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Bad Bunny’s halftime show went off without a hitch Sunday at Levi’s Stadium.

The Puerto Rican superstar performed a series of his biggest hits during the concert at the break of Super Bowl LX, echoing performances he’s had throughout the “DeBí TiRAR MáS FOToS” world tour. He even had his iconic casita full of celebrities dancing along, including Cardi B, Karol G, Pedro Pascal, Jessica Alba and others.

After starting with “Tití Me Preguntó” and working through several songs, Bad Bunny then brought out Lady Gaga to join him on the stage of an actual wedding. The couple involved, according to NBC News’ Rohan Nadkarni, invited Bad Bunny to their wedding, and he then invited them to actually get married during the show.

Fellow Puerto Rican artist Ricky Martin even showed up briefly.

But it was what Bad Bunny did to close the show that really turned heads.

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Bad Bunny avoids Trump or ICE reference, but repeats Grammy’s message

President Donald Trump and his administration quickly criticized the decision for Bad Bunny to be the game’s halftime performer shortly after it was announced last year. Trump said he had “never heard of him,” and Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Mike Johnson (R-La.) called it a “terrible decision” in October. Johnson suggested that 83-year-old Lee Greenwood, famous for “God Bless the USA” do the show instead.

U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem also said that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents would be “all over” the Super Bowl.

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Bad Bunny has been very outspoken about Trump and ICE in recent years. He mocked Trump in his “NUEVAYol” music video, where he used a Trump-like voice to apologize to immigrants. Bad Bunny even declined to hold concerts on his world tour in the United States because “f***ing ICE could be outside [the concert].”

Bad Bunny called out ICE after winning a Grammy award during his acceptance speech last week.

“Before I say thanks to God, I’m going to say ICE out,” he said at the award show. “We’re not savages, we’re not animals, we’re not aliens, we are humans and we are Americans … The hate gets more powerful with more hate. The only thing that’s more powerful than hate is love. So please, we need to be different. If we fight, we have to do it with love.”

To end Sunday’s show, after taking “CAFé CON RON” into “DtMF” for his final song, Bad Bunny broke out and named countries and territories in the Americas — from South America through Central America and then ending all the way up with Canada in North America — with their respective flags being carried behind him. The same message from the Grammy’s was written on the Levi’s Stadium scoreboard behind him.

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“The only thing more powerful than hate is love.”

Bad Bunny then spiked the football, and exited the field with his performers behind him.

“Together, we are America,” the football read.

While he didn’t mention Trump, ICE or anything else in that arena by name, Bad Bunny’s unifying messaging was the same.

Trump, though, quickly hit his social media platform to complain about the show. He did not like it.

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The Seattle Seahawks had a long wait to get the first touchdown on the board in Super Bowl LX. When they got it, they made it look easy.

With 13:24 left in the fourth quarter, tight end A.J. Barner got behind the defense and was wide open for a 16-yard touchdown. That gave the Seahawks a 19-0 lead over a New England Patriots team that couldn’t move the ball.

It also was a long awaited relief for anyone who bet Barner to score the first touchdown. He was 12-to-1 odds to score the game’s first touchdown at BetMGM.

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It was a low-scoring game without a touchdown for hours. There were only three field goals and no touchdowns in the first half. For a huge audience that might not be enthralled by a defensive battle, it was a first half that was light on any offensive highlights. It was so quiet that the thought of there not being a touchdown, which had never happened in a Super Bowl, seemed possible. The odds of that at BetMGM were 125-to-1.

It was rare to get to the second half without a touchdown. Two years ago, the San Francisco 49ers scored the first touchdown of the Super Bowl with less than five minutes remaining in the second quarter. Super Bowl LX breezed past that.

The latest it had gone before that was the Super Bowl seven years ago, when the first touchdown of an ugly Patriots win over the Los Angeles came with seven minutes left in the fourth quarter.

Neither team was even moving the ball well in the first half, especially the Patriots. They had 51 yards total in the first half. They started the second half with a three-and-out.

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It seemed like perhaps there would be a quick first touchdown. The Seahawks had a strong first drive to start the game, but the Patriots held inside the red zone to hold Seattle to a field goal and a 3-0 lead. On Seattle’s second drive Jaxon Smith-Njigba had an 86-yard touchdown in front of him after he got behind the defense on a third down, but under pressure Sam Darnold overthrew him. It was a prime opportunity to get a huge play and Darnold barely missed it.

