The Seahawks are the champions of Super Bowl 60. It reminded the DB of the other Super Bowl played in Santa Clara, Denver’s 24-10 win over Carolina in 2025-26. Von Miller was the MVP as not much happened. One thing that was different was the halftime show with three diverse English-speaking acts – Coldplay, Beyoncé and Bruno Mars. Levi’s Stadium has not had much luck with compelling big games. In 2018-19, the College Football Playoff championship game was also held there. Trevor Lawrence and Clemson dismantled Alabama, 44-16.- – -Is QB SAM DARNOLD a redhead or “ginger”?  We think so, as do others, with one of his nicknames being “Ginger Cuz.” If we can agree that he is – is he the first “ginger” QB to win the Super Bowl? Some say Brad Johnson with the 2002 Buccaneers:  We never thought of Johnson as a redhead, but this photo gives us pause. Ginger is in the eye of the beholder.- – -This give and take: @amyknowsballSo we can all agree that a regular season football Sunday is far better than Superbowl Sunday, right ? @ScottKacsmarFor overall entertainment value? Maybe. But I think 4-of-8 Super Bowls since 2018 being duds/disappointments will lead people to feel this way. We were spoiled for a long time there (2003-2017 with the exception of Seattle destroying Denver) of great SBs. Some other random Twitter takes: @AdamSchefterLed by Sam Darnold, the Seahawks became the first Super-Bowl champion ever to go an entire postseason without committing a turnover. What makes it even more impressive is that Seattle finished the regular season with 28 turnovers, second most in the NFL behind only the Vikings (30). This amazing podium connection: @NickHarrisFWSTSeahawks HC Mike Macdonald and Maria Taylor were classmates at Centennial HS in Roswell, GA. Tonight, they shared sports’ biggest stage, as Macdonald lifts his first Lombardi Trophy and Taylor becomes the first black woman to host the postgame ceremony in Super Bowl history. North Dakota State news: @DomIzzoWDAY#NerdStats: Grey Zabel becomes the 14th player to win a college football national title and the Super Bowl in back to back years. The first ever from the FCS to do that. Last time can use that stat with the Bison. On Sunday, North Dakota State was announced as a new member (for Football) of the Mountain West Conference. A shot from James Madison: @JMUSportsNewsThe Patriots had no business taking the spot of a 4-loss SEC team in this game. We need to change the playoff format ASAP! This: @colecubelicThe @Seahawks trailed for 1:35 seconds this postseason… That is the fewest amount of time trailing by a Super Bowl champion since the Redskins in 1991. |
| NFC NORTH |
| CHICAGOThe Bears had a full-court press before finding their new OC. The Bears are promoting Press Taylor to offensive coordinator, NFL Media reports. Taylor was the team’s passing game coordinator last season and now replaces Declan Doyle, who left for the Ravens. Head coach Ben Johnson calls the plays for the Bears. Taylor, the brother of Bengals coach Zac Taylor, was the Jaguars’ offensive coordinator from 2022-24. He began his NFL coaching career with the Eagles and spent eight years in Philadelphia, working his way up to passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2020. He was a senior offensive assistant for the Colts in 2021. |
| NFC SOUTH |
| ATLANTAFalcons EDGE JAMES PEARCE now has a spot on the NFL’s police blotter. Marc Raimondi of ESPN.com: Atlanta Falcons rookie linebacker James Pearce Jr. was arrested Saturday in Florida after an alleged domestic dispute involving Los Angeles Sparks forward Rickea Jackson, police said. Pearce was arrested in Miami-Dade County on two counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and a count of aggravated stalking. He was also charged with fleeing and eluding police officers, aggravated battery of a law enforcement officer and resisting an officer without violence to his person. According to online records, Pearce was booked at Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center at 6:58 p.m. Saturday. Doral police chief Edwin Lopez told WPLG-TV that the alleged dispute was between Pearce and Jackson. Lopez told the outlet that Pearce was arrested after fleeing the alleged dispute and crashing his vehicle during a police chase. “We are aware of an incident involving James Pearce Jr., in Miami,” the Falcons said in a prepared statement. “We are in the process of gathering more information and will not have any further comment on an open legal matter at this time.” Pearce, 22, was third in AP NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year voting. He had 10.5 sacks this past season, the most for a rookie since Micah Parsons in 2024. The Falcons selected Pearce with the 26th pick in the 2025 NFL draft. This comes as no surprise to some in the NFL. Oliver Salt of the Daily Mail: Cleveland Browns reporter Cory Kinnan claimed in March of last year that Pearce had the ‘worst character report’ of any player in the 2025 class, which provided NFL scouts with a dilemma given his clear talent. Anonymous sources also questioned his maturity and attitude, with one unnamed defensive line coach even claiming it frightened him. ‘That kid is a first-round talent,’ they told The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman. ‘But the stuff you hear (about his maturity) scares me.’ Pearce’s arrest this week is not his first, either. Back in December 2023, the future NFL player was arrested at a traffic stop in Knoxville after disobeying orders from police. As you might guess from her profession, Rickea Jackson is sizeable, standing 6-2. They both went to Tennessee, she was with him at the draft last spring, but said in October that she was no longer in a relationship. |
