As we await Super Bowl LX, the NFL power rankings following Championship Sunday position the Seahawks as the favorites over the Patriots in the Big Game.
1. Seattle Seahawks (16-3) | Last week: 1
Sam Darnold has had a great past two seasons with the Vikings and Seahawks, but the NFC Championship Game performance versus the Rams—particularly given his past struggles against the Los Angeles defense—might have been the best game of his career. If Darnold plays well, Seattle is going to be incredibly difficult for the Patriots to beat. Jaxon Smith-Njigba did his thing in the NFC title game, and it was cool to see Cooper Kupp make major contributions facing his former squad. Defensively, the Seahawks again tightened up when they had to late, as was also the case in the critical December win over the Rams to help them ultimately claim the NFC West and the top seed in the conference.
2. New England Patriots (17-3) | Last week: 4 (+2)
While I think the Seahawks are the clear deserving favorite for Super Bowl LX, and—agreeing with many others—believe that the game could even be a blowout in their favor, it’d be foolish to totally count out a team with a 17-3 record that has an extremely confident defense. The postseason path remained uncommonly easy thanks to the unfortunate Bo Nix injury, but winning 17 of 20 games is no accident. Given how stout the Seahawks are to stop the run, Drake Maye is obviously going to need to be a lot better than he’s been this postseason. But he is an MVP finalist and can certainly put together a 60 minutes that’s enough to help the Pats win their seventh Super Bowl.
3. Denver Broncos (15-4) | Last week: 2 (-1)
To be clear, Jarrett Stidham was in a challenging spot making his first start in over two years. The rust was evident. But I think it’s fair to say that game goes a lot differently if a superstar quarterback like Nix, who was in a rhythm as someone who has started every game the past two seasons and just torched the No. 1 pass defense while carrying the Denver offense, was playing. You never know how many chances you get for a Super Bowl, which makes this extra crushing for the Broncos. But they now shed themselves of the dead cap hit from the Russell Wilson contract and can make smart big moves this offseason.
4. Los Angeles Rams (14-6) | Last week: 3 (-1)
The Rams defense felt a bit overstated for most of 2025, and the special teams was also a factor in some costly plays throughout the year. I feel badly for future Hall of Fame wide receiver Davante Adams, who was so close to his first Super Bowl appearance at 33 years old and was understandably emotional after the loss. The Adams signing headlined another excellent offseason for LA, so look for them to add more pieces to the roster while being among the Super Bowl favorites in 2026.