Super Bowl LX by the Numbers: Seahawks vs Patriots — Who Has the Edge?

The Super Bowl LX showdown between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots is officially a week away! So which team do the numbers favour?

Super Bowl LX is scheduled for February 8th at Levi's Stadium, home of the San Francisco 49ers, at 6:30 p.m. Eastern (00:30 CET - Monday). 

Seahawks numbers

Seattle has a chance to make NFL history on multiple levels, depending on how the Super Bowl plays out. 

First off, should they go turnover-less in the big game, they will become the first team ever to not commit a single giveaway during an entire Super Bowl playoff run. 

Seattle has yet to allow a single rusher to reach 100 yards on the ground in these playoffs, even against the San Francisco 49ers' Christian McCaffrey. Should they hold the Pats (by individual) to under 100 yards, they'll become the first team since, ironically enough, the 2016 Patriots to obtain that feat. 

During the regular season, the Seahawks' defence didn't allow a single rusher to reach 100 yards and held opponents to just nine rushing touchdown - the second-fewest of any team, sitting behind the Los Angeles Rams.

Their defence finished the regular season No. 1 in scoring, giving up just 17.2 points per game, allowing only four teams to score more than 20 points in a single game.

On the offensive side of the ball, running back Kenneth Walker III is just one touchdown away from setting a franchise record for the most during a playoff run with five. 

Even more so, the Seahawks will look to get Walker over the 90-yard threshold during Super Bowl LX as the team is 12-1 (including playoffs) in his career when he hits the mark. 

Their star wide receiver, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, could surpass Cooper Kupp (2021) and Tyreek Hill (2018) for the most receptions of 26+ yards in a single season over the past 30 years should he keep up the streak. 

During the NFC Championship, JSN had a 42-yard catch and finished with 153 yards in total. Including playoffs, the Seahawks are 7-3 when JSN surpasses 100 receiving yards in a game and 7-1 when he has a receiving touchdown. 

On JSN's opposite side, Kupp could become the first non-quarterback in NFL history, and second in NFL history, to win multiple Super Bowls with multiple teams. Seattle are 3-0 this season, including playoffs, when Kupp has a touchdown and are 7-2 when he has at least three receptions. 

To pile on the numbers, the Seahawks are 5-0 this season when facing AFC teams, three of which were playoff teams (Houston Texans, Jacksonville Jaguars, Pittsburgh Steelers). Their 27 points against the Houston Texans' historic defence was the third-most by any team they faced this season - no other NFC team scored more than 20 against them. 

In those five games against AFC teams, Seattle outscored them 177-88, allowing, on average, 262 yards and 17.6 points. No team during that span eclipsed 300 total yards, and all of them combined had just seven touchdowns. 

Meanwhile, their offence put up at least 300 total yards in each of those games, at least two offensive touchdowns in all of them but one - the Colts game. 

They'll be led by quarterback Sam Darnold, who became the first quarterback from the 2018 draft class to make it to the Super Bowl, beating out the likes of Josh Allen (Buffalo Bills), Lamar Jackson (Baltimore Ravens), and Baker Mayfield (Tampa Bay Buccaneers) - the same quarterback who former teammate Justin Jefferson recently came out and said that the Minnesota Vikings would've done better this season with Darnold at the helm. 

To add just a little more luck to the Seahawks' side, they'll be wearing their all-navy uniforms, which they've gone 6-0 wearing this season. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Seattle Seahawks (@seahawks)

Patriots numbers

To combat the Seahawks' top three offence and defence, the Patriots are rolling with the No. 2 scoring offence and the No. 2 scoring defence of their own for Super Bowl LX. 

Led by MVP-candidate and quarterback Drake Maye, the Patriots have put up 85 plays that went for 20 yards or more this season - the most by any team in the past 35 years. He became the second player ever to complete at least 70% of his passes (led the league with 72% and was the only player over 70) while also rushing for 400+ yards. 

However, Maye also became the first QB in NFL history to win his first three playoff games with a completion percentage below 60% in each of them: Chargers - 58.6%, Texans - 59.3%, Broncos 47.6%. 

In the backfield, Rhamondre Stevenson will need to eclipse 53 rushing yards for the Patriots to become the third team ever to have two or more players to rush for 850 yards and put up 35 receptions in the same season (including playoffs) - his rookie teammate TreVeyon Henderson being the other to already accomplish it before the playoffs even started.

The Pats finished the regular season with the No. 6 rushing attack, also scoring the fourth-most on the ground with 22 touchdowns. 

Wide receiver Stefon Diggs' 85 receptions this season are the second-most by a Patriot ever at 32 years of age or older - the first being Julian Edelman with 100 in 2019 - 

New England was 5-0 this season when Diggs eclipsed 100 receiving yards in a game and 8-1 when he had at least five receptions (including playoffs). 

They'll also have some help on the defensive side of the ball. Cornerback Christian Gonzalez, who made the game-sealing interception to win the AFC Championship game, has allowed a jaw-dropping 12.8 passer rating when he's targeted these playoffs. 

The only other two players to allow a lesser passer rating in the past 30 years were Asante Samuel (10.7 - 2006) and Duane Starks (11.8 - 2000), who was part of the legendary Baltimore Ravens defence. 

Gonzalez now has back-to-back regular seasons with 10 or more pass deflections and is also tied with teammates Carlton Davis III, Marcus Jones, and Craig Woodson with four pass deflections each. All three of which also have at least one interception, with Davis leading the way with two. 

Meanwhile, Seattle's Ernest Jones IV is the only one with an interception for them in the entire playoffs. 

Their 13-win turnaround (including playoffs) from their 4-13 season last year is the largest increase from one season to the next in the history of the NFL. 

Their 14-3 regular season record this season was the second-best in the history of the Patriots franchise - falling just short of the 16-0 2007 Patriots. However, the Patriots have finished a regular season with 14 wins just four other times - reaching the Super Bowl in three of those occasions and winning all of them. 

Although many criticize the Patriots for having the easiest schedule of any team in the league this season.

However, much like the Seahawks, the Patriots were also 5-0 in their matchups against NFC opponents this season, outscoring them 152-93.

And if anything else is on their side, it's the uniform choice. New England is considered the 'home team' for the Super Bowl, so they got their choice in which uniform to wear for the big game - going with the all-whites.

Teams who wore white have a 37-22 record in the Super Bowl, and New England hasn't lost a single game this season wearing their white jerseys. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by New England Patriots (@patriots)