| NFC WEST |
| LOS ANGELES RAMSMike Sando of The Athletic admits he made a mistake in voting for QB DRAKE MAYE as MVP: Stafford won Associated Press MVP honors — by the smallest margin since 2003 — and felt like the most deserving candidate, at least in my opinion. Why did I vote for Maye, then? Because ballots were due Jan. 6, before the playoffs. Maye finished the regular season with statistical edges over Stafford in yards per attempt, passer rating, QB EPA per game started and EPA per play. Maye also had much less talent around him. The way the regular season finished factored some. Stafford could not save the Rams from finishing 3-3 over their final six and blowing the top seed in the NFC. He wasn’t primarily to blame for that, but team results matter for MVP quarterbacks. In this case, the Patriots finished 5-1 with an offense that was about as productive as the Rams’ offense was over that stretch (about 12.0 EPA per game for each). By the time MVP results were announced, Stafford had played heroically in the playoffs, while Maye’s Patriots had reached the Super Bowl almost in spite of him. Stafford felt like the real MVP. He was always the better player. “In Maye, I see a really good player who is on an unbelievably sound team that is well coached,” an offensive coordinator from another team said Saturday, “whereas when I watch Matt Stafford, I’m thinking, ‘I don’t know if I have seen anyone play like this. This is ridiculous.’” Here’s how my awards ballot shook out, with things I might change now in italics: • MVP: Maye, Stafford, Josh Allen, Justin Herbert, Christian McCaffreyStafford over Maye for the reasons outlined above. • Coach of the Year: Vrabel, Macdonald, Ben Johnson, Liam Coen, Kyle ShanahanNo changes. • Assistant Coach of the Year: Anthony Campanile, Brian Flores, Josh McDaniels, Vance Joseph, Chris ShulaNo changes. • Comeback Player of the Year: Philip Rivers, Christian McCaffrey, Aidan Hutchinson, Trevor Lawrence, Dak PrescottNo changes, although Rivers is not a clean fit for the spirit of the rule. He did not bounce back from hardship or an injury. He did bounce back from being 44 years old and out of the game for five years. I thought he faced certain humiliation. Instead, he was better than some regular starters. • Defensive Player of the Year: Myles Garrett, Will Anderson, Nik Bonitto, Aidan Hutchinson, Danielle HunterLeonard Williams should be on here somewhere. • Offensive Player of the Year: McCaffrey, Smith-Njigba, Bijan Robinson, James Cook, Puka NacuaNo changes. The DB asks – Should the AP think about changing their ballot deadline until after the Championship Games? Should the AP think about having a Playoffs MVP to reward someone who was excellent over the whole playoff run, not just the 60 minutes of the Super Bowl? |
| SEATTLEConnor Orr of SI.com sings the praises of Seattle’s game plan: From the opening kickoff, each team displayed its biggest fears and vulnerabilities; the parts of themselves they loved and the parts of themselves they couldn’t wish away. The Patriots blitzed like madmen, hurling themselves toward Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold in batches like rum-corked marauders. Not to establish some identity or set some kind of tone, but knowing that without forcing Darnold into a catastrophic mistake, there was no chance they could level a drastically lopsided playing field. This is what they couldn’t say during the week. Underneath the house-money cool, underneath all the individuality, underneath all of the love, the Patriots stumbled into this place far too early. They arrived without reinforcements. Seattle blitzed, too. Far more often than tendencies illustrated earlier in the season, showing the non-football-viewing world what the rest had long understood: This Patriots offensive line had been immensely fortunate until now. Bailed out by opposing quarterback meltdowns or bomb cyclones whipping winter snow through the facemasks of their opponents during the playoffs, they were not yet filleted on a grand stage. Of course, they had not yet faced the Seahawks. And, so came Devon Witherspoon and Nick Emmanwori. So came Rylie Mills, grabbing hold of Patriots guard Jared Wilson and steering him into the thighpads of second-year quarterback Drake Maye. Maye, with no direction available on his internal compass to bail, went down with all three in a heap of humanity. It’s not like the Patriots didn’t come close themselves, but each