The Seahawks and Patriots each finished 14-3 in the regular season in 2025 in advancing to the Super Bowl.
But the routes each took to get to the big game weren’t quite as similar as that sentence above might make it seem.
While the Seahawks got the No. 1 seed in the NFC and had a bye in the wild-card round and had to win two home games to get to the Super Bowl, the Pats were the No. 2 seed in the AFC (losing a tiebreaker to Denver) and had to win a wild-card and divisional round game at home and then win against the Broncos on the road in the AFC title game.
The 2025 regular-season schedules of the two teams also contrasted greatly.
While the Seahawks had to navigate life in an NFC West that emerged as one of the best divisions in NFL history – becoming the first to have three teams win 12 or more games – the Patriots got to live in the more languid AFC East. While Buffalo went 12-5 to finish second in that division, it also featured the 7-10 Dolphins and 3-14 Jets.
The rest of the Pats’ schedule was underwhelming as they played a slate of teams whose combined won-lost record turned out to be 113-176, 39.1%, the lowest opponent winning percentage in the NFL.
The Patriots played just three games in the regular season against teams that finished with winning records (Buffalo twice and 10-7 Pittsburgh) and won just one of those games, against the Bills. The Pats somehow lost their season opener to a Raiders team that finished 3-14.
The Seahawks faced a schedule with a combined record of 144-145, 49.8%, 15th easiest.
The Seahawks played eight games against teams that finished with winning records and won six, four against teams that won 12 or more games (Jacksonville, 13-4, and Houston, the Rams and 49ers, which all finished 12-5. The others were against 10-7 Pittsburgh and 9-8 Minnesota).
Not that any of that really matters come kickoff on Feb. 8 at Levi’s Stadium.
What the Seahawks may find more instructive as they prepare for the Super Bowl is how the two teams fared against shared opponents in 2025.
There, the Patriots match up OK.
The Seahawks and the Pats played seven common opponents this year, each going 6-1 against that slate, though with the losses coming against different teams.
Here’s a look at the seven teams the Seahawks and Patriots each played and how they did:
Steelers
The Steelers are one of the two teams that the Seahawks and Patriots split against this year.
The Seahawks beat the Steelers in Pittsburgh 31-14 on Sept. 14 outgaining the hosts 396-267 as Sam Darnold threw for 295 yards. The Pats lost to the Steelers 21-14 at home the following Sunday.
The Patriots lost a season-high five turnovers in their defeat to the Steelers – they would finish with just 16 for the season – including two by running back Rhamondre Stevenson. A Drake Maye fumble late in the fourth quarter when the game was tied set up an Aaron Rodgers game-winning TD pass to Calvin Austin with 2:16 remaining as the Pats lost despite outgaining the Steelers 369-203.
Panthers
Each team beat the Panthers – the Patriots walloping Carolina 42-13 on Sept. 28 a week after they had lost to the Steelers. The Seahawks won in Charlotte 27-10 on Dec. 27. For the Pats, this was a game when Maye began to get on the NFL radar as he completed 14 of 17 passes for 203 yards, two TDs and no picks.
Titans
A week after winning on the road in New Orleans, the Pats took care of the Titans in Nashville, 31-13, though they led just 17-13 heading into fourth quarter before scoring 14 points in the span of 11 seconds – sandwiched around a fumble by Tennessee QB Cam Ward – to put the game away. The Seahawks won at Tennessee 30-24 on Nov. 23, taking a 30-10 lead and holding off a late Titan rally.
Buccaneers
The Seahawks and Pats split against Tampa Bay with the Bucs winning in Seattle 38-35 on Oct. 5 and the Pats beating the Bucs in Tampa Bay 28-23 on Nov. 9.
Tampa Bay quarterback Baker Mayfield had good games against both teams, though Seahawks fans will surely point out how banged up the secondary was that day as Devon Witherspoon and Julian Love were sidelined as was end DeMarcus Lawrence. Mayfield threw for 379 yards and two TDs. He had 273 yards and three TDs against the Pats, but New England got 147 rushing yards from rookie TreVeyon Henderson to hold on.
Saints
Each team beat the Saints, the Seahawks blowing them out 44-13 at Lumen Field on Sept. 21, and the Pats handling them on the road 25-19 on Oct. 12. The Saints led late in the third quarter before Maye’s third TD pass of the game put New England ahead for good.
Falcons
The teams had contrasting games against the Falcons, though each emerged victorious.
The Seahawks used a Rashid Shahed kickoff return for a touchdown to spark a 31-3 second half to blow out the Falcons 37-9 on Dec. 7.
The Pats needed some good fortune to beat Atlanta at home 24-23 a few weeks earlier on Nov. 2. The Falcons scored to pull within 24-23 with 4:40 left only for John Parker Romo to miss the PAT. The Pats had to stop the Falcons one more time to hold on.
Texans
Both teams beat the Texans – Seattle 27-19 on Oct. 20 and the Patriots 28-16 in the divisional round of the playoffs.
Those were the third and fourth most points allowed this year by a Houston team that was second only to the Seahawks in fewest points allowed this season at 17.4 per game.
If nothing else, those games and seeing how the Pats attacked and were attacked by teams the Seahawks had to prepare for this season will give Mike Macdonald and the rest of the coaches something to chew on over the next week.