, some combination (or all) of Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, and Lamar Jackson should be back in the fold after being on the outside looking in this year. Add Josh Allen — who the Patriots did not face in the playoffs — into that, and you’re talking about a much more competitive road for New England to get back to playing for a championship.
Of course, just because the road isn’t going to be more difficult doesn’t necessarily mean that the Patriots can’t/won’t get back to the Super Bowl. Maye is an ascending quarterback, and Vrabel is one of the better coaches in the league, which is a lethal duo as they continue to build. However, they’ll soon realize that opportunities like the one that was just put in front of them don’t come around very often, and a trip back to the Super Bowl is far from guaranteed.
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