time the defense got near Darnold, he managed to snap off a throw. He managed to avoid calamity long enough to put his opponent down. Seattle 29. New England 13. The Seahawks are the champions of Super Bowl LX. Maybe your idea of entertainment is not watching a team get its trachea slowly compressed via guillotine choke. Maybe field goals aren’t your thing, though each team eventually got to the end zone. But the NFL belongs to defenses now. The Seahawks plowed through this season proving that it’s possible to dissect an offense the way Sean McVay or Kyle Shanahan take apart opposing defenses. And now, a fantasy-starved league is left to consider how it can burn down the rule book to buoy its precious points once again. Long before the start of this week, the Seahawks’ defensive staff had screenshotted every snap of this Patriots offensive line. Its tendencies to jump-set. Its tendencies to drop back vertically or at an angle. Its footwork. New England planned to counter by adjusting the timing by which Drake Maye set his hands under center. Maybe—just maybe—by throwing the line off its keys it would be harder to rush. Harder to plug up OC Josh McDaniels’s game plan like a washrag in the drain pipe. The Patriots had 48 net gained yards at halftime, and 13 net passing yards on 25 plays. Then came the third quarter, when the full effect of Seattle’s brick-by-brick assassination—à la Montresor and Fortunato—was laid bare. By the time the Patriots had a lane to throw, Maye would subconsciously drift toward the teeth of Seattle’s interior rush. If he managed to find the sliver of open space the Seahawks’ secondary provided, the ball would ricochet off the fingertips of his wide receivers. Pick your advanced metric of choice. Regardless of which one you use, this was among the worst offensive performances in Super Bowl history, and nearly the championship game’s only shutout. Though with an important caveat. Freeze the tape on most of Maye’s drop-backs and there was nowhere to go. Little glimmers of possibility lost in a hall of mirrors. In every game, the Seahawks offer opponents a macabre choice: Lose by bringing in so many backfield protectors to stop the rush that there are no receivers left to run routes, or lose with all your receivers running routes leaving no one to protect the quarterback. The Patriots vacillated between both strategies, though by the time Maye had the ball punched out of his abdomen by Derick Hall at the end of the third quarter, it was more a matter of optics. Mack Hollins had a pair of catches that added points to the scoreboard, though New England’s sideline remained relatively still. Mike Vrabel swooped from position group to position group, hands on shoulders or scooped around helmets. It felt less like the conjuring of some miraculous turnaround and more like emotional triage. The Patriots added six more points late, with the game well out of reach. Bricked inside the wall, the Patriots had to accept the confines of their enclosure on all sides. This was a good team learning one of life’s strange lessons: Nothing, not love, not opportunity, not luck, not joy—arrives when you’re ready. Sometimes, on the other side, you’re greeted by the tender beating heart of it all. Sometimes, you see the embodiment of just how far you have to go. Seattle allowed no room for grace. No room for error. No room to believe anything other than the truth, as “Sweet Caroline” blared over the stadium loudspeaker and the Seahawks’ defense prepared to blitz yet again, pummeling Maye, jarring the football loose and returning it for a touchdown. Soon, a line of caution tape beneath the stadium would be constructed and lifted, sweeping friends and family of the future world champions onto the field with more than a minute to play. Sometimes, against a team this suffocating, there is no plan, just a hope for survival.– – -Kalyn Kahler of ESPN.com with some good stuff on how QB SAM DARNOLD got to the Super Bowl podium. TWO YEARS AGO, Sam Darnold sat at a small round table in a Hilton ballroom just outside of Las Vegas. Several reporters visited the table he shared with another San Francisco 49ers teammate throughout the week of Super Bowl media availability, but many more maneuvered around it on their way to talk to someone more important. Darnold was just a backup hidden in a maze of dozens of tables. He wasn’t the star anymore, and he had chosen to fade into the background for his own good. As Darnold sat unbothered at his table, a reporter asked if he had given thought to the best way to develop a quarterback. What had he learned in the six NFL seasons after he left college early and was drafted No. 3 by the New York Jets, saw “ghosts,” got dumped by the Jets and started over twice since? What does a young quarterback need? “Just consistency in the organization, and trusting, too,” Darnold said in 2024. “If things don’t go well — which, having a rookie quarterback — they’re not all going to be C.J. Stroud. You’re not just going to go out there and ball out. It takes a really special coach and leadership to be able to have trust and