Author: rb809rb

Super Bowl LX will have a familiar matchup, though the two teams have changed a lot since their first Super Bowl encounter.

The last time the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks faced each other in the Super Bowl, it was one of the greatest games in NFL history. Super Bowl XLIX ended with Russell Wilson throwing an interception to Malcolm Butler in one of the most infamous coaching decisions ever. It has been 11 years since that game, and we get a rematch between the two franchises.

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The Seahawks haven’t been back to the Super Bowl since that Wilson interception, but Mike Macdonald led a great turnaround for the franchise, going 14-3 in the regular season and then beating the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams in the playoffs to win the NFC. This time, Sam Darnold leads Seattle into the Super Bowl at the end of his first season with the team. Seattle is chasing its second Super Bowl title; it won the first one by blowing out Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII.

It’s a much different Patriots team than the one that beat the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX, or even the last Super Bowl title of the Tom Brady and Bill Belichick-led dynasty seven seasons ago. Brady is in the broadcast booth and Drake Maye has started a new era of great quarterback play in New England. While Belichick is off at North Carolina, his former linebacker Mike Vrabel has brought back a championship mentality after the roster fell off in the final years of the Belichick era and Jerod Mayo’s one season coaching the team. The roster was overhauled in the offseason through some heavy spending on talented players and then a good draft. And even though most of the names are different from the Patriots’ dynasty, it will be familiar seeing those uniforms on Super Bowl Sunday. This will be New England’s 12th Super Bowl appearance. The Patriots have won six championships.

The NFL is getting a pretty good matchup for its Super Bowl in Santa Clara, California. But it will be hard to live up to the first Super Bowl meeting between the two.

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Super Bowl LX at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.

New England Patriots vs. Seattle Seahawks (6:30 p.m. ET, NBC)

Why the Patriots can win

The Patriots showed how an elite coach/quarterback combination can change an entire franchise. Drake Maye developed rapidly in his second season, and will finish either first or second in the NFL MVP voting. Mike Vrabel was hired after the team quickly moved on from Jerod Mayo following a 4-13 season, and Vrabel will likely win NFL Coach of the Year. Vrabel led a big improvement on defense, and some quality additions in free agency helped. The offense grew with Josh McDaniels coordinating it and Maye having a great season.

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[Get more Patriots news: New England team feed]

The Patriots don’t have any big weakness. New England might have caught a break with the NFL’s easiest regular-season schedule — the Patriots beat one team that ended with a winning record — but they have played very well in the postseason (against three very good defenses) with their own defense peaking. It won’t be easy for the Patriots’ offense facing a stellar Seattle defense, but Maye has played at a very high level all season.

Why the Seahawks can win

Seattle has been playing championship football for most of the season. Its offense has been efficient, with the third-most points and the eighth-most yards in the NFL. Sam Darnold has been very good most of the season, especially when he throws to Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who had an NFL-best 1,793 receiving yards.

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[Get more Seahawks news: Seattle team feed]

But the driver of the Seahawks’ success is their defense. Seattle allowed the fewest points in the NFL this season. Mike Macdonald came to Seattle after a successful run as the Ravens’ defensive coordinator, and in his second season as the Seahawks’ head coach his schemes took hold and Seattle had a fantastic season. The Seahawks do everything well, but their defense in particular is a championship unit. If Seattle can run on a New England defense that had a few poor games stopping the run before turning it back on in the playoffs, the Seahawks will have a good shot at their second Super Bowl title in franchise history.

Who has the juice going in

It’s hard to not side with the Seahawks, who played very well near the end of the season and capped an NFC title by beating a very good Rams team. Seattle has been the best team in the NFL over the course of the season and it should feel confident heading into Super Bowl LX. New England isn’t in the Super Bowl by accident, however. The Patriots barely remember what it’s like to lose. Since a 1-2 start, New England has won 16 of 17 games including the playoffs. The Patriots are very well coached with an MVP-level quarterback in Drake Maye. They’ll feel good about their chances as well. Seattle probably feels a little bit better, but it should be a very competitive Super Bowl.

