Super Bowl 2026: Jaxon Smith-Njigba, New England Patriots pressure and where Super Bowl 60 could be won or lost
Watch the New England Patriots against the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl 60 at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California, live on Sky Sports NFL from 10pm on Sunday with kickoff at 11.30pm.
Friday 6 February 2026 22:10, UK
The NFL is down to its final two as the New England Patriots face the Seattle Seahawks at Super Bowl 60 - but where could the game be won or lost at Levi's Stadium this Sunday?
The Jaxon Smith-Njigba problem
The Seattle Seahawks enter Super Bowl 60 armed with the best player on the field, and the best player on most fields in the NFL this season. Once the apparent understudy to DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett, Jaxon Smith-Njigba this year ascended to a spot among the league's elite wide receivers as Sam Darnold and Klint Kubiak's prized, defining weapon on the outside. The 2023 first-round pick was just crowned Offensive Player of the Year after leading the NFL with 1,793 receiving yards to go with his 10 touchdowns. It sets up a fascinating dual with Christian Gonzalez should Mike Vrabel elect to pit his star cornerback against the most dangerous player in Sunday's game, as much only also heightening the roles of Cooper Kupp and Rashid Shaheed.
Seattle have had the luxury of using Smith-Njigba across the formation, attacking him at all levels of the field as both a chain-mover and splash-play provider. There is a subtle and deadly art to his route-running, a disguise to his movement whereby a distinct lack of shoulder movement or body tells veil his cuts and breaks to make him an excruciating decipher job for defensive backs. His direction becomes guess work, for everybody except Darnold.
"This guy is going to ruin your day, and so you game plan for this guy and then he ruins your day, he does it anyway," said Sky Sports NFL's Phoebe Schecter. "That's what makes him such a top receiver.
"What's beautiful about him is his route running, his ability to settle and feel the zones, to understand the defense and be on that same wavelength. He's explosive. His yards after catch. You watch him tracking a football, those are all the critical bits that a lot of guys have maybe one or two of."
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Maye's biggest test
It helps to have an MVP finalist at the most important position in sport. Drake Maye has dazzled in unison with offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels in his second year in the league, finishing the regular season 354 of 492 passing for a league-high completion percentage of 72, while posting 4,394 yards (fourth-most) and 31 touchdowns (third-most) to just eight interceptions with a league-best passer rating of 113.5. Among the reasons he joined Matthew Stafford in lead MVP candidacy was for his prowess attacking downfield as one of the most aggressive passers in football; Maye topped all quarterbacks in yards per attempt (8.9) and was third in air yards per attempt (9.1) within an offense that ranked No 1 in explosive play rate (8.1 - explosive plays include passes of 20-plus yards or rushes of 10-plus yards).
He has shredded defenses both with poise from the pocket and while creating off-platform out of structure, exhibiting all the traits of a long-term answer at quarterback, for which the Patriots have been searching since Tom Brady's departure after two decades in 2020. In a league full of defenses that have flocked towards umbrella coverages in a bid to eradicate chunk plays, he has shown little restraint to his bombs-away approach. With it has come beautifully-layered touch passing, tight window aggression and, as evidenced in the AFC Championship Game, a legitimate ground threat with the ball in his hands. He now comes up against a full throttle Mike Macdonald defense that will throw every coverage disguise and simulated pressure possible in his face, his answer to which could prove defining. It is crucial McDaniels finds a way to control the ground game by way of Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson, in aid of teeing up the splash plays to the likes of Mack Hollins and Kayshon Boutte downfield. His Patriots defense will give him chances to make a dent, but only for so long; he has to take them.
Can the Patriots pressure Darnold?
Even with MVP Matthew Stafford on the rampage, Darnold refused to flinch during the NFC Championship Game, in doing so quashing lingering fears of a possible slump in the face of high-stakes football. It was as if he had been here time and time again; of course, he hadn't. There is a feeling the Patriots are fed up of hearing about Seattle's famed defense under Macdonald, itching to prove their own worth as a suffocating, game-wrecking unit capable of knocking Darnold off his platform. The Seahawks have not had success through the air when pressured up front, putting the onus on Vrabel and New England to scheme up disguised rushers that disrupt his timing and force him into turnovers.
With Harold Landry's status and health uncertain, Milton Williams - playing in his second straight Super Bowl as a free agency addition from the Philadelphia Eagles - K'Lavon Chaisson and Christian Barmore loom as Vrabel's chief disruptors up front, all capable of luring Darnold into mistakes. For all that the Seahawks quarterback has done well, he has still been a turnover-risk on late downs. The Patriots need to make him uncomfortable, need to incite some old jitters, need to hit and hound him if they are to win this game.
Kenneth Walker comes with Super Bowl MVP potential such could be the responsibility to spearhead Seattle's offense. He has 178 rushing yards and four touchdowns through two games in the playoffs, he and now-injured Zach Charbonnet combining for 1,757 yards on the ground during the regular-season.
Patriots ball security
Ball security resurfaced as an issue during New England's Divisional Round win over the Houston Texans as Maye lost two of four fumbles while throwing an interception. He arrives having lost three of six fumbles in the playoffs having surrendered a league-leading 14 fumbles. His 47 sacks ranked third most among quarterbacks during the regular season, with first-round left tackle has been Will Campbell slow to settle since returning from injury having allowed pressure rates of 17.2, 12.1 and 15 per cent across three playoff outings, per ESPN Stats.
Maye has been resigned to a 45.5 pressure-to-sack rate in the postseason, according to Pro Football Focus, his ability to avoid playing behind the sticks against a frightening Seahawks defense a priority for New England. Campbell is likely to find himself up against the rangy pass-rushing technique of DeMarcus Lawrence as Macdonald and Durde favour simulated pressures and winning with four or five up front as opposed to heavy blitz packages. In fact, they have blitzed teams at the seventh-lowest rate in the league.
Field position
A matchup between two stout, stubborn, stingy defenses always comes with the prospect of a defining role on special teams and the field position battle. Seattle led the NFL with four return touchdowns last season, as well as the longest punt return of the season by way of Rashid Shaheed's 95-yarder, while they are third in average return yardage; New England meanwhile ranked second with three return touchdowns with a second-longest return of 94 yards while leading the NFL with an average return yardage of 17.3
Seattle's Australian punter Michael Dixon finished sixth with an average yardage of 49, and has landed seven punts inside the 20-yard line across both of Seattle's playoff games. Shaheed has proven one of the most impactful mid-season additions in recent years as a legitimate game-changer in the return game, and is the perfect field-tilter in the passing game with whom to snatch control.
Watch the New England Patriots against the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl 60 at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California on Sunday February 8, with coverage under way at 10pm live on Sky Spots NFL ahead of kick-off at approximately 11.30pm