keep everything together for at least a couple years. Let the kid grow into his skin, and after a couple years, you kind of know, if everything’s the same and if you have the same people, GM, coaches.” That combination of consistency and trust was something Darnold, who had four head coaches in his first five seasons, hadn’t known in the NFL up to that point, and wouldn’t have it until he signed a three-year contract to be Seattle’s starting quarterback in March. He was comfortable enough that for the first time, he bought a house. “You’d like to think patience is the lesson [from Sam’s career],” Seattle offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak said, “but the NFL is not about patience. It’s not a fair league. … Sometimes, you get your tail fired, and then you get to go try somewhere else, and you just make sure that you got better from that last experience. … That’s what Sam’s done.” The NFL’s draft structure routinely welcomes the most talented young quarterbacks to the worst-run organizations. Their rights are usually controlled by bottom-dwelling teams that lack the patience to figure out how to win, and like clockwork, the coaching staff tasked with developing them is fired. Despite the Jets’ best attempts to inflict permanent damage, once Darnold left the organization, he strategically pieced together the foundation he had not been afforded at the start of his career. When then-Niners quarterback coach Brian Griese called Darnold during the early 2023 offseason to recruit him for a reset season as Brock Purdy’s backup, Griese asked Darnold how he viewed himself coming out of the tough times. Griese said Darnold answered, “I like who I am.” “That really cemented for me that he was the right guy,” Griese said. “New York was brutal. … If I had sat down with him and talked with him and he didn’t believe in himself, then I don’t think we would have been interested in San Francisco. So, the fact that he went through what he did, and he came out on the other side with his emotional resilience intact, that gave him a chance. “What he was seeing on his reads and how he was supposed to play, there was uncertainty there, and that uncertainty is a death sentence for quarterbacks. But he never lost confidence in himself.” Although Seattle’s offense reached the end zone only once, Darnold’s escapability was the X factor for the offense in the Seahawks’ 29-13 win Sunday night. He dodged and spun out of pressure from the New England Patriots’ defense multiple times. Those who know Darnold well say he isn’t motivated to prove the haters wrong, but to prove his teammates and family right. He found that trust and consistency that he said is crucial for quarterback development. He was a Super Bowl-losing backup quarterback then, and now he’s a Super Bowl champion. WHEN DARNOLD’S FORMER coaches and teammates are asked to describe him, the same word continues to come up: resilient. Darnold’s private quarterback coach, Jordan Palmer, who played seven years in the NFL, said that Darnold’s resiliency is the reason he has resurrected his career. Quarterbacks who play through physical injuries are typically considered the toughest, Palmer said, but “I actually don’t think that’s hard.” “Going through what Sam went through for four or five years, not all these tough guys that can take a hit can live through that. Sam’s one of the toughest quarterbacks I’ve ever been around, and it has nothing to do with his physical toughness.” Palmer thinks Darnold first started improving in 2022, during his second season in Carolina, which gave up a second-round pick in a trade for him despite three subpar seasons with the Jets. Darnold lost the QB competition to Baker Mayfield and started the season on injured reserve because of an ankle sprain. Coach Matt Rhule was fired, and then Darnold came back from injury to go 4-2 as the Panthers’ starting quarterback for the final six games of the season, and kept Carolina in the hunt for the NFC South title. Carolina’s offensive coordinator at the time was Ben McAdoo, who, despite now working for the Super Bowl rival Patriots, still considers himself “a big fan of Sam.” Darnold, then in his fifth season, “was still a raw player in a lot of ways,” McAdoo said. He worked with him on tying his feet to his eyes, so that Darnold could eliminate the hesitancy in his progressions and let his footwork tell him when to move off his first read. “We tried to break the feet down, and build him back up,” McAdoo said. “Spend a little more time on fundamentals than he did in the past.” McAdoo said Darnold proved to him that he could reclaim his career during two plays in Carolina’s Week 17 game at Tampa, with the NFC South title on the line. The Panthers lost the game, but Darnold threw a touchdown pass to receiver DJ Moore on third down from the Buccaneers’ 24-yard line, a pass that McAdoo said was a checkdown off his first read. And later in the red zone again on third down, Darnold made “a tremendous read” to find Shi Smith, his third option, on a dig route for another touchdown. “Everything happens faster in the red zone,” McAdoo said. “It’s a tough read and a long way to go to get through that progression, and he was on it. I was like, ‘This guy has a chance!'” After that 2022 season, Darnold became a free agent. McAdoo said he hoped Carolina would hire interim head coach Steve Wilks permanently and re-sign Darnold to keep building off the progress McAdoo had seen, but Carolina moved on from both.