Early in the second quarter Rashid Shaheed almost had a deep catch but Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez broke it up. It could have gone for a 76-yard score, but it was just incomplete.

Kenneth Walker III got the Seahawks offense going again with a couple of long runs after the near-miss to Shaheed. But the Seahawks offense bogged down again in the red zone and settled for another field goal.

The fourth quarter began and still no touchdown had been scored. But the Seahawks defense forced and recovered a fumble on a strip-sack of Drake Maye, giving them a possession inside Patriots territory. Darnold found Barner wide open in the end zone, and there was a score in Super Bowl LX.

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Everyone at home had waited a long time to see anyone get in the end zone.

Sunday was a good night for all of the Seattle Seahawks, Jason Myers included.

The Seahawks kicker was a busy man as Seattle piled on against the New England Patriots in a 29-13 win and set multiple records in the process.

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Through three quarters, Myers was the only player to crack the scoreboard with four field goals as the Seahawks build a 12-0 lead. Then in the fourth quarter, Myers kicked his fifth field goal of the game to extend Seattle’s lead to 22-7.

That set a new Super Bowl record. No other kicker in Super Bowl history has made five field goals in a game. And, per Sportradar, the 180 total yards his field goals traveled also set a Super Bowl record.

NFL’s all-time single-season leading scoring leader

But Myers wasn’t just excellent in Sunday’s game. He’s been doing this all season. And Sunday’s effort gave him the NFL’s all-time scoring record for a single season and postseason combined.

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San Diego Chargers great LaDainian Tomlinson held the record heading into the game with 198 points during his landmark 2006 season. Myers had 189 points heading into Sunday’s game. With 17 total points (five field goals and two extra points) Sunday night, Myers finishes his season with 206 points, claiming the record as his own.

Those 17 points also set a new Super Bowl record. No kicker before Myers had scored that many points in a Super Bowl.

All in all, it added up to a standout night to cap a standout season for both the Seahawks and their sensational kicker.

By now, you’ve had time to process the New England Patriots’ flop, a defensive showcase from the Seattle Seahawks, Bad Bunny’s halftime performance and everything else around Super Bowl LX. You’ve seen the Super Bowl commercials, from Dove’s celebration of women in sports to Sabrina Carpenter’s love for Pringles.

But what will stick with you? Here are our takes on the best and worst of the Super Bowl commercial crop for 2026.

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Best Super Bowl 60 commercials

Kellogg’s Raisin Bran, “Will Shat”

Genius! It’s rare these days for an ad to make you laugh out loud, but this one just might. William Shatner stars as “Will Shat,” who’s on a valiant mission to bring more fiber to America via Raisin Bran (haven’t you heard fiber is the new protein?). We won’t spoil the jokes here, so just give it a watch.

Michelob Ultra, “The Ultra Instructor”

It’s hard to go wrong when you combine Olympic stars past and present — TJ Oshie and Chloe Kim — and throw in Kurt Russell, who famously played Team USA coach Herb Brooks in the 2004 hit “Miracle.” Lewis Pullman is also there, because why not, and he does a nice job as the student to Russell’s sensei. The ad was shot on a real mountain, and it will get you in the Olympic spirit – if you’re not already.

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Lay’s, “Last Harvest”

This one has all the right ingredients for your classic Super Bowl tear-jerker: a touching parent-child relationship and a yellow lab getting older over the years. The actual storyline is not only made for a movie, but it hits all the right notes for the product it’s selling. And there’s just something about Keane’s “Somewhere Only We Know” that sweeps you up into all the feels.

Ramp, “Multiply What’s Possible”

Brian Baumgartner, who famously played dopey accountant Kevin Malone on “The Office,” is … back in an office, and he’s apparently on a deadline — a very tight one. As he approaches the five-minute mark leading up to this deadline, he discovers Ramp. Suddenly, he’s got body doubles swarming all over the office, accomplishing the tasks he clearly couldn’t have finished on his own. A+ for “The Office” references, including Kevin’s vat of chili, but we’ll give it a B because we’re still not entirely sure specifically what this product does.

