The Patriots are back in the Super Bowl – an outcome few would have predicted. Seven years after their last appearance in the National Football League (NFL) championship game, which they won, the New England franchise will face the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday, February 8, in Santa Clara, near San Francisco, California. Long the dominant force of the 21st-century NFL, with six titles in nine Super Bowl appearances between 2002 and 2019, the Patriots return this time without their iconic quarterback, Tom Brady, who retired from football three years ago.
Since the end of the Brady era – after his departure in 2020 for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, where he cemented his legend with a seventh personal title at age 43, more than any NFL team – the “Pats” reached the playoffs only once in five seasons. That lone appearance, in 2021, ended in a lopsided 47-17 loss to the Buffalo Bills. When the season opened in September, a return to the top seemed highly unlikely for a team coming off back-to-back four-win, thirteen-loss campaigns.
But this year, magic struck under the leadership of Drake Maye, a 23-year-old quarterback who could become, on Sunday, the youngest ever starting quarterback to win the Vince Lombardi Trophy. Only the legendary Dan Marino was a younger starter, during his loss in the 1985 Super Bowl.
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