Super Bowl LX preview: Seahawks, Patriots carry weight of franchise legacies in very different ways

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — It has been more than a decade since the stunning end to the Patriots’ Super Bowl XLIX win over the Seahawks when Seattle fatefully opted against giving the ball to Marshawn Lynch at the goal line and instead lost on an interception, and no one who played in that game is still around for either team.

But it’s still a rematch Sunday in Super Bowl LX as both teams compete not only against each other, but their respective franchises’ legacies.

With their tremendous defense and ballhawking secondary, the Seahawks seek to prove the sequel to the Legion of Boom era is as good as the original. The Patriots, meanwhile, want to finally move forward from the departures of coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady as Mike Vrabel and Drake Maye step into the spotlight.

Brady leaving in 2020 was unpleasant for all parties and sent the Patriots spiraling. Belichick managed one winning season without him and was gone four years later. Successor Jerod Mayo couldn’t measure up, and neither could 2021 first-round pick Mac Jones at quarterback.

After back-to-back 4-13 seasons, the Patriots reached into their past to find their future. Vrabel, a three-time champion linebacker from the Belichick years, was exactly what Maye, and the team at large, needed.

Super Bowl week has been a clear demarcation between where the Patriots were and where they’re headed. Not only are they playing for what would be a record-setting seventh championship, but Vrabel was awarded Coach of the Year and Maye finished a very close second for MVP.

That combination was essential in the Patriots finishing top five in scoring offense and defense for first time since 2017.

With the Seahawks it wasn’t so much a problem with coach Pete Carroll’s approach, but rather that they needed a fresh voice after three middling seasons and with Carroll in his 70s. Coach Mike McDonald credited Carroll for laying the foundation for what he’s done the last two seasons, and like Carroll, he’s a defensive minded coach.

The Seahawks have no desire to push Legion of Boom deeper into their past. It’s more so a standard they’re trying to reach. The stars of that group still come around quite a bit, and Seahawks safety Julian Love said the defense talks with former four-time Pro Bowl safety Kam Chancellor weekly.

“They give us our flowers and vice versa,” safety Coby Bryant said. “We appreciate those guys coming around. They’ve been a huge help since I stepped into the league.

“I modeled my game after a lot of those guys growing up. They always flew around and made plays, and that was something I saw myself doing.”

They’ve looked like the new version of Legion of Boom, and just like that group, allowed the fewest points in the league this season.

Legacies have raised the stakes for both teams as the Seahawks try to live up to theirs and the Patriots are out to write a new one.

When the Seahawks have the ball

It’s time to take quarterback Sam Darnold seriously. He deserved that respect last season with the Vikings, really, but now it can’t even be argued.

After six seasons adrift, mainly with the lowly Jets and Panthers, he has gone 30-7 as a starter the last two seasons, including the playoffs. In that span, he posted a 101.1 passer rating, threw 65 touchdown passes and 27 interceptions and averaged 245.5 yards per game.

That’s not a “system quarterback” or someone quietly riding a great defense to victories. That’s a winner. Maybe the Jets and the Panthers were the problem.

Darnold followed his excellent regular season with two monster playoff games as the Sea-hawks scored a total of 72 points to beat the Rams and 49ers. He’s as much the reason they’re in the Super Bowl as anyone else on the roster.

“He’s been everything you would want in a quarterback,” All-Pro wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba said. “We all love Sam and believe in him.”

The Patriots were eighth in total defense this season, but they faced a lot of bad quarterbacks and still allowed the 12th-highest passer rating in the regular season. They also had the ninth-lowest pressure rate, and Darnold is protected by a top-10 offensive line, meaning he’ll have time to find weapons such as Smith-Njigba, Cooper Kupp and AJ Barner.

When the Patriots have the ball

Quarterback Drake Maye had an MVP-caliber season, but the Patriots are unlikely to win without their ground game rolling. That starts with rookie running back TreVeyon Henderson.

Henderson went 38th overall in the draft last year, 32 spots behind coveted star Ashton Jeanty, but had just as good of a rookie season as Jeanty. Henderson finished second in the draft class to Jeanty’s 975 yards rushing with 911, though his 5.1 yards per carry blew away Jeanty’s 3.7, and led it with nine touchdown runs.

The Bears had their eyes on him in the draft but were sitting 39th. When the Patriots picked Henderson, the Bears picked wide receiver Luther Burden, and it worked out for all parties.

Henderson was mostly a non-factor, though, in the Patriots’ win over the Broncos in the AFC Championship Game. Weather played a big role in the game as heavy snow made everything difficult, but the Patriots managed just 10 points and Henderson ran three times for five yards.

They got far more production from Rhamondre Stevenson with 71 yards on 25 carries, and they’ll need both of them to step up if they’re going to make headway against a Seahawks defense that ranked third against the run in the regular season and shut down the Rams’ rushing attack in the NFC Championship Game.

Henderson called this the longest season of his life — he’s about to play his 21st game — and fatigue could be hitting him. He was under four yards per carry in each of his last three games and totaled just 195 yards over his last six.