In opposite fashion of the AFC title game, the Seattle Seahawks and Los Angeles Rams were involved in a bit of a shootout on Sunday night.

In the end, though, it was the Seahawks who survived a battle with their NFC West rival to secure their first trip to the Super Bowl since the 2014 campaign. They’ll now take on the New England Patriots, who are in the Super Bowl themselves for the first time since the Tom Brady era.

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Here’s a look at the key plays that decided the outcome of Sunday’s contest at Lumen Field.

Rashid Shaheed’s 51-yard grab

The Seahawks came out fast on Sunday night, thanks to a massive reception from Rashid Shaheed on their opening drive. Shaheed broke up the right side of the field and easily snuck past Darious Williams to set up a 51-yard completion that put Seattle in scoring position.

That ended up being Shaheed’s only catch of the game, but it led to a 2-yard touchdown run from Kenneth Walker to get them on the board.

JSN’s huge first half

Jaxon Smith-Njigba didn’t score on this play, but the ridiculous grab through an immense hit set up the score a few plays later.

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Smith-Njigba broke open deep in the middle of the field with about 30 seconds left in the half and somehow managed to hang onto a 42-yard deep ball through a huge hit from Kam Curl. Smith-Njigba jumped up like nothing happened and celebrated instantly.

Just three plays later, Smith-Njigba completed the drive with a 14-yard touchdown. That brought him up to 115 yards in the game, and put the Seahawks up entering the locker room.

Those catches were just some of the grabs he made in the first 30 minutes, though one he made in the first quarter with a single hand was way more impressive. He ended up with 153 yards and a score on 10 catches in the win.

Xavier Smith’s botched punt return

The Rams picked up a pretty quick stop to start the second half, but it completely backfired on a brutal special teams blunder.

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Xavier Smith started to trip while trying to track down a deep punt and couldn’t haul it in. The Seahawks immediately jumped on it to complete the turnover, which led to a 17-yard touchdown pass from Sam Darnold to Jake Bobo on the very next play. Just like that, the Seahawks’ lead was up to 11.

Riq Woolen’s taunting

This taunting penalty came at the worst time.

While it’s not known what was actually said, Seahawks cornerback Riq Woolen was called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after a third down stop late in the third quarter. That turned what should have been a Rams punt into a fresh set of downs.

The Rams immediately took advantage of it, too. Matthew Stafford hit Puka Nacua for a 34-yard touchdown pass on the very next play.

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Woolen’s taunting penalty turned what was once an 11-point game into a four-point battle. It’s no wonder his teammates weren’t happy with him on the sidelines.

Seattle’s last stand

Stafford got the Rams into scoring position one final time in the fourth quarter, and nearly sent them into the lead after a long 14-play, 84 yard drive. But the drive finally stalled out just six yards from the goal line, and it ended up sealing the win for the Seahawks.

Seattle, after Stafford already scrambled on a short fourth down to keep the drive alive earlier, broke up two final passes on third and fourth down to force a turnover inside the 10 yard line. It was Devon Witherspoon who got in the way of both of them.

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Witherspoon first broke up a pass intended for Konata Mumpfield on third down, which set up a fourth-and-4 with about five minutes left in the game. Witherspoon then did it again on fourth down, and nearly intercepted a pass intended for Terrance Ferguson in the back of the end zone. He jumped up livid after the play, upset that he didn’t draw a flag, but it didn’t matter. He got the job done, and the Seahawks got the ball back.

Even though the Rams got the ball back one last time, they only had 25 seconds left and no timeouts to work with. That wasn’t anywhere near enough time to go the 93 yards they needed to to find the end zone.

While the Rams had plenty of opportunities, and nearly mounted a late comeback after a critical Seattle mistake, it was the Seahawks who executed in the end on the defensive side of the ball. That, and a massive outing from Smith-Njigba, has them headed to their first Super Bowl in more than a decade.

Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker will be sidelined for at least one week, after which his ankle injury will be re-evaluated, The team announced Booker’s status on Sunday.

