Super Bowl LX: Everything you need to know about this year's NFL championship

The biggest game in American sports is right around the corner. The New England Patriots are set to face the Seattle Seahawks Sunday in Super Bowl LX in Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. 

Months of NFL action have all led to this. With an estimated 127 million viewers, per Marca, the stage is as big as ever. 

This year's edition features one team looking to reignite a dynasty, with another trying to prove that championships are won by the best teams, not just the flashiest quarterbacks. 

The game will also pit two recent Super Bowl rivals against each other, with one team looking to avenge a heartbreaking loss from just over a decade ago. 

Find out everything you need to know about this year's NFL championship, including the teams, the players, injury updates, the halftime show, where and when to watch, Spanish broadcast information, our pick, and more. 

A Super Bowl rematch

If seeing the Patriots face off against the Seahawks on Super Bowl Sunday feels familiar, that's because it is. The two played in Super Bowl XLIX on Feb. 1, 2015, with the Tom Brady-led Patriots snatching victory from the jaws of defeat in a 28-24 thriller. 

The most memorable moment from that game (and one of the most iconic plays in NFL history) was when Malcolm Butler intercepted a pass from Russell Wilson on the 1-yard-line to seal the win for New England. 

Trailing by 4 points, the Seahawks drove the ball all the way down the field late in the fourth quarter, with some help from a miraculous catch by Jermaine Kearse. Two plays later, despite having perhaps the best short-yardage running back in football in Marshawn Lynch, Seattle coach Pete Carroll opted for a pass play from the 1-yard-line, and the rest was history. 

The win denied the Legion of Boom Seahawks back-to-back titles and earned Brady his fourth of an eventual seven Vince Lombardi trophies. 

A new generation

Both teams eventually fell back down to earth, moving on from legendary QBs Brady and Wilson, then legendary coaches Bill Belichick and Carroll. 

For the Patriots, former player and Super Bowl champion Mike Vrabel now heads the sidelines, and second-year dual-threat phenom Drake Maye is under center. After finishing last year 4-13 and firing coach Jerod Mayo, Vrabel and Maye led the Pats to a 14-3 record, as well as division and AFC titles. 

Carroll and the Seahawks parted ways in 2024, with young coach Mike Macdonald taking the reins. After leading an undermanned team to a 10-7 record and narrowly missing the playoffs in his first season, a tough decision was made to allow quarterback Geno Smith walk to reunite with Carroll in Las Vegas. Recently revived QB Sam Darnold was brought into replace him, and it was an instant success. In his first year with the team, Macdonald and Darnold led Seattle to the best record in the NFC and two strong playoff wins. 

Despite the strong performances from the quarterbacks, both teams' calling cards are their defense. 

The Patriots boast the fourth-best scoring defense in the NFL, having allowed just 18.7 points per game in the regular season. They are strongest against the run, with the sixth-fewest rush yards allowed per game in the league. 

The Seahawks, on the other hand, allowed the fewest points per game in the league (17.2) and the third-fewest rushing yards per game against opponents. With both teams able to lock down the run, this year's Super Bowl may have to be won through the air. 

In the passing game, Seattle had the top receiver in the league, Jaxon Smith-Njigba. The talented wideout caught 119 passes (fourth in the NFL) for 1,793 yards (first) and 10 touchdowns (tied for sixth). The Seahawks also have former Super Bowl MVP Cooper Kupp and speedster Rashid Shaheed at Darnold's disposal. 

The Patriots' No. 1 receiver for most of the year has been veteran Stefon Diggs, who caught for 1,013 yards and 4 touchdowns on the season. Tight end Hunter Henry and third-year wideout Kayshon Boutte are two of Maye's other favorite target. 

In the run game, both teams featured two-headed running attacks for most of the season. The Seahawks were led by Kenneth Walker III and Zachary Charbonnet, who provided a versatile mix of speed and power. The Patriots have a similar attack, featuring Rhamondre Stevenson and rookie TreVeyon Henderson. 

Unfortunately for Seattle, half of their running attack vanished when Charbonnet tore his ACL in a blowout Divisional Round victory over the San Francisco 49ers. Walker was effective in carrying the load in Seattle's lone game since, but he will be up against a bigger challenge against the loaded Pats' front. 

Injury report

Aside from the aforementioned Charbonnet, the teams have a fairly clean injury report, with two potentially massive exceptions.  

Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold has been limited in practice due to the same oblique injury that reportedly was bothering him in the NFC Championship Game victory over the Los Angeles Rams. However, in that game, he threw for 366 yards, 3 touchdowns and no interceptions, so it is hard to see his appearance on the injury report as anything more than a formality. 

Patriots QB Drake Maye is listed as questionable with a shoulder injury that mysteriously appeared after his team's AFC Championship Game victory over the Denver Broncos in the snow, a game in which he was mostly effective with his legs due to the conditions. He also missed some practice last week due to an illness. However, he said he's "turned a corner," per NFL.com, and claims he has no doubt he'll be ready for the game despite being listed as questionable. 

More in danger of missing the game are offensive linemen Morgan Moses and Thayer Munford Jr. for the Patriots, as well as edge rushers Harold Landry III and Robert Spillane, all listed as questionable. 

The Seahawks are monitoring a chest injury to one of their prominent edge rushers, Ernest Jones, though he has not appeared on the injury report, per DAZN. Optimistically, Seattle edge rusher Chazz Surratt was removed from the I.R. and could return to the lineup. 

Halftime with a Hispanic twist

For the second time ever, the Super Bowl Halftime Show will be headlined by a Hispanic artist. Puerto Rican rapper and singer Bad Bunny will take the stage, an artist that has polarized fans. 

The artist has been under fire recently for his decision not to hold concerts in the United States, citing fears over ICE raids. He posted on X that he would do "only one tour date" in the contiguous U.S., in reference to the Super Bowl.

That being the case, Bad Bunny's American fans are ecstatic about the appearance, and so is the artist himself. "What I'm feeling goes beyond myself. It's for those who came before me and ran countless yards so I could come in and score a touchdown… this is for my people, my culture, and our history," he said. 

The NFL is equally excited, with Jon Barker, SVP of global event production, stating, "Bad Bunny represents the global energy and cultural vibrancy that define today's music scene. As one of the most influential and streamed artists in the world, his unique ability to bridge genres, languages, and audiences makes him an exciting and natural choice to take the Super Bowl halftime stage." 

That will not be the only entertainment at the event. Bay Area-based band Green Day will play an opening ceremony concert. Pop singer Charlie Puth will sing the national anthem, Brandi Carlile will sing "America the Beautiful" and Coco Jones will do her rendition of "Lift Every Voice and Sing." 

Our pick

The Seahawks opened as 3.5-point favorites, which has moved to 4.5 in the time since, implying the majority of bets being placed on Seattle. 

Seattle is undeniably the more complete team, with a slightly superior defense and undeniably flashier offensive weapons. 

The one advantage the Patriots have on paper is at quarterback, which is unarguably the most important position in football. However, two things might work against them: Maye's shoulder injury and his youth. 

Eight second-year quarterbacks have played in the Super Bowl. Despite the perception that inexperience on such a stage would be overwhelming, their teams have a 4-4 record in those games. The last two such instances, Brock Purdy's 49ers (Super Bowl LVIII) and Joe Burrow's Bengals (Super Bowl LVI), have ended in losses for the young passers. The last win, ironically, was by Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLVIII, the year before the aforementioned loss to the Patriots.  

Maye has been shaky the playoffs, fumbling six times and losing three of them. It is worth noting that two of those games have been played in brutal weather conditions against two of the best defenses in the league. While Seattle's defense is strong, the Bay Area weather is expected to bring temperatures in the 70s Fahrenheit, giving the Patriots a breath of fresh (and warm) air. 

Darnold and the Seahawks, on the other hand have been infallible in these playoffs, tested only against their division rivals the Rams in the NFC title game and ultimately coming out on top with no mistakes. 

For a game of such importance and legend, so many Super Bowls have been blowouts, including the Philadelphia Eagles' 40-22 drubbing the the Kansas City Chiefs last year. Since 2,000, 28% of these games have been decided by two touchdowns or more. 

The Seahawks simply have too much talent top-to-bottom and are playing their best football of the season at the right time. Despite eking out wins, the Patriots have not yet faced a test like this, and the end result could be another lopsided affair on Super Bowl Sunday.

Prediction: Seahawks defeat Patriots, 38-17

Where and when to watch

The Super Bowl will kick off on Feb. 8 at 6:30 p.m. EST. It will be televised nationally in English on NBC, called by play-by-play announcer Mike Tirico and color commentator Cris Collinsworth. It will be available for streaming on Peacock. 

In Spanish, the game can be found on Telemundo, where it will be announced by Miguel Gurwitz and Rolando Cantú, two of the premier Spanish-language football commentators in the world.