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Dunkin’, “Good Will Dunkin”

Dunkin’ and Ben Affleck have done it again, this time with a spoof of one of the actor’s most famous films, “Good Will Hunting.” Adding iconic sitcom actors in Jennifer Aniston, Jaleel White, Jason Alexander, Alfonso Ribiero, Jasmine Guy, Matt LeBlanc and Ted Danson — not to mention the Tom Brady cameo — pushed this one over the edge.

Worst Super Bowl commercials

Ritz Crackers, “Shell Phone”

This one has all the ingredients for a great ad, including stars Jon Hamm, Scarlett Johansson and Bowen Yang, but it falls about as flat as the product it’s promoting. The story of the Ritz party doesn’t really make any sense, though Yang’s aversion to sand is quite relatable. Overall, a swing and a miss.

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Svedka, “Shake Your Bots Off”

There is pretty much nothing redeeming about this ad, which features robots dancing to Rick James’ “Super Freak” while doling out Svedka. That’s about all there is to it.

Anthropic, “Can I get a six pack quickly?”

The answer is maybe, but also, yikes! This ad underscores the fact that not only is A.I. coming for us, but it’s coming in a very annoying way. While Anthropic’s chatbot Claude allegedly won’t have ads, that doesn’t make it much more palatable.

Salesforce, “How I Made a Super Bowl Ad”

This one was very long, and it was hard to tell where they were going with this. It relied heavily on Mr. Beast’s involvement, and while the thought was creative, it could’ve been better executed if he had just announced his giveaway earlier.

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Totino’s, “Somehow Chazmo Returns?”

It was going to be tough to follow up last year’s spot with Tim Robinson and Sam Richardson. Here, we don’t see Chazmo until the final seconds, and it was easy to forget that this was a Pizza Rolls commercial — showing more food in a Super Bowl ad is never a bad idea.

The New England Patriots had yet another slow start in the Super Bowl..

The Seattle Seahawks held the Patriots scoreless in the opening quarter of Super Bowl LX on Sunday afternoon at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. That, remarkably, was very on brand for the Patriots in the Super Bowl.

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The Patriots have managed just three combined points in their 10 Super Bowl appearances. The lone field goal over that stretch came in Super Bowl LII, when Stephen Gostkowski hit a 26-yard field goal late in the first quarter of that contest against the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles ended up winning that game 41-33 back in 2018.

Other than that, they’ve been completely shut out.

Incredibly, the Patriots haven’t been blown out, either. They’ve given up only a combined 27 points over those 10 quarters dating back to Super Bowl XXXVI in 2002. That was the first that longtime quarterback Tom Brady won with the franchise.

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And, most importantly, the Patriots have won six of those nine Super Bowls.

While that stat is no metric of how the game will end up, the Patriots simply couldn’t rally. The Seahawks rolled to a dominant 29-13 win on Sunday night, which pushed them to a perfect 12-0 when scoring first so far this season. They’ve scored first in six straight games now, dating back to Week 16 of the regular season.

Jason Myers got them on the board in the first quarter with a 33-yard field goal on Sunday night, and then A.J. Barner scored the first touchdown of the game in the fourth quarter.

While they didn’t end up with the Lombardi Trophy, the Patriots’ trend, even now with the Brady dynasty well behind the franchise, is alive and well in the Super Bowl.

Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba returned to Sunday’s 29-13 Super Bowl loss to the New England Patriots in the fourth quarter after leaving the game for a concussion evaluation.

He was examined in a sideline medical tent by an independent concussion specialist in the third quarter, then left for the locker room on his own. The Seahawks announced he was being evaluated for a concussion.

Per the NBC broadcast, Smith-Njigba’s head hit the ground at the end of a play, prompting his trip to the medical tent. He spent 2 1/2 minutes in the tent before leaving for the locker room. It was not immediately clear if Smith-Njigba would be able to return to the game.

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The Seahawks led 12-0 at the time of Smith-Njigba’s exit in the third quarter. He returned to the game with the Seahawks holding a 19-7 lead in the fourth.

An All-Pro and the league’s leading receiver during the regular season with 1,793 yards, Smith-Njigba finished the contest with four catches for 27 yards. But the Seahawks’ defense and special teams led the way for Seattle, putting far less pressure on Smith-Njigba to step up his game. Seattle scored just one offensive touchdown during the contest, with tight end AJ Barner hauling in that score.