Booker suffered the injury during Friday night’s 110-103 loss to the Atlanta Hawks. He turned his right ankle in the closing seconds of the third quarter while stepping on the foot of Hawks center Onyeka Okongwu. Booker didn’t see Okongwu while watching Grayson Allen lose the ball out of bounds. With his head turned to the right, he didn’t see Okongwu and ran into him.

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Booker was running back down the court with his head turned toward Grayson Allen trying to save a loose ball from going out of bounds. As a result, Booker collided into Okongwu and hit the deck in pain.

“Seems to be in a pretty good place,” Suns coach Jordan Ott said, via the Arizona Republic, presumably referring to Booker not suffering a more serious injury.

“Anytime you get anyone down on the court like that, it’s not great and it was so unlucky,” he added. “He had been feeling so good at the end of that third quarter… We know he’s an incredible healer and a guy that’s going to do everything it takes to play the next one. That’s encouraging news.”

Prior to leaving the game, Booker had 31 points (shooting 5-of-9 on 3-pointers) with 4 rebounds and 3 assists. For the season, he’s averaging 25.4 points, 6.2 assists and 4 rebounds while shooting 31% on 3s. The Suns are sixth in the Western Conference with a 27-18 record under first-year coach Ott.

[Get more Suns news: Phoenix team feed]

Phoenix also lost Jalen Green to a hamstring injury in Friday’s game. The fifth-year guard was playing in his second game after missing 33 straight with a strained right hamstring. Green has only appeared in four games with the Suns since being acquired in a trade for Kevin Durant. He scored four points in four minutes before leaving the game.

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Green missed Sunday’s 111-102 loss to the Miami Heat after being listed as questionable on the NBA injury report leading up to game time.

Like the back-and-forth regular season series between the NFC West rivals, Sunday’s NFC championship game between the Los Angeles Rams and Seattle Seahawks came down to the wire.

The Seahawks secured their 31-27 victory thanks in part to a late fourth-down stop in the red zone that kept the Rams from taking a lead. Rams coach Sean McVay was asked about the failed fourth down in his postgame news conference.

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He believes that the Seahawks got a bit lucky on the pivotal play as two defenders covered the primary target, running back Kyren Williams.

‘Fortuitous bust’

“That was a situation where we just kind of came up short,” McVay told reporters. “They kind of lucked into having two guys peel on Kyren right there. I know that can’t be a part of their design. It’s a fortuitous bust by them.”

McVay quickly pivoted to crediting the Seahawks for their win.

“They’re an excellent team,” McVay continued. “You don’t take away anything. They earned the win, and they’re NFC champs for a reason.”

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The play in question was a fourth-and-4 from the Seattle 6-yard line with 4:59 remaining. The Rams trailed 31-27 and would have taken a late lead with a touchdown. Instead, Matthew Stafford threw incomplete to tight end Terrance Ferguson, who was covered tightly by cornerback Devon Witherspoon.

The Seahawks took over on downs and ran most of the remainder of the clock down on their ensuing possession.

Was it a ‘bust?’

Williams was designed as the primary target on the play for a swing pass out of backfield. He lined up to the left of Stafford, who was in shotgun formation. Williams ran to the left flat at the snap and was immediately picked up by safety Julian Love, who appeared initially to be rushing Stafford.

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Linebacker DeMarcus Lawrence also pulled back and dropped into coverage of Williams. Stafford looked first in Williams’ direction, then looked elsewhere when he saw that he faced double coverage.

He opted to target Ferguson in the back of the end zone, and the pass stood little chance thanks to Witherspoon’s coverage.

Stafford had nowhere to throw

To be fair to Stafford, he didn’t have any good options. With Love joining Lawrence on Williams, the Seahawks rushed only three and dropped eight in coverage. There was nowhere clean for Stafford to throw.

Was Love’s assignment to rush Stafford, or did he improvise and drop back to cover Williams when he saw the running back’s route? It’s not clear from watching the play.

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In the end, it does not matter. Whether he improvised or disguised a pass rush with the intent to cover Williams, Love and Lawrence cut off Stafford’s primary target, and a blanketing Seattle defense did the rest to limit his options.

