The matchup for Super Bowl LX is finally set, pitting the New England Patriots against the Seattle Seahawks at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. With hype beginning to build around the big game, it’s time to take a look back at the history of these teams for an idea of what kind of records may be set.
A historic franchise, the Patriots dominated the NFL for the better part of two decades as the preeminent dynasty in professional football. Once quarterbacked by Tom Brady, undeniably the sport’s GOAT, the team is now led by second-year signal-caller Drake Maye. Of course, winning a championship secures a team’s place in the NFL’s history books, but there’s even more at stake for this franchise in particular entering this matchup.
What’s on the line for New England in Super Bowl 60 beyond the Lombardi Trophy itself?
When kickoff arrives on February 8, the Patriots will have a chance to break an NFL record for the most Super Bowl victories of any franchise. The team has already won six throughout its history, tying for the league lead with only one other team — the Pittsburgh Steelers. With a win in Super Bowl 60, New England can claim its seventh title in franchise history and move ahead of the former “Steel Curtain” on the leaderboard.
It’s already quite impressive that New England sits tied at the top with six Super Bowl victories given the history of the team. Through its first years in the NFL, the franchise made the playoffs just a handful of times. Known then as the Boston Patriots, the team officially joined the league in the 1970 season when the AFL merger took place. They didn’t even qualify for the postseason field until 1976 and didn’t make their first Super Bowl appearance until 1985, losing to the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl 20. The Patriots’ next championship appearance came 11 years later in the 1996 season, but a group coached by Bill Parcells and quarterbacked by Drew Bledsoe ultimately fell short at the hands of the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl 31.
In the new millennium, the tide began to change in Foxborough, Massachusetts. After a 5-11 campaign to start the Bill Belichick era in 2000, the franchise finally captured its first Lombardi Trophy in 2001 as Tom Brady led the team to a win over the “Greatest Show on Turf” St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl 36. Over the next three seasons, the Patriots won two more titles — those came back-to-back in Super Bowl 38 and 39 over the Carolina Panthers and Philadelphia Eagles. Suddenly, what was once a perennially losing franchise became a dynasty.
Between 2005 and 2013, New England made just two more Super Bowl appearances but lost both to Eli Manning and the New York Giants. Questions surrounding the team’s status as a perpetual championship threat felt somewhat valid, but those concerns were put to rest by a second wind from the Brady/Belichick pairing. From 2014 to 2018, the Pats added three more Lombardis to their trophy case in four appearances with a close win over the Seattle Seahawks, an infamous comeback against the Atlanta Falcons, and a relatively underwhelming clash against the Los Angeles Rams.
Of course, even the greatest dynasties eventually come to an end. The Patriots failed to make the Super Bowl in Tom Brady’s final season in New England before the legendary quarterback left to join the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 2020 campaign. While he eventually won another ring with his new team, Brady’s former franchise made the playoffs just one more time with Belichick at the helm before the head coach and the team parted ways after 2023.
Still, the dust settled with a total of six Super Bowl victories for the pairing in New England — all of the franchise’s wins — and nine total appearances together. That fact makes the latest saga surrounding the Patriots’ former head coach even more baffling as Belichick fell short of becoming a first-ballot Hall of Famer on January 27. Per ESPN, the coaching icon fell short of the 40 votes required to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on his first opportunity, meaning he’ll have to try again next year to secure a coveted spot in Canton, Ohio. Given that he has a total of eight Super Bowls under his own belt after winning two as a defensive coordinator prior to his Patriots stint, it’s truly stunning to see Belichick fail to get voted into the Hall of Fame via his first opportunity.
Regardless, a new era has begun in New England. In the first season under head coach Mike Vrabel and only the second with Drake Maye under center, the turnaround from last year’s 4-13 regular-season finish has proven historic. The storied franchise now makes its 12th Super Bowl appearance — also the most of any team in the NFL — and first since the 2018 campaign with a shot at making history if it proves victorious.
Super Bowl LX kicks off at 6:30 p.m. EST on Sunday, February 8. The Patriots enter as 4.5-point underdogs with +195 odds of an outright upset on DraftKings Sportsbook.