– – -RB KENNETH WALKER is the first running back to claim the Super Bowl MVP Award since 2008. Zachary Pereles of CBSSports.com has him as WINNER of the game, both now and in the future: Winner: Kenneth Walker III, his agent, and his bank accountThe first running back to win Super Bowl MVP since Terrell Davis in 1998, Walker was tremendous, finishing with 161 yards from scrimmage. Walker can be a polarizing back, with his incredible tackle-breaking sometimes only superseded by his belief that he can break every tackle. This season, among 52 players with at least 100 carries, he was seventh in explosive rush rate … and 46th in rushing success rate. But on Super Bowl Sunday, we saw just how valuable that explosiveness can be. He had five carries of 10+ yards. Walker is 27. He’s rarely been an every-down player. But after Zach Charbonnet went down with a torn ACL in the divisional round, Walker stepped up: 145 yards from scrimmage, three touchdowns in divisional round vs. 49ers 111 yards from scrimmage, one touchdown in NFC Championship vs. Rams 161 yards from scrimmage in Super Bowl vs. Patriots Walker is an impending free agent. Both Walker and coach Mike Macdonald have said they want Walker back in Seattle, and with Charbonnet coming off a major injury, there’s a natural fit. Regardless, Walker has boosted his profile significantly over the past month ahead of his first time being a free agent. Expect a competitive market — and, in turn, a nice payday — for the Super Bowl MVP.– – -And this tribute to GM John Schneider from Mike Sando of The Athletic: Let us count the breathtaking moves Schneider made in building this team: trading Russell Wilson just 19 months after 50 coaches and executives made the quarterback a unanimous Tier 1 selection; replacing legendary coach Pete Carroll with first-timer Mike Macdonald, the NFL’s youngest coach at the time; and trading Wilson’s generally successful replacement, Geno Smith, to Las Vegas before signing Darnold. With teams across the league zigging toward offensive play-calling head coaches, Schneider zagged by hiring a defensive mind. Macdonald just became the first head coach ever to win a Super Bowl as his team’s primary defensive play caller. Schneider’s in-season trades over the past three years landed Leonard Williams, one of the NFL’s most disruptive defensive tackles; inside linebacker Ernest Jones IV, who became an Associated Press second-team All-Pro after the Rams and Titans gave up on him; and receiver Rashid Shaheed, whose punt-return touchdown in Week 16 helped Seattle steal the NFC’s top seed from the Rams. “It’s not being afraid to move on from certain players when it’s time, but then also going to get guys that, when you plug them in, are as good or better with you,” a former GM said. Trading Wilson brought a top-five pick in return. Schneider used that choice on cornerback Devon Witherspoon, a perennial Pro Bowl selection and 2025 second-team All-Pro who helped Seattle seal its Super Bowl victory over New England by pressuring Drake Maye into a pick six by Uchenna Nwosu, a free-agent signing from the Chargers in 2022. Finding seven solid contributors in the 2022 draft, including left tackle Charles Cross, laid a foundation while Carroll was still there. Drafting Witherspoon and 2025 Offensive Player of the Year Jaxon Smith-Njigba added star power. Also on the list for Schneider: drafting Byron Murphy II in 2024 and trading receiver DK Metcalf for draft capital that helped land Nick Emmanwori. Even taking a chance on fifth-round pick Rylie Mills, who needed time to recover from a college injury, paid off huge when he collected one of six sacks against the Patriots in overpowering fashion. “John had built a good foundation, and they stayed with a philosophy and they hired a brilliant coach,” Polian said of Schneider and the Seahawks. Which brings us to Roseman. In some ways, the Eagles’ GM is where Schneider found himself five years ago: trying to maximize an expensive quarterback, Jalen Hurts, who has delivered at a high level and won a championship but also carries limitations that could become problematic as the roster cycles out of its peak state. Schneider acted from a position of leverage with Wilson, turning certainty into optionality. Roseman did that famously when he traded Carson Wentz to Indianapolis, then won a Super Bowl with Hurts. It’s how the modern GM must operate. Plenty of good GMs don’t push the limits like Roseman and Schneider. But the upside isn’t the same. Schneider’s status as the only GM to win two Super Bowls with a different coach and no carryover players could land him in Canton alongside Finks, Beathard, Young, Polian, Wolf and Newsome. “The fact that John has built two Super Bowl teams that were totally different, he ought to go to the top of the list,” the veteran executive said. “That is incredible.” |