Stafford does a lot of things well, but he’s not a threat to run in that situation. And the Seahawks covered all their bases to secure their spot in the Super Bowl against the New England Patriots.

Nate Tice & Matt Harmon give their instant reactions and takeaways from the AFC & NFC Championship games. The duo start by reacting to a wild barn-burner in Seattle as Sam Darnold overcomes his demons to defeat the Los Angeles Rams 31-27 and take the Seattle Seahawks to Super Bowl LX. Next, the AFC Championship got cold FAST as the New England Patriots managed to weather the storm and defeat the Jarrett Stidham-led Denver Broncos on the road 10-7.

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Nate & Matt give their early thoughts on the Seahawks-Patriots Super Bowl matchup (which has some very interesting history) and how they see the next few weeks of narratives playing out. The two hosts wrap things up with their thoughts on the Pittsburgh Steelers hiring Mike McCarthy as their next head coach as they try to find a way to spin the hire as an upgrade over what Pittsburgh already had in Mike Tomlin.

(2:30) – Seahawks beat Rams in NFC Championship

(21:45) – Patriots beat Broncos in AFC Championship

(48:40) – Early Super Bowl LX thoughts

(53:15) – Steelers hire HC Mike McCarthy

🖥️ Watch this full episode on YouTube

Check out the rest of the Yahoo Sports podcast family at https://apple.co/3zEuTQj or at Yahoo Sports Podcasts

The mood inside the Target Center was, understandably, off on Sunday afternoon.

While the Golden State Warriors did roll to a near-30-point blowout over the Minnesota Timberwolves, it wasn’t the game that threw the vibes off. It was everything else going on just outside of the arena doors on the streets of Minneapolis that did it.

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That, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said after the Warriors’ 111-85 win, was very apparent.

“Honestly what I felt was that their group was suffering,” Kerr said, via ESPN’s Anthony Slater. “I thought the vibe in the stands, it was one of the most bizarre, sad games I’ve ever been a part of. You could feel the somber atmosphere. Their team, we could tell, they were struggling with everything that’s been going on and what the city has been through.

“It was very sad. It was a sad night.”

Sunday’s game was initially supposed to be held on Saturday, but the league quickly pushed it 24 hours in the wake of the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Veterans Affairs nurse Alex Pretti by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. That came just weeks after an ICE agent shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Good elsewhere in the city. Those shootings, as well as larger ICE operations and activity throughout the Twin Cities region, have sparked massive protests and demonstrations.

Plenty in the sports world have spoken out, including several Minnesota sports teams and the National Basketball Players Association. New York Liberty star and Unrivaled co-founder Breanna Stewart held an “Abolish ICE” sign before her game on Sunday. Former Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns and Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton both posted about it on social media.

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After seeing the situation unfold, both Kerr and Timberwolves coach Chris Finch were in agreement. Playing basketball on Saturday, Finch said, “just didn’t feel like the right thing to do.”

“For the second time in less than three weeks, we’ve lost another beloved member of our community in the most unimaginable way,” an emotional Finch said before the game.

“As an organization, we are heartbroken for what we are having to witness and endure and watch. We just want to extend our thoughts, prayers and concern for Mr. Pretti’s family, all the loved ones and everyone involved in such an unconscionable situation in a community that we really love, full of people who are, by nature, peaceful and prideful. We just stand in support of our great community here.”

Warriors star Stephen Curry said he was “glued” to the TV on Friday and Saturday when they weren’t playing or practicing. He also said he has videos on his phone that he took of protesters who were walking through the streets on Friday outside of their hotel in sub-zero temperatures.

“The protests that were going on downtown, it was amazing to watch the turnout,” Curry said. “The peaceful protests and unified voice that was here, you feel like that would kind of turn the tide to a more positive direction. Then you wake up in the morning and you see what happened … There’s a lot of change that needs to happen, and when you’re here, you feel it.”

The Timberwolves held a moment of silence for Pretti before the game on Sunday. Several in the crowd shouted out “F*** ICE” during the moment.