The NFL offseason has begun, and Yahoo Sports is previewing the coming months for all 32 teams, from free agency through the draft and more.

AFC East: Bills | Dolphins | Patriots | Jets
AFC North: Ravens | Bengals | Browns | Steelers
AFC South: Texans | Colts | Jaguars | Titans
AFC West: Broncos | Chiefs | Raiders | Chargers
NFC East: Cowboys | Giants | Eagles | Commanders
NFC North: Bears | Lions | Packers | Vikings
NFC South: Falcons | Panthers | Saints | Buccaneers
NFC West: Cardinals | Rams | 49ers | Seahawks

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2025 season record: 14-3 (o 8.5 wins), first in NFC West, won Super Bowl LX, first in DVOA

Overview

The 2025 season looked like it might have been set up for a transition season, not a Super Bowl-winning one, in Seattle. During the offseason, the Seahawks traded both Geno Smith and DK Metcalf and both moves continued the trend of general manager John Schneider moving on at the right time. Sam Darnold was a younger, cheaper, and more efficient player at quarterback, while Jaxon Smith-Njigba stepped into the role of No. 1 receiver and spent most of the season on pace to break the single-season receiving record.

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[Get more Seahawks news: Seattle team feed]

The success on offense still pales in comparison to what head coach Mike Macdonald did on the defensive side of the ball. Seattle was the best defense in the league and was so perfectly schemed up and coached to shut down some of the best offenses in the league. Seattle finished the season first overall in DVOA with a 14-win season and the top seed in the NFC.

Seattle had one of the youngest teams in the league by snap-weighted age during the regular season and looks to be a franchise positioned to stay among the top contenders in the NFC as long as Macdonald is in charge.

Cap/cuts outlook

Seattle has nearly $62 million in effective salary cap space, according to Over The Cap, which is the sixth-highest figure in the league. A lot of that will likely be used to re-sign some of the defensive talent hitting free agency. WR Cooper Kupp stands out as a possible cap casualty with around $9.5 million freed up on the cap from a release. Kupp was second on the team in targets during the regular season (70) but saw less than half of the targets that went to Jaxon Smith-Njigba (163). Seattle could also extend pass rusher Leonard Williams. Williams, who turns 32 years old in June, will enter the final year of his contract with a $15.8 million salary and $29.6 million cap hit.

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Key pending free agents

CB Riq Woolen
DB Coby Bryant
S Ty Okada
Edge Boye Mafe
RB Kenneth Walker III
WR Rashid Shaheed

Woolen has been knocked for some inconsistencies and penalties in coverage, but he’s been great for multiple seasons. In 2025, he ranked 14th among cornerbacks in adjusted yards allowed per coverage snap. Bryant and Okada both spent a majority of their snaps playing deep. Bryant had four interceptions on throws of 20 or more air yards, which was second in the league behind Jaycee Horn’s five. Mafe had a wild profile as a pass rusher. His 40 pressures were sixth on the team and he recorded only four quarterback hits, but he was eighth among edge rushers in ESPN’s pass rush win rate.

Walker, the Super Bowl MVP, was the more explosive of Seattle’s two backs, but had a 34% rushing success rate during the regular season compared to Zach Charbonnet’s 44%. (The Seahawks won’t apply the franchise tag on Walker, according to an ESPN report.)

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Shaheed’s trade deadline acquisition was a game-changer for special teams and added just enough as a field-stretching receiver.

Positional needs

Wide receiver
Interior offensive line
Cornerback Safety

Seattle never fully figured out a consistent second option to complement Jaxon Smith-Njigba in the passing game. Smith-Njigba led the NFL with a 35.8% target share and accounted for 44.1% of the team’s receiving yards, the fourth-highest rate since 2000.

Grey Zabel is a future All-Pro at guard, but the other two interior spots were inconsistent throughout the season. Jake Sundell started 13 games at center and was 23rd at the position in blown block rate, per Sports Info Solutions, among players with at least 400 snaps. Anthony Bradford was 28th in that metric among right guards.

