The New England Patriots are taking on the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl 60. The Patriots were long one of the greatest teams in the NFL with Bill Belichick and Tom Brady, winning six Super Bowls to form arguably the best dynasty in history. The Pats even bested the Seahawks back in Super Bowl 49, during one of the greatest championship games ever, and one in which an all-time iconic Super Bowl play took place. That would, of course, be Malcolm Butler’s goal-line interception of Russell Wilson.
However, neither the Patriots nor the Seahawks were all that successful in recent years. Instead, recent Super Bowls have been dominated by appearances from the Kansas City Chiefs, San Francisco 49ers, and Philadelphia Eagles. Parity is back in the NFL, and there could be fresh blood playing in the championship game for years to come. The same can be said about the NBA, and the parallels between the two biggest sports in America are undeniable right now.
The state of the NFL
Few would have expected the Patriots or Seahawks to make it this far coming into the year. New England finished each of its last two seasons 4-13. The team’s offense, in particular, was atrocious in previous years. However, the team invested in Drake Maye with the third overall pick in 2024. They also spent more money than any other team in free agency. Maye turned into an MVP candidate, and the rest of the roster allowed for one of the biggest season-to-season leaps in league history under Patriots legend Mike Vrabel.
The Seahawks, meanwhile, were expected to be good but maybe not great. It was unclear how Sam Darnold would perform in his first year with the team. Once viewed as a draft bust, Darnold didn’t break out until last season with the Minnesota Vikings, but some still thought his first good year was a fluke. Instead, Darnold has proven himself as one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. Jaxon Smith-Njigba developed into one of the NFL’s best receivers along the way, too.
Not only did the two teams playing in the Super Bowl come out of left field, but most of the playoff teams overall are newly competitive. In the AFC, the Denver Broncos endured a long playoff drought, but they made it all the way to the AFC Championship Game. Had it not been for a last-second injury to Bo Nix in the Divisional Round, or if a nasty storm hadn’t hit Denver when the Broncos took on the Patriots, it is possible they’d be playing in the Super Bowl. The Jacksonville Jaguars are a team that came out of nowhere, too, and Trevor Lawrence started to look more like the generational talent he was viewed as coming out of Clemson.
Also on the back of improved quarterback play from former top picks who didn’t burst on the scene as aggressively as anticipated, the Chicago Bears and Carolina Panthers became divisional winners. Caleb Williams and Bryce Young did what it took to lead their respective teams to victory, and now there should be tons of teams vying for the Super Bowl in the years to come.
Last year’s champions, the Philadelphia Eagles, haven’t gone anywhere, and the Chiefs, Cincinnati Bengals, and Baltimore Ravens should all return to form next season, especially because they all employ elite quarterbacks. Even rebuilding teams, like the New York Giants, Tennessee Titans, and Las Vegas Raiders, have exciting young cores that could take Patriot/Seahawk-esque leaps sooner than later. The Raiders have the top pick and are expected to add Fernando Mendoza as their franchise signal caller. Mendoza led Indiana to one of the best national championship-winning seasons in college football history. It will be nearly impossible to predict who will break through to the Super Bowl next year, but the days of just a few teams dominating seem to be in the rearview mirror.
The state of the NBA
While the NFL is just starting its journey with parity, the NBA has had constant change at the top of the standings for years now. In fact, a different team has hoisted the Larry O’Brien Trophy in each of the past seven seasons. The Oklahoma City Thunder are the most recent champions, with the Boston Celtics, Denver Nuggets, Golden State Warriors, Milwaukee Bucks, Los Angeles Lakers, and Toronto Raptors winning the preceding championships. While the Thunder are built incredibly well for both the present and the future, they have looked human in recent weeks, so it isn’t a guarantee that they will become a dynasty like many originally thought.
The Celtics have thrived despite Jayson Tatum being sidelined, and the Nuggets have surrounded Nikola Jokic with more depth than ever before. The Warriors’ dynasty is coming to a close, but Stephen Curry should never be counted out, and the Bucks held onto two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo at the trade deadline. LeBron James and the Lakers will push for one more championship before he retires, this time with Luka Doncic as his running mate. The Raptors are still contenders, too, despite their roster looking much different than when they won it all in 2019.
All of these recent champions are still contenders, but they are far from the only teams with legitimate paths to the NBA Finals this go around. The San Antonio Spurs are breaking out with Victor Wembanyama and a young core leading the way, the Minnesota Timberwolves have made back-to-back Western Conference Finals appearances, and the Houston Rockets became threats when they traded for Kevin Durant in the offseason.
While the Eastern Conference has been viewed as the weaker conference for years now, last year’s NBA Finals proved that an Eastern team can, in fact, make noise. The Indiana Pacers were just one win away from being crowned champions, and it is possible they would have beaten the Thunder had Tyrese Haliburton not torn his Achilles tendon. Without Haliburton this season, the Pacers have fallen all the way to the bottom of the standings, but they could return to form as contenders next season once Haliburton is back, especially because of their recent trade for Ivica Zubac, which gives the team a Myles Turner replacement.
Furthermore, Cade Cunningham has the Detroit Pistons atop the Eastern Conference standings, the Cleveland Cavaliers are revamped after trading for James Harden, and the New York Knicks are starting to get hot.
This could very well be the eighth straight year that a new team wins the NBA Finals. Don’t be surprised if the NFL follows suit and has new contenders and champions on a yearly basis. Parity is great, and both the NFL and NBA are showcasing that.