While there were protests outside of the Target Center again on Sunday, the game went off as planned without any issues.

“It’s very difficult to see so many people struggling and sad,” Kerr said. “They came to the game to try to forget about stuff, I guess, but I don’t think anything went away for the city and for their team. I think they were suffering from the effects of everything.”

Super Bowl LX is set. The New England Patriots will square off against the Seattle Seahawks on Feb. 8 in Santa Clara, Calif. It’s the second time these two franchises have met in the Super Bowl, and the first was a thriller.

There’s ample reason to believe this one will be exciting, too. Here’s a deeper look by the numbers at what’s at stake.

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(Special thanks to the AP’s Josh Dubow and NFL researchers Dante Koplowitz-Fleming, Tony Holzman-Escareno, Zak Koeppel and Jack Andrade for the facts and figures.)

0

The number of wins quarterbacks age 24 or younger have against Mike Macdonald since he became head coach of the Seahawks. Drake Maye is 23.

1

Seattle’s John Schneider is the first general manager in NFL history to make multiple Super Bowls with the same franchise with a completely new roster and head coach.

2

Drake Maye is the second QB in NFL history to defeat the top three scoring defenses from the regular season in the same postseason, joining Peyton Manning in the 2006 season.

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[Get more Patriots news: New England team feed]

3

This is the third Super Bowl between starting QBs picked in the top five of their respective drafts — as well as the first between QBs each picked third overall — following Peyton Manning vs. Cam Newton in Super Bowl 50 and Matthew Stafford vs. Joe Burrow in Super Bowl LVI.

4

This is the fourth Super Bowl between head coaches in their first or second season on the job, following Super Bowl XXXVI (Bill Belichick’s Patriots vs. Mike Martz’s Rams), Super Bowl XXXVII (Jon Gruden’s Buccaneers vs. Bill Callahan’s Raiders), and Super Bowl XLIII (Mike Tomlin’s Steelers vs. Ken Whisenhunt’s Cardinals).

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5

Sam Darnold has played with five teams in his NFL career, the most for a QB making his first Super Bowl start since Atlanta’s Chris Chandler in the 1998 season (six).

[Get more Seahawks news: Seattle team feed]

6

This is the sixth time in Super Bowl history the game will pit two teams that missed the playoffs the previous season, following Super Bowls III (Jets-Colts), XVI (49ers-Bengals), XXXIV (Rams-Titans), XXXV (Ravens-Giants), and XXXVIII (Patriots-Panthers).

7

The Patriots are in search of their seventh Super Bowl title, which would break a tie with the Steelers for most by a single franchise all time. (Tom Brady, of course, has seven on his own with the Patriots and Buccaneers.)

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8

This postseason has already featured eight games decided by 4 points or fewer, breaking the previous playoff record of six, which happened in both 2006 and 2021.

12

This is the Patriots’ 12th Super Bowl appearance, extending their own NFL record. Four teams (Cowboys, Steelers, 49ers and Broncos) are tied for second at eight.

17

The Seahawks are looking to become the 17th NFL franchise with multiple Super Bowl titles. The Eagles were the most recent team to accomplish the feat last season.

17.2

The combined points allowed by both the Seahawks’ and Patriots’ defenses this season, including playoffs, the fewest on average in the league.

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20

The number of giveaways Sam Darnold committed during the regular season, the most in the regular season. The last QB to lead the NFL in giveaways and make the Super Bowl? Eli Manning in 2007, when his Giants beat the Patriots to win the title.

26

The total number of points the Patriots have allowed in three games this postseason in reaching the Super Bowl, the fewest since the 2000 Ravens allowed just 16 in their first three playoff games.

35

Days older than Dan Marino that Drake Maye would be when he starts Super Bowl LX. Marino is the youngest starting QB in Super Bowl history at 23 years, 127 days, and Maye would be 23 years, 162 days.

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416

The total number of regular season games played by Patriots players in their first season with the team, the most by far of any team to make the Super Bowl that same year. (The 2021 Bengals held the previous record of 327.)

