The 3 Storylines You NEED To Know

🍋 🏈 Go Hard or Go Home!

The Super Bowl is here. The matchup is set: Seahawks vs. Patriots. And it’s time to GO HARD. The stakes are high with every snap. Whether you’re glued to the couch or pacing the room, Mike’s Hard Lemonade is right there with you. Cold. Hard. Refreshing. GO HARD. Grab a Mike’s. Nobody Makes Lemonade Like Mike.

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Editors’ Picks

So what did you think of the Pro Bowl? Yeah, we took a nap, too. To help you focus on real football, here’s our great content. And we have a few articles to highlight:

Ian Hartitz’s Five Things To Know For Super Bowl 60

Just 60 minutes of organized violence separate us from seven long, cold months of Sundays without the greatest sport ever invented. Let's celebrate football's national holiday with a look at how the Seahawks (-4.5) and Patriots match up in terms of:

• What quarterback is playing better at the moment?

• Which running back room is most likely to put on their Superman cape?

• Which offense's pass catchers have the better on-paper matchup?

• What special teams unit is most capable of swinging the game?

• Who wins Super Bowl 60?

As always: It's a great day to be great.

Which Offense's Pass Catchers Have The Better On-Paper Matchup?

Let's meet the contenders from Seattle first:

• Jaxon Smith-Njigba: Yards per route run is a fun stat because it takes our primary measurement of success (yards) with the largest actual sample size of opportunity (routes). How good was JSN in 2025? Well, his average of 3.68 yards per route run this past season is good for the third-best single-season mark of the last decade. He is in ELITE company.

• Rashid Shaheed: The return specialist has averaged just 21.7 receiving yards per game in 11 contests with the Seahawks, but the ex-Saint did haul in a b-e-a-utiful 51-yard bomb from Darnold in the NFC Championship, and OC Klint Kubiak has managed to at least scheme up some big plays for Shaheed as a rusher (10 carries for 91 yards).

• Cooper Kupp: Came up big in clutch third-down and late-game situations in the NFC Championship despite 2025 otherwise producing career-worst counting numbers.

• Jake Bobo: Had two catches for 20 scoreless yards in the regular season … and two catches for 34 yards and a TD in two playoff games.

• AJ Barner: He's a perfectly fine underneath TE target and the team's official tush push QB when the situation calls (The Barnyard?). Overall, Barner has picked up the first down on 10 of his 11 rush attempts this season—that 87.5% conversion rate is the highest mark among 59 qualified rushers, and it's not particularly close!
   

And for the Patriots:

• Stefon Diggs: ESPN has receiver scores that rank 110 wide receivers … and none other than Mr. Diggs finished first this season with a 92 score. Puka Nacua (90) and Jaxon Smith-Njigba (87) were the only other receivers over 80.

• Kayshon Boutte: Only Alec Pierce (11.9) averaged more yards per target (11.4) than the Patriots' field-stretching specialist this season. Boutte also oddly owns ace Texans CB Derek Stingley.

• Mack Hollins: The big-bodied hater of soup, shoes and cats returned from injury in the AFC Championship and promptly racked up a team-high 51 yards. Hollins joins Boutte as two of the game's more efficient field-stretchers: They're the only pass catchers to catch at least two-thirds of their targets this season with an average target depth over 12 yards.

• DeMario Douglas: The Patriots' shifty slot maven ranked fifth in yards after the catch per reception (7) in 2025.

• Kyle Williams: The speedy rookie turned 10 receptions into a whopping 209 yards during the regular season. Williams managed to clock two of Next-Gen Stats' top-18 fastest ball-carrier times despite his limited touches.

• Hunter Henry: Gained a career-high 768 yards in 2025, although Henry has totaled just 17 scoreless yards in his last two games after a big 3-64-1 performance against the Chargers in the Wild Card Round.

• Austin Hooper: Has caught just one pass in the playoffs despite still posting 59%, 34% and 41% snap rates. Hooper joins Jake Bobo as probably the most degenerate, yet technically possible, first TD bets out there.
   

As for the matchup at hand: It's tough all the way around! We are looking at the top two scoring defenses from 2025 after all.

While it's fair to say JSN could have a more difficult time than usual when lined up against Christian Gonzalez, we might not actually see that one-on-one matchup too often. Overall, Gonzo hasn't played more than six snaps in the slot all season long, while Smith-Njigba is coming off season-high marks inside (19) while also continuing to see plenty of work from the backfield. A similar sentiment is true for No. 1 Patriots WR Stefon Diggs, who spent nearly the same amount of time in the slot (365 snaps) as he did out wide (335) this season.

The one "weakness" of sorts for both defenses comes down to the performance against tight ends, but even then, we aren't exactly looking at anything too rough. Both the Seahawks (11th) and Patriots (13th) were below-average defenses in fantasy PPR points per game surrendered to the position, although none of their postseason opponents managed to exactly expose this on-paper flaw in an overly meaningful way.

Edge: Seahawks. It felt nice to give some love to the other guys here, but let's face it: Jaxon Smith-Njigba was arguably the single best pass catcher in the entire NFL this season, and he certainly clears the relatively low bar in this specific contest. There's a reason why JSN has the game's best MVP odds among any non-QB (+550).

Super Bowl 60 Squares: Print Out Yours Now

We have Fantasy Life’s annual contribution to your Super Bowl party. Just open (or save) the image embedded in this article and print it out. Then let everyone at your party start filling in all 100 boxes between trips to the guacamole bar. Hopefully the squares get filled in before the guac and chips run out.

These are so much fun and add a little juice for even those “non-football” fans who thought they were coming over just to hang out and eat. Enjoy the excitement throughout the game, but just one warning. Don’t let anyone spill guacamole on the sheet.⤵️

Around the Watercooler

Our merry band of football nerds is back and bringing you the latest news, content and memes from the NFL universe …

🪓 Getting into some deep cuts on how to approach Super Bowl Guilloteenies.

🗡️ And you can still sign up for Guilloteenie drafts.

🎤 Matthew got asked a meaningful question. Puts things in perspective.

🤔 The Giants hire their new OC. Not sure about this one.

👀  We have the perfect “trade” for you. Beware.

🎙️ Will Kenneth Walker be back with Seattle next year? Kendall has the scoop.

💪 From Radio Row to Super Bowl participant in a year. Cooterdoodle is so proud.

🤔 Which WR are you drafting first next summer? Not an easy decision.

✅ A quick look at the coaching vacancies. 7 OC jobs still up for grabs.