| AFC WEST |
| KANSAS CITYThe Chiefs would bring back TE TRAVIS KELCE for the right price. Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com: Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, who is set to become a free agent next month, has not said whether he plans to play in 2026 or retire. If he wants to play, the Chiefs want him to keep playing in Kansas City. Kelce and the team have been in touch and the Chiefs want him back, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. But the real question is how much they’re willing to spend to have him back. Salary cap projections for 2026 have the Chiefs in the worst cap shape in the NFL, about $55 million over the cap. They’ll make enough moves to get under the cap before the league year starts in March, but they’re not going to have a lot of money to sign Kelce to a lucrative contract. And even if they did have the money, it’s not clear how much they’d be willing to spend, simply because Kelce is going to turn 37 this year and isn’t the same player he once was. Kelce averaged a career-worst 50.1 receiving yards per game in 2025. It’s not surprising that the Chiefs want Kelce back. It would be a surprise if they’re willing to keep paying him the $17 million a year he’s been making. |
| LAS VEGASCruel, unfair – but funny: @NFLMemesGeno Smith is so bad that the team he left immediately won the Super Bowl while the team he joined now has the #1 overall pick in the draft |
| AFC EAST |
| NEW ENGLANDQB DRAKE MAYE soldiered on Sunday with a sore shoulder. Mike Reiss of ESPN.com: – New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye said he received a pain-killing injection for his injured right throwing shoulder before the team’s 29-13 loss to the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl LX on Sunday night. Maye, who was emotional after the game, was asked how his shoulder felt, and he said: “I shot it up, so not much feeling. It was good to go, and it felt all right.” The injury seemed to affect Maye. He turned the ball over three times, including a strip sack late in the third quarter that the Seahawks quickly turned into a touchdown for a 19-0 lead as they cruised to victory. He then threw two interceptions in the fourth quarter, one of which was returned 45 yards for a touchdown. The Patriots’ offense was stifled by the Seahawks’ defense for most of the first three quarters, with Maye’s protection overwhelmed at times. Maye & Co. found some rhythm in the fourth quarter that helped bolster his final stat line — 27 of 43 for 295 yards, with two touchdowns and two interceptions. In the aftermath of the AFC Championship Game, when he landed on his right shoulder on a 13-yard run late in the third quarter, Maye had been limited in one practice and then held out of another. But he said he felt he turned a corner upon arriving in California on Feb. 1 and practiced fully in the Patriots’ three workouts leading up to the game. Maye said Thursday that he was feeling great, although he had still been listed on the injury report all last week, per NFL rules. The Patriots did a lot of things right in 2025 to get to the Super Bowl. Was drafting T WILL CAMPBELL with the fourth overall pick one of them? @RealJackAndradeNext Gen Stats attributed 14 QB Pressures Allowed to Will Campbell in Super Bowl LX – the most pressures allowed by any player in a game this season (including playoffs)– – -Zachary Pareles of CBSSports.com thought Mike Vrabel was timid: Loser: Mike Vrabel and Josh McDanielsVrabel had several questionable decisions, including … not going for two down 19-6not going on fourth-and-3 at the Patriots’ own 39 down 9-0not going on fourth-and-1 at the Patriots’ own 41 down 12-0 But when a team’s coach is the CEO type — not one who calls the offense or defense — his coordinators have to be excellent. Vrabel’s offensive coordinator, McDaniels, got beaten. Too often, his overmatched offensive line was left out to dry. Maye’s athleticism wasn’t on display enough. With two weeks to prepare, Macdonald pulled several tricks out of his bag. It didn’t feel like McDaniels did the same.– – -Tyler Sullivan of CBSSports.com points out that the Patriots are going to have a tougher path to get back to the Super Bowl. 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. 2026 home opponents 2026 road opponentsDenver Broncos Chicago BearsGreen Bay Packers Detroit LionsLas Vegas Raiders Kansas City ChiefsMinnesota Vikings Los Angeles ChargersPittsburgh Steelers Seattle SeahawksBuffalo Bills Jacksonville JaguarsMiami Dolphins Buffalo BillsNew York Jets Miami Dolphins New York Jets 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. |
| THIS AND THAT |