DENVER — With the sunny, blue skies that colored the first half a distant memory, the New England Patriots had no intention of passing the ball.

One minute and 57 seconds remained in the AFC championship game. Third-and-6 loomed, and snow blanketed Empower Field at Mile High so thoroughly that stadium staff were powering snowblowers every game break to elucidate the yardage line markers vanishing beneath the powder.

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But facing what Patriots center Garrett Bradbury called a “sideways blizzard,” just one first down separated the Patriots from a Super Bowl berth.

The Denver Broncos knew the weather drastically decreased the chance of a pass, so they left no safeties deep. They saw heavy personnel New England had earlier aligned on for a stretch run to the right, and defenders slid to their left accordingly.

As Drake Maye surveyed his options in an offense that puts a lot on the quarterback’s plate but also empowers him, Maye thought to himself: “At some point, they get lackadaisical.” Translation: If the Broncos were going to slide toward his right, Maye would take it around the left edge.

Broncos outside linebacker Jonah Elliss seemed to travel with Maye as he took off behind the line of scrimmage, then across the line of scrimmage, and nearing the first-down chains. But as Elliss dove to prevent Maye’s conversion, he instead ended up sprawled in the snow as Maye’s speed proved unmoored by the slick conditions that his teammates and opponents confirmed impacted their ability to find solid footing.

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“If it’s a pass play called, then we’re going to protect him the best we can and he’s got obviously that threat to take it, and so we’ll ride with him any day of the week,” Bradbury said from a celebratory postgame locker room. “He understands his skills and how he can hurt a defense. I mean, that’s got to be demoralizing for a defense.

“Gutsy effort from him in those conditions.”

After scoring just 10 points to the Broncos’ 7, the Patriots are headed to the Super Bowl. Because on a day when two high-performing defenses were further aided by conditions that countered the pass game the NFL has tried so hard to promote, the Broncos’ mobile, first-string quarterback was confined to the fourth floor with a scooter.

And while Bo Nix recovers from a broken ankle he suffered in overtime of the Broncos’ divisional-round win, Maye validated why he’s a finalist for this season’s MVP as he rushed for 65 yards and a score.

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Maye is poised to be the youngest quarterback to start a Super Bowl since Dan Marino in 1985.

Patriots defensive tackle Milton Williams echoed Bradbury’s phrasing from the opposite side of the locker room.

“It’s demoralizing,” he said of Maye’s escapability. “I mean, dem boys, they [are] rushing. They [are] trying to go get him and he [is] fast. He [is] fast and that’s a backbreaker when you [are] rushing and you can’t get back there. Now you got to chase him after you done beat your guy.

“That was a big play by Drake that ended it for us. We’re going back to the Bowl.”

Patriots offensive strategy vs. Broncos: Don’t lose it

Three days before the Patriots arrived at a game in which the weather would rapidly become “worse and worse and worse,” per head coach Mike Vrabel, offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels spoke candidly about the nature of NFL playoff games.

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No, they don’t all end with 17 combined points, as the 58-point NFC championship game would show fans hours later.

But matchups of the best players and best coaches with the biggest stakes often don’t elapse without hiccups, McDaniels said Thursday.

“It’s like a great boxing match: I don’t think either guy leaves the ring at the end of the fight if it’s a 12-round split decision where one of ‘em thinks they really got the better of the other.”

As McDaniels advanced to his sixth Super Bowl as coordinator, the framework would come to describe the AFC championship offensive outings well.

Beyond each team scoring just one touchdown, and each missing two field-goal attempts, the Patriots’ and Broncos’ attacks struggled to stay on the field.

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The Patriots converted just one third of their third-down attempts (six-of-18), which fared better than the Broncos’ 28.6% (four-of-14). The Broncos managed just 79 rushing yards on 24 carries, while Maye completed fewer than 50% of his pass attempts (10 of 21 for 86 yards).

The boxing decision would come down to Maye’s mobility — beginning with the contrasting second-quarter stretch that would define the game.

