We have plenty of time to make lineups for the Super Bowl showdown slate, so more specific information will be touched on next week. For this piece, we will zoom out a bit and take a more macro view of the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks matchup.
Both teams ended with only three losses on the season. New England lost two of the first three games while Seattle lost the first and fifth games of the season.
There were six common opponents: Pittsburgh, Carolina, New Orleans, Tennessee, Atlanta and Tampa Bay.
| New England | Seattle | |
| Pittsburgh | Lost 21-14 | Won 31-17 |
| Carolina | Won 42-13 | Won 27-10 |
| New Orleans | Won 25-19 | Won 44-13 |
| Tennessee | Won 31-13 | Won 30-24 |
| Atlanta | Won 24-23 | Won 37-9 |
| Tampa Bay | Won 28-23 | Lost 38-35 |
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Let’s start with the offenses, in particular the aerial attacks.
Drake Maye led the Patriots to the third-highest EPA per dropback, which includes the regular season and postseason. Maye led the NFL in completion percentage at 69.7 while throwing 35 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. The average yards per attempt was a healthy 9.2, the second-highest mark in the league. The one blemish was the 8.9% sack rate, the fifth-highest mark, which led to 64 sacks. We can’t forget about Maye’s rushing prowess, which led to 450 yards, 38 first downs and four touchdowns.
“If you drafted me this year, draft me again.” 👀
Some fantasy football advice from the one and only Drake “Drake Maye” Maye 💪 pic.twitter.com/lWy7DAasTb
— DraftKings Network (@DKNetwork) February 4, 2026
Sam Darnold led the Seahawks to the seventh-highest EPA per dropback. Darnold completed 67.8% of his passes with 29 touchdowns and 15 interceptions. The average yards per attempt was 8.4 while the sack rate was 5.5%.
New England was 13th in EPA per carry, averaging 4.4 yards with 23 touchdowns, tied for the third-most. Three players carried at least 100 times for the Patriots: Maye (103), TreVeyon Henderson (180) and Rhamondre Stevenson (130). Henderson led the team with 911 yards and nine rushing touchdowns, but during the playoffs, Henderson only rushed 24 times for 57 yards. Instead it was Stevenson who carried the load, rushing 51 times for 194 yards. He also caught seven of 10 targets for 86 yards.
Seattle was 25th in EPA per carry, averaging 4.1 yards but also scored 23 touchdowns. During the regular season, the Seahawks had a two-headed monster with Kenneth Walker II rushing 221 times for 1,027 and five touchdowns while Zach Charbonnet rumbled 184 times for 730 yards and 12 touchdowns. Charbonnet suffered an injury early in the playoffs, which led to bellcow status for Walker. And he ding, ding, ding, dinged with four touchdowns on 38 attempts and 178 yards.
Defensively is where things get interesting. It is often said that defense wins championships, so here we are.
When Mike Vrabel was hired as head coach in New England, the number one priority was to shore up the rush defense. The free agent acquisitions of defensive tackle Milton Williams and linebacker Robert Spillane were massive and helped accomplish the goal. New England posted the eighth-lowest EPA per carry while allowing 4.1 yards per carry and 11 touchdowns.
The pass defense wasn’t shabby either, posting the second-lowest EPA per dropback. It took some time to gel, especially since star cornerback Christian Gonzalez was out for the first three games, but gel it did, limiting the Chargers to 159 yards passing in the Wild Card round, 212 yards with four interceptions against Houston in the Divisional round and 133 yards in the Conference Championship. Granted, that was against Jarrett Stidham. The pressure rate was only 24th, though, all season.
If you thought New England’s rush defense was formidable, Seattle’s was the best in the NFL, posting the lowest EPA per carry and was the only unit to not allow double-digit rushing touchdowns. Opponents only averaged 3.8 yards per carry, the lowest mark in the league.
The pass defense wasn’t as dominant, but still posted the seventh-lowest EPA per dropback. 23 touchdowns were allowed while the unit racked up 19 interceptions. The 25 total takeaways were the sixth-most in the NFL. Unlike New England, Seattle had no problems generating pressure, posting the sixth-highest mark while blitzing at the seventh-lowest rate. The 47 sacks were tied for the sixth-most.
Now, this particular showdown slate is unique due to the pageantry and off-the-field requirements for the players. In addition, the coaching staffs will have an extra week to prepare, so tendencies could be broken. As always, create your story and then fill in the pieces to correlate with it.