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The cornerback and safety holes will be determined by free agency. At corner, the Seahawks have Devon Witherspoon and can utilize Nick Emmanwori at that spot, which is a great start. Who plays as the other outside corner will be the question. Josh Jobe played well to start the season, but ended the season 44th among cornerbacks in adjusted yards allowed per coverage snap. With Bryant and Okada set to be free agents, that leaves Julian Love as the lone safety in the lineup.

2026 NFL Draft picks

1st round, pick No. 32
2nd round, pick No. 64
3rd round, pick No. 96
6th round

Good draft fit

Kadyn Proctor, OT, Alabama

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It’s tempting to go cornerback here, and the Seahawks will likely consider it. But the offensive line needs an infusion of talent, especially given a QB like Sam Darnold who operates well when things are clean. Proctor is huge (6-7, 370), but he has the type of athletic traits that could make him a steal of the draft one day, even late in the first round.

What could move the fantasy needle in 2026?

Nail another OC hire

This is the biggest X-factor for the Seahawks this offseason. Klint Kubiak confirmed to NFL Network’s Stacey Dales that he is indeed taking the Las Vegas Raiders’ head coaching job, as had been widely reported last week. That will mean that Mike Macdonald will be searching for his third offensive coordinator in as many seasons on the job. So far, he’s had a major strikeout — in what was likely an arranged marriage — with Ryan Grubb, and a homerun with Kubiak. Even coming down somewhere in the middle would be a nice win considering how late we are in the coaching cycle. You’d imagine that Seattle will want to stay in the same schematic family after a rousing success with Kubiak. Easier said than done, considering that this Shanahan/McVay tree has been pretty picked clean in recent years.

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However, this should be a coveted job, so perhaps Seattle can pry someone loose from another team. The Seahawks have quarterback stability with Sam Darnold, an elite receiver in Jaxon Smith-Njigba, an ascending offensive line, quality role players and proof of concept that with success here, you can springboard to a head coaching gig. It doesn’t get much better than that for an offensive mind.

Seattle was a good offensive ecosystem in 2025 with some extremely high moments. Its NFC Championship game and second matchup with the Rams in Week 16 were some of the best performances we saw all season. However, it finished 14th in overall offensive EPA after being inside the top 10 in the first five weeks. It never bottomed out by any means but that shows there is room for improvement, a scary reality for the rest of the league. — Matt Harmon

Betting nugget

The Seahawks won 14 games in the regular season for the first time in franchise history, and were one of the NFL’s best teams against the spread, going 12-5. — Ben Fawkes

The only drama left at the end of the Seattle Seahawks’ overwhelming win in Super Bowl LX was the question of MVP. There were plenty of candidates, including kicker Jason Myers and linebacker Derick Hall. It ended up going to the player who had half of Seattle’s offensive yards when the game reached garbage time.

Running back Kenneth Walker III was named Super Bowl MVP after posting 131 rushing yards and 26 receiving yards in the Seahawks’ 29-13 win over the New England Patriots. He is the first running back to win Super Bowl MVP since the Denver Broncos’ Terrell Davis in 1997-98.

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Walker is the eighth running back to win the award overall.

The award held special meaning for Walker, who told reporters after the game that the Super Bowl was the first game his father ever attended, due to a fear of crowds. From The Athletic’s Michael-Shawn Dugar:

“My dad, he comes up to Seattle all the time to watch the games, but never goes to the games. He don’t like crowds, so this is his first NFL game. And we won a Super Bowl, so it means a lot to me and I know he’s proud of me for real.

“I wasn’t the one that convinced him. Actually, it was my agent who convinced him to come out here. I didn’t think he would come. … He got out of his comfort zone.”

The Seahawks dismantled the Patriots on both defense and special teams, but their offensive effort was a different story for most of the game. Quarterback Sam Darnold missed some big throws, leaving Seattle with no touchdowns through the first three quarters of play.

Walker’s performance helped Seahawks fans breathe easy once the game was in the fourth quarter. His runs set up field goal after field goal for Myers, who made his own history with five makes from short-to-medium yardage.

Walker had +700 odds for Super Bowl MVP at BetMGM entering the game, the fourth-best in the field behind Darnold (+115), Drake Maye (+230) and Jaxon Smith-Njigba (+500).

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It was a well-timed performance for Walker, who is a pending free agent and just added some major hardware to his résumé. He was tasked with the vast majority of the Seahawks’ carries due to fellow running back Zach Charbonnet’s season-ending injury in the divisional round and made the most of it.