The Broncos faced third-and-4 from their own 33, when Nix’s replacement, Jarrett Stidham, sought to make something out of nothing. But the Broncos’ offensive line hadn’t slowed linebacker Christian Elliss off the left edge, so Stidham sought to release the ball, instead throwing what was ruled a backward pass and fumble recovered by Patriots outside linebacker Elijah Ponder.

This was before the sun had fled and before the snow had fallen, but the Patriots’ offense had nonetheless struggled against the No. 1 sack unit and No. 2 defense the Broncos fronted.

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The gifted short field was a panacea. Maye hit receiver Kayshon Boutte for 6 yards in the red zone on the first play. The second, Maye hitched as if he would throw to his left, then tucked the ball and ran up the middle for a 6-yard score.

By day’s end, Maye’s legs would not only account for the Patriots’ lone score. They would also account for three of New England’s five longest plays.

General manager Eliot Wolf had seen that mobility in Maye’s college career, the quarterback accounting for 1,147 yards and 16 touchdowns rushing his final two years at UNC. With a league-best accurate arm this season, defenders have needed to respect both Maye’s arm and his legs. Honest defenses have suffered.

“The way that’s translated to up here has been pretty cool to see,” Wolf told Yahoo Sports. “From the standpoint of having another weapon to extend plays, obviously some of the biggest plays that we had today were those plays.

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“One of the differences in the game.”

Robert Kraft’s bet on Vrabel has paid off in no time

Another difference in the game ran up and down the Patriots’ sideline Sunday afternoon, the recipe he brought to New England this season on full display.

Vrabel has now tied the NFL all-time record for most wins in a head coach’s first season with a club (17). He is the eighth head coach in NFL history to advance to the Super Bowl in his first season with a team, and the seventh head coach to lead the team he once played for to the Super Bowl, per the team’s postgame notes.

Vrabel has elevated the Patriots with his schematic influence and his emphasis on speed and violence in defensive play. But as a walk-around coach who does not call plays on game day, Vrabel’s influence also has permeated deeply with his rare ability to balance supporting his players while holding them accountable.

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His postgame speech reflected that deeply.

The Patriots’ in-house media uploaded a clip of Vrabel’s speech in which he promised his players he would “let you celebrate,” as they’d “earned the right.” And he reminded them the importance of believing, sometimes, before they could see — because “everyone’s journey to the Super Bowl looks a little different.”

The team did not upload Vrabel outlining the rules of celebration.

Williams, however, recounted his coach’s directive.

“He proud of us, said no curfew tonight, but the bus leaving at 8 in the morning so if you ain’t on it, you ain’t playing in the [Super] Bowl,” Williams said. “So I’m pretty sure everybody going to be on that.”

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Did Vrabel really say that?

“Oh yeah, I ain’t playing,” Williams said. “He said that.”

So a nighttime celebration in snowy Denver awaited before the Patriots hoped weather would permit them to return to New England on Monday to prepare for the biggest stage. An offense with struggles that predated the snow (think: allowing five sacks for three straight weeks) is ready to find ways to contribute more thoroughly to its final result, while team brass noted its desire for Maye to remember he has the option to scramble.

Patriots kicker Andy Borregales will be glad that the Super Bowl is scheduled this year for the San Francisco 49ers’ stadium in the Bay Area, snow highly unlikely to reach the forecast.

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And Patriots defenders will have the chance to again fuel themselves with narratives that they’re not the best defensive unit advancing to this game.

The Seattle Seahawks, in Mike Macdonald’s second season, allowed the fewest points per game (17.2) all season.

Preparations will continue, analyses of situational football and schematic edges and maximizing personnel ahead.

Over time, the reality may hit. On Sunday night, for many players, it had not.

“You can’t put into words what this means,” Bradbury said. “It doesn’t feel real. It’s like a simulation, what’s going on?”

Maye similarly was still processing after he hoisted the Lamar Hunt Trophy on a stage of his opponents’ field, “MVP” chants drowning out his answers to any questions he was asked.

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“Get a chance to go win the Super Bowl,” Maye said later at the podium, as if trying out the words. “That’s what it is, and that’s pretty cool.”