| TRADING KYLER AND TUADuh, Adam Schefter says the Cardinals and Dolphins are looking for “trade partners” to take highly-paid quarterbacks off their hands. No real discussion to who might want them, and why these unnamed teams wouldn’t wait until they are waived and they can get them cheaper. As the Miami Dolphins and Arizona Cardinals navigate the future with new head coaches, both teams would like to find trade partners for their starting quarterbacks. The Dolphins would like to explore trading Tua Tagovailoa; ditto for the Cardinals and Kyler Murray. But it remains unclear whether a deal for either quarterback is feasible given the financial hurdles for an acquiring team. There certainly are expected to be a handful of teams in the market for new quarterbacks. In addition to the Dolphins and Cardinals, the list could include the New York Jets, Atlanta Falcons, Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers and Minnesota Vikings. Miami is expected to be willing to pay down a portion of Tagovailoa’s contract to help facilitate a trade, sources told ESPN, though the money still makes it challenging. The Dolphins signed Tagovailoa to a four-year, $212.1 million extension in July 2024. They already owe him $54 million guaranteed in 2026, and another $3 million of Tagovailoa’s 2027 salary becomes guaranteed on the fifth day of the new league year March 15. Cutting Tagovailoa would leave a $99 million dead money salary cap charge — the largest in NFL history — while designating him as a post-June 1 cut would spread out the money over two years. Murray already is guaranteed $36.8 million in 2026. On March 15, another $19.5 million of his 2027 base salary becomes guaranteed if Murray is still on Arizona’s roster. If the Cardinals release Murray before June 1, they would take on a $54.7 million dead cap hit. Designating Murray as a post-June 1 cut would spread out the money over two years. Trading Murray would create $34.7 million in cap savings for the Cardinals while leaving behind $17.9 million in dead money, which would seem to be a more attractive alternative if Arizona can find a trade partner. Tagovailoa was benched with three games remaining this past season, signaling that his six-year run in Miami could be coming to an end. The league’s leader in passing yards in 2023 threw a career-high 15 interceptions and failed to eclipse 200 passing yards in eight of the 14 games he played this season. Tagovailoa, who turns 28 next month, suggested after the season that he was open to a fresh start with a new team. New general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan was noncommittal when asked last month about Tagovailoa’s future with the organization, saying the Dolphins were undecided at the quarterback position. Murray, 28, played in just five games last season because of a foot injury, throwing for 962 yards, six touchdowns and three interceptions. The former Heisman Trophy winner has played seven seasons with Arizona since being drafted with the No. 1 pick in 2019 but has been to the playoffs just once. New Cardinals coach Mike LaFleur said on Tuesday that he spoke recently with Murray but did not discuss the quarterback’s future with the franchise. Chris Rosvoglou of YahooSports.com with more on Murray: “Kyler Murray has attracted a lot of speculation with regard to the Jets. I’d be a little surprised if they went down that road. He has not been a durable player. He has not been a good player, quite frankly,” Cimini said, via New York Jets on Sports Illustrated. “I was talking to someone, one of his former teammates, the other day, and he basically warned off the Jets about [him]. I said, ‘You know the Jets might be going after Kyler in a month or two.’ And he goes, ‘No, no, no, the Jets don’t want to do that. You don’t want Kyler Murray as your quarterback.’ This is someone who played with Murray.” What’s the asking price for Kyler?According to ESPN reporter Jos Weinfuss, the trade market for Murray will most likely start with a third-round pick. “An NFC source believes the starting price for Murray, if Arizona is interested in trading him, could start with a second-round pick. That source believes if the Cardinals can trade Murray, they will. The league source believes Murray’s market starts with a third-round pick,” Weinfuss wrote. “That source compared Murray’s situation with Geno Smith’s when he was traded from Seattle to Las Vegas last March for a third-round.” Murray is owed $36.8 million in fully guaranteed salary and bonuses for the 2026 season, so teams interested in him have to be comfortable with his lofty contract. And judging by his former teammate’s remarks, potential suitors also have to make sure Murray is the right culture fit for them. |