Walker has been a member of the Seahawks since they drafted him in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft out of Michigan State. He entered this season with plenty to prove after a down 2024 season that ended with an ankle injury and responded with his first 1,000-rushing yard season since his rookie year.

Across three games in the playoffs, he posted 313 rushing yards on 65 carries (4.8 yards per carry).

The NFL offseason has begun, and Yahoo Sports is previewing the coming months for all 32 teams, from free agency through the draft and more.

AFC East: Bills | Dolphins | Patriots | Jets
AFC North: Ravens | Bengals | Browns | Steelers
AFC South: Texans | Colts | Jaguars | Titans
AFC West: Broncos | Chiefs | Raiders | Chargers
NFC East: Cowboys | Giants | Eagles | Commanders
NFC North: Bears | Lions | Packers | Vikings
NFC South: Falcons | Panthers | Saints | Buccaneers
NFC West: Cardinals | Rams | 49ers | Seahawks

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New England Patriots

2025 season record: 14-3, (o 8.5 wins), first in AFC East, lost Super Bowl LX, ninth in DVOA

Overview

All expectations were exceeded for the first year of Mike Vrabel’s tenure in New England. The Patriots immediately turned back into a contender after just a few down seasons and now they have one of those quarterbacks who can be among the tier of players who will keep their team competitive regardless of the surroundings.

Drake Maye emerged as one of the league’s best quarterbacks during his second season. He led the league in EPA per play at the position and was a close runner-up for MVP. Maye was second in the rate of “boom” plays that accounted for 1.0 EPA per play or more, while he also avoided negative plays and ranked seventh in “bust” plays that went for -1.0 EPA or worse. He led the league in completion percentage while he had the league’s highest average depth of target.

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[Get more Patriots news: New England team feed]

Maye’s play made up for a running game that was 21st in DVOA and a defense that ranked 23rd. The Patriots have a path that can allow the other units to catch up to the quarterback and passing game, but they also have a path to contention just because the quarterback steps on the field.

Cap/cuts outlook

The Patriots have $37.7 million in effective salary cap space, per Over The Cap, the 11th-most in the league. New England could clear about $8 million more with the release of Anfernee Jennings and Mack Hollins. Mike Onwenu is in the final year of his contract and an extension would lower the $25 million cap hit he’s slated to have next season. The Patriots have all of that cap space while still having 50 players currently under contract for 2026 — the top 51 count against the cap in the offseason.

Key pending free agents

LB K’Lavon Chaisson
DT Khyiris Tonga
S Jaylinn Hawkins
TE Austin Hooper

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Chaisson had a career resurgence in his one year with New England. He ranked 26th in pressure rate while he set career highs in pressures, hits and sacks. The Patriots were a better run defense when Tonga was on the field, sporting a rushing success rate that would have been in the top 10 for a full season. The 335-pound lineman also added a career high 14 pressures. Hawkins spent most of his time playing deep and came down into the box on 24% of his defensive snaps. He was tied for 18th among safeties in pass defeats, per FTN.

Positional needs

Edge
Linebacker
Safety

The Patriots were 12th in pressure rate but often relied on the interior players to break through. Christian Barmore and Milton Williams combined for 37.9% of New England’s pressures. Another 44.9% came from Chaisson and Harold Landry. If Chaisson leaves, just Landry remains. Even if Chaisson is re-signed, that doesn’t leave a lot of depth behind them.

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The Patriots had linebackers who could tackle, but they did not have ones who could cover. New England’s top two linebackers ranked 55th and 65th in yards allowed per coverage snap at the position, among 96 qualified linebackers.

With Hawkins a free agent, the Patriots are left with 2025 fourth-round draft pick Craig Woodson and 2024 UDFA Dell Pettus at safety.

2026 NFL Draft picks

1st round, pick No. 31
2nd round, pick No. 63
3rd round, pick No. 95
4th round (CHI)
4th round
5th round
6th round (KC)
6th round (PIT)
6th round (SF)
6th round
7th round

Good draft fit

CJ Allen, LB, Georgia

Allen can be the leader of the Patriots’ defense for the next decade. He’s good in coverage, good against the run, tackles well, can play inside and outside the box, and has just enough pass rush potential to be refined by Mike Vrabel and his staff.

