Super Bowl 2026: What is the best revenge story for the big game?

Super Bowl LX is officially set and it would appear that we are in for quite the treat with the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots facing off. If it is anything like the Super Bowl we got between these two teams just over a decade ago, there will be absolute theater.

We are just beginning the lead-up to The Big Game and as is always the case, there are a lot of things for us to discuss. 

Let’s begin.

How do we feel about this Super Bowl matchup?

RJ: 

This was the game that I wanted once the Conference Championships were set. I know that we just saw a matchup between these two teams like five minutes ago, but they were the two best options and I always want the Super Bowl to be the best game that it possibly can be.

Just think about how wildly different they are now, too. When these two franchises last met in the Super Bowl, the Patriots still had not won a title since their original dynasty. The Malcolm Butler interception launched an entirely new one and ended another that Seattle was on the cusp of building.

It is a rare instance where history that doesn’t have any relevance feels so significant to me. I doubt, famous last words, whoever wins this game will repeat next year, but the nature of our current NFL is that you never know. Philadelphia looked unstoppable in New Orleans last year and right now nobody even wants to be their offensive coordinator. Anything is possible.

This is going to be fun.

Michael: 

Coincidentally this was also my preferred Super Bowl matchup, as well. As the Chargers guy here, I did NOT want to see another AFC West team in the final game and the same goes for not wanting to watch the other LA team make it yet again.

I’m also not a big fan of Super Bowl rematches, but I truly forgot about that classic matchup between these two way back. That one was Tom Brady vs. Russell Wilson. Now we’ve got second-year Drake Maye and revitalized Sam Darnold as the two starters. How crazy is that?!

It’s also really easy to get behind either coach, as well. Vrabel is a very likable guy who is on the cusp on winning a Super Bowl as a coach with the same team he won one as a player. On the other side, MacDonald is just in his second year as a NFL head coach and not that far removed from coaching at the college level in just a coordinator role. If he wins, it’s going to be a hell of a cherry on top for one of the league’s fastest-rising coaches.

Which revenge story would be better, Mike Vrabel against Tennessee or Sam Darnold against Minnesota (and a lot of people)?

Michael: 

Without hesitation, it’s Sam Darnold being able to shut everyone up who were (justifiably so) quick to give him the bust label after the first half of his career. No more “seeing ghosts” or claiming that he can’t come through when his team needs him the most. Darnold found his stride with the Vikings in 2024 and somehow became even better for the Seahawks.

If I were Darnold, I cannot express how incredible it would feel knowing you truly turned around the narrative of your career in the span of just two seasons, and now you’re on the brink of winning a Super Bowl. If the that comes to fruition, no one could EVER tell Darnold anything about his time as a pro. That ring and trophy will forever do all the talking for him.

RJ: 

All due respect to Mike Vrabel and the Premier League nature hovering around him leading his old team that he had success with back to the promised land… I am captivated by the Sam Darnold storyline.

We have seen Sam tossed aside at a number of different stops. Somehow he is only set to become the first-ever quarterback from the storied USC program to start in a Super Bowl. He is a never-ending surprise and I love that about his story.

It feels like the Vikings have been through enough this year with J.J. McCarthy, but the ease that they tossed Sam aside with last year would be fun to see fully age poorly. 

How unfair is it that the Patriots are back?

RJ: 

This is going to be a fight between Michael and I to argue which of our teams is more embarrassing. He might win.

I’m going to give it a run, though. As a Dallas Cowboys fan this particular Super Bowl is depressing for me as it is Super Bowl LX. You see, at the time of Super Bowl XXX the Cowboys had won 5 and appeared in 8 of all Super Bowls to date. The literal exact same amount of time has passed (30 years/Super Bowls) and nothing has changed in that capacity.

Seeing that the Patriots completely tore down a group that led and oversaw multiple dynasties, failed miserably, AND STILL put it all back together before my team?

Don’t ever talk to me again.

Michael: 

Look brother, we’re both in the same boat as far as our favorite teams falling short of expectations all while both the Patriots and Seahawks are back in the Super Bowl TOGETHER before either Dallas for the Chargers got their s*** together.

I want to say it isn’t fair that the Patriots are back playing for a Lombardi, but they made the right moves and are benefiting. They hired the right coach, signed and drafted the right players, and now they’re profiting. If only more teams understood the assignment to improve their teams as soon as possible as opposed to over-thinking it and playing 4D Chess when it’s closer to 2D.

The Patriots did not reinvent the wheel. They drafted a top quarterback and while he was on his rookie deal, they invested heavily in his weapons and the trenches. 

Which individual players are you rooting for in the Super Bowl?

RJ: 

Along my Cowboys lines… I am all the way here for a DeMarcus Lawrence winning a ring.

Tank, his nickname for those unaware, did something very difficult and became underrated as a member of the Dallas Cowboys. Some of that had to do with the fact that he got a big-time contract and didn’t produce elite sack numbers (despite being one of the best run-defending edge players in the NFL) and I would love to see it all finally finished for him.

Non-Cowboys fans are likely aware of how the team goes about treating its stars who are due contract extensions, what with how they drag the process out and make things very difficult for the player. DeMarcus Lawrence was the first to really challenge the front office and called their bluff when they placed the franchise tag on him way back when. He had an amazing season while under it and forced the team to have to blink.

Go get it done.

Michael:

This is a great question.

Darnold first and foremost. Gosh he deserves it.

Second, former Chargers tight end Hunter Henry. I still have a jersey of his in my closet. I thought he was going to be the next great Chargers tight end and unfortunately the previous regime did not agree.

Thirdly, former Chargers edge rusher Uchenna Nwosu. He was one of the first Chargers players I ever interviewed in my career and I’m so glad to see he’s also in a place to earn a Super Bowl ring.

For my final two, I need to shoutout Seahawks offensive lineman Mason Richman (a former Iowa Hawkeye like myself) and backup tight end Eric Saubert. Saubert and I came into Drake University as freshman tight ends together. Now 13 years later, I’m sitting here writing about the NFL while he’s about to play for a Super Bowl.

Life is crazy.