The Seattle Seahawks took down the Los Angeles Rams 31-27 in the NFC championship game while the New England Patriots edged past the Denver Broncos 10-7 in the AFC title game, setting up a Super Bowl rematch in two weeks.
Drake Maye, Mike Vrabel and a stifling defense have the New England Patriots back in the Super Bowl for the first time since Tom Brady and Bill Belichick won their sixth ring together seven years ago.
The Seahawks and the Patriots met in the Super Bowl back in 2015, when a last-second goal line interception by Malcolm Butler sealed the win for New England. The two teams will meet again at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California on Feb. 8.
Led by second-year coach Mike Macdonald and quarterback Sam Darnold — an eight-year veteran playing for his fifth team — the Seahawks reached their fourth Super Bowl in franchise history, and first in 11 years.
Maye threw for just 86 yards, but ran for 65 and iced the win with a 7-yard keeper on third-and-5 in the waning minutes to send the Patriots to the Super Bowl in Vrabel's first year as coach."I'm just proud of this team," said the 23-year-old Maye, who's the second-youngest starting quarterback to reach the Super Bowl, behind only Miami's Dan Marino. "Don't have many words. Just thankful for this team. Love each and every one of them. It took everybody."New England, which went 4-13 last year under Jerod Mayo, became the third team in the Super Bowl era to win a conference championship with 10 points or fewer. Buffalo beat Denver 10-7 in the 1991 AFC title game, and Los Angeles beat Tampa Bay 9-0 in the 1979 NFC championship game.Vrabel, who won three Super Bowls as a playmaking linebacker for the Patriots, could become the first person in NFL history to also win as a head coach for the same franchise."I won't win it. It'll be the players that'll win the game," Vrabel said. "I promise you, it won't be me that'll win it, and I promise you that I'll do everything I can, and our staff, to have them ready for the game."The Patriots' victory was their 40th in the playoffs, breaking a tie with the San Francisco 49ers for the most in NFL history
In Seattle, Darnold, who flopped in his playoff debut last season with the Minnesota Vikings, played through an oblique injury and completed 25 of 36 passes for 346 yards with no turnovers. Jaxon Smith-Njigba had 153 yards receiving — the second-most in a playoff game in franchise history — and a touchdown on 10 catches.
"It's amazing," Darnold said. "To be able to do it with these guys in this locker room, though, with this coaching staff, that's why it means the world to me."
No team has played in the Super Bowl more than the Patriots, who are 6-5. They're tied with the Pittsburgh Steelers for the most wins.It's been a long road back to the top for New England and the Seahawks. The Patriots this year were coming off consecutive four-win seasons and only had one winning season after Brady's departure in 2020. The Seahawks had not been back to the Super Bowl since their loss in 2015.
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