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What could move the fantasy needle in 2026?

Get more talented on offense

We can now officially call this a magical run to a Super Bowl, as Sunday’s loss confirmed what I’d been saying all week in San Francisco: This Patriots team is way ahead of schedule in what should be their rebuild timeline by being in that game at all. That’s a credit to the Patriots for winning on the margins and putting out a great defensive performance in the postseason to way overperform their overall roster talent, but when they ran into a fully healthy, true Super Bowl contender, we all saw what happened.

In Drake Maye’s rookie season, he played with perhaps the 32nd-ranked offensive line and group of pass catchers. The goal in Year 2, and Mike Vrabel’s first as head coach, was to get them from the league’s basement to closer to average. Mission accomplished. The problem is that just below average isn’t good enough to go against the best defenses in the NFL. In the Wild Card Round, they played the Chargers (sixth in EPA per play allowed in the regular season), the Texans in the Divisional (second), the Broncos in the AFC Championship (eighth) and the Seahawks in the Super Bowl (first). They got demolished.

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It’s probably time for Josh McDaniels, offensive line coach Doug Marrone and the overall archaic protection plan in the Patriots offense to modernize what they’re doing against some of these modern defenses. However, that should also come with an infusion of talent to increase the margin for error.

The same can be said in the pass-catching corps. A group led by this version of Stefon Diggs, Kayshon Boutte and Mack Hollins is fine for the regular season but can be better. Diggs will turn 33 this year and is facing legal issues, while Hollins is a free agent who is a plus blocker and occasional splash player only. Boutte will always be a low-volume option as an almost exclusive X-receiver. The Patriots are in desperate need of a real solution on the perimeter. They have over $42 million in cap space to address this and their other issues, but may even look to the trade market to find a creative solution at X-receiver. Teams will at least be calling about names like A.J. Brown, Brian Thomas Jr. and Brandon Aiyuk. The Patriots should at least kick the tires on those options. — Matt Harmon

Betting nugget

An easy schedule – ranked the third-easiest since 1978 by FTN Fantasy – meant New England was favored a lot this season. The Patriots thrived in that role, going 7-3-1 against the spread in the regular season. — Ben Fawkes

New England Patriots wideout Mack Hollins is … a lot. The eight-year veteran is more known for his off-the-field quirkiness than his on-the-field excellence. Sunday delivered yet another example of Hollins living up to that reputation.

Hollins arrived at Super Bowl 60 in handcuffs on both his hands and legs. He also wore a Hannibal Lecter-style mask on his face.

Hollins’ outfit was also notable. On the surface, it appeared to be some type of prison uniform. Turns out, that was exactly the case … and it was a super specific reference, as Ben Volin of the Boston Globe laid out.

Hollins, perhaps unsurprisingly, also arrived barefoot. Hollins, 32, is a big advocate of the “free the feet” lifestyle, which he picked up when he met with a group of trainers in Australia. He’ll go barefoot no matter the weather, which has resulted in some interesting photos from his season with the Patriots. It tends to get pretty cold in New England in the winter, but Hollins doesn’t seem to care.

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Turns out, Hollins had a full day of outfits planned ahead of the Super Bowl. As he took the field for warmups, Hollins was wearing head coach Mike Vrabel’s high school jersey.

In his first season with the Patriots, Hollins has emerged as an ancillary weapon for quarterback Drake Maye. In 15 games, Hollins hauled in 46 catches for 550 yards and two scores.

While Stefon Diggs is a more likely threat to pull off a massive, game-winning play in the Super Bowl, stranger things have happened. Hollins should have opportunities to make a difference. If he can take advantage of them, he won’t be known for being the barefoot receiver. He’ll be, potentially, known as a Super Bowl hero.

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It didn’t look like Hollins would do much early. Through the first two quarters Sunday, Hollins had two targets and zero catches. The Patriots’ offense has struggled, however, failing to put a single point on the board against the Seahawks so far.

It took a while, but Hollins did deliver. In the fourth quarter, Hollins hauled in two consecutive passes, including a touchdown, to cut the deficit to 12-7. He finished as the team’s leading receiver, finishing the 29-13 loss with four catches, 78 yards and a touchdown.