After a month of preseason games, 18 weeks of regular-season action, and a wild three-week stretch of postseason play that saw eight of the 12 contests decided by four points or less, the championship matchup this 2025 NFL season is finally set, as the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots will battle it out at Super Bowl 60 for the right to hoist the Lombardi Trophy at Levi's Stadium on February 8.
And what an absolute nightmare this has to be for the Minnesota Vikings and their fans, as of the 49 potential Super Bowl matchups that were in play when these playoffs began, this is genuinely the worst-case scenario, specifically because of the quarterbacks involved.
There's the obvious connection to Sam Darnold, of course, but some may not be aware that Minnesota has a tie to Drake Maye as well.
Minnesota Vikings wanted Drake Maye before they drafted J.J. McCarthy, whose injury paved the way for Sam Darnold's resurgence
After parting ways with Kirk Cousins following the 2023 season, the Minnesota Vikings signed Sam Darnold to a one-year, $10 million deal, with the plan being for the former first-round pick to serve as a mentor/placeholder for whichever quarterback they ended up taking in the 2024 draft, which, of course, turned out to be J.J. McCarthy.
But when McCarthy suffered a season-ending injury during the preseason, Darnold stepped up and played MVP-caliber football in leading the Vikes to a 14-3 regular-season record, posting new career-highs in completion percentage (66.2), passing yards (4,319), TD passes (4,319), and passer rating (102.5).
The Vikings had the option to bring Darnold back for a season on the franchise tag, but obviously opted against it, which allowed him to accept a three-year, $100.5 million offer from the Seahawks, whom he led to a 14-3 regular-season record with another MVP-caliber campaign, completing a new-career-best 67.7 percent of his passes for 4,048 yards and 25 touchdowns.
And between Seattle's Divisional Round win over the San Francisco 49ers and the NFC Championship victory over the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, the 28-year-old has connected on a combined 69.8 percent of his throws for 469 yards with four touchdowns and zero interceptions, thus earning a 122.4 passer rating.
McCarthy, meanwhile, struggled to stay healthy in 2025, missing seven games, and had his fair share of struggles on the field as well. While he won six of 10 starts, the Michigan alum completed just 57.6 percent of his throws for 1,632 yards with 11 touchdowns against 12 interceptions.
Now, what makes this whole Super Bowl situation even more interesting is that, before the Vikings took McCarthy in the '24 draft at No. 10 overall, they reportedly made a lucrative offer to the New England Patriots in an attempt to move up to the No. 3 slot to draft none other than Drake Maye.
The Pats obviously rejected it, and things have worked out quite well, as Maye is likely to finish in the top two of the MVP vote after leading New England to a 14-3 regular-season record and completing a league-high 72.0 percent of his passes for 4,394 yards with 31 touchdowns against just eight interceptions en route to an NFL-best 113.5 passer rating.
So, again, while Super Bowl 60 will undoubtedly be entertaining, watching Sam Darnold and Drake Maye duke it out for the Lombardi is an absolute nightmare for Vikings fans everywhere. And Minnesota GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and head coach Kevin O'Connell should be extra careful that afternoon when watching—you know, because of their hot seats and all.