| BUNNY BUSINESSThis is what happened at halftime at Levi’s Stadium per Kiki Intarasuwan of CBS News: Bad Bunny brought the party to the Super Bowl halftime show as he promised, performing hits from “Debí Tirar Más Fotos” a week after winning Album of the Year for it at the 2026 Grammys. The 31-year-old Puerto Rican superstar took the stage dressed in all white, donning a jersey with his last name, Ocasio, and the number 64. He made history as the first halftime show performer to sing primarily in Spanish at the most-watched sporting event in the United States. Bad Bunny pays tribute to Puerto RicoAt halftime in the matchup between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots, Bad Bunny opened his performance at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, with his 2022 hit “Tití Me Preguntó.” Paying tribute to his homeland, the field was filled with palm trees, sugar cane and other vegetation native to Puerto Rico. Walking through the lush greens, Bad Bunny passed sugar cane farmers sporting a pava (a traditional Puerto Rican straw hat), a coconut vendor, a piragua cart and a couple of boxers as he went on to perform another hit, “Yo Perreo Sola.” Bad Bunny also performed other songs from his latest album, including “EoO,” “NUEVAYoL,” which pays tribute to the Puerto Rican diaspora in New York City, and “DTMF.” Lady Gaga, Ricky Martin make surprise appearancesSunday’s halftime was packed with celebrity guest appearances, including Lady Gaga, who performed her duet “Die With a Smile” with a Latin sound, and joined Bad Bunny in performing “BAILE INoLVIDABLE.” Gaga headlined a Super Bowl halftime show herself in 2017. Ricky Martin also made a surprise appearance. The Puerto Rican singer performed “LO QUE LE PASÓ A HAWAii,” a Bad Bunny song whose lyrics call out gentrification in the island — an ongoing trend fueled by tax incentives that have led to wealthy mainland Americans buying up land and homes, drawing a comparison to gentrification in Hawaii. Other celebrity cameos included Pedro Pascal, Jessica Alba, Cardi B and Karol G. Another vignette in the show featured a young boy watching the Grammys on TV with his parents when Bad Bunny appeared and handed the boy a Grammy statuette. “La Brega” podcast host Alana Casanova-Burgess told CBS News, “I think a lot of people, myself included, saw parallels between that little boy and Liam Conejo Ramos,” referring to the 5-year-old Minneapolis boy who was detained by ICE with his father. “We know that that little boy wasn’t Liam Conejo Ramos, but whether it was [representing] a younger Bad Bunny or any other Latino kid, I think the parallels were pretty clear.” The show even featured a wedding scene — and according to a close to the halftime show production, it was a real wedding. The Associated Press reports a representative for Bad Bunny said he served as a witness and signed the couple’s marriage certificate. Bad Bunny’s performance at the Super Bowl halftime show Bad Bunny, born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, is one of the most-streamed artists on the planet. Early figures show it was the most-watched halftime performance of all time with more than 135 million viewers. During the performance, he gave a shout-out to the countries across the Americas. In one of the only lines in English, he said, “God bless America.” Towards the end of the show, the singer climbed an electrical pole, a reference to not only the power of Puerto Rico and its people but to power supply issues the island has struggled with. Many of his song lyrics criticize the ineffective response by the government in Puerto Rico to crises like the hurricanes that have pummeled the island and caused island-wide blackouts in recent years. As he exited at the end of the show, trailed by U.S. and Puerto Rican flags and the flags of nations across the Americas, the message on a giant screen across the field read: “The only thing more powerful than hate is love.” We wondered what the MF stood for in “DTMF”, but not to worry, it’s “mas fotos.” “DTMF” (initialism for Debí Tirar Más Fotos, ‘I Should Have Taken More Photos’, and stylized as DtMF) is a song by Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny. Many elements of the media celebrate Bad Bunny for his bringing his version of Puerto Rican “culture” to the fore. But lawyer Joseph McBride explains that not all Puerto Ricans are aligned with Bunny’s vision: @McBrideLawNYCBad Bunny is an extraordinary artist. I began listening to his music since around 2015, and his talent is undeniably generational. Despite being raised in a deeply Catholic home, he has abandoned Jesus Christ and openly aligned himself with a moral and spiritual posture that is hostile to the sacred. The music industry death cult he now serves is not merely decadent but abominable. To be clear, Super Bowl halftime performers have never been exemplars of piety. Many have lived openly questionable lives, and that is their prerogative. That alone is not the issue. What distinguishes this moment is the deliberate politicization of the event. The turning of entertainment into a cultural confrontation, setting traditional values against Bad Bunny’s confused, woke degeneracy. That messaging cannot be ignored or negotiated with. Compounding this is the ongoing exploitation of Puerto Rican culture, which I find deeply offensive. The reduction of an entire people into a crude caricature of intoxication, hypersexuality, and moral disorder is not cultural pride but cultural vandalism. My Puerto Rican mother raised me with dignity, discipline, and respect. I reject this debased portrayal entirely. For these reasons, I cannot support him, and I will not be watching the Super Bowl Halftime Show. |
