Travis Rosenau (Journal Sports Editor): As a proud but often foolishly optimistic Minnesota Vikings fan, seeing former Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold sign with a new team and proceed to make the Super Bowl the very next season after his time in Minnesota brings mixed feelings.

A part of me feels how unfair it is.

One year after leading the Vikings to a 14-win season, minimal effort is made to keep him in purple and gold and he joins an already playoff-caliber Seattle Seahawks team that has clearly taken the next step this season.

Sometimes I catch myself thinking how Darnold has been a game manager in several games this season, not being asked to do much but coming out with wins time and time again due to his defense. While this isn’t totally inaccurate, he has still played at a high level for most of the season. He led my favorite team to the most wins they’ve had in a season and then simply went on to choose a better deal with a better team the next year. The Vikings didn’t offer him a better deal and chose to move on with their first round draft pick JJ McCarthy.

I don’t have to be bitter. I can be happy for Darnold. He didn’t wrong the Vikings or speak out against coaches or management, he just took a better and longer deal.

The reality is he has been a top 10 quarterback this season and looked great for the Seahawks in the NFC Championship game against the LA Rams. Throwing for 346 passing yards and three touchdowns without a turnover in that game, Darnold rewarded his teammates and fans who believed in him with a trip to the 60th annual Super Bowl.

The New England Patriots had a weaker schedule than Seattle this season and an easier matchup in the AFC Championship going against a Denver Broncos team that was without starting quarterback Bo Nix. This is not to say the Patriots are a fluke or don’t deserve to be in the Super Bowl. Drake Maye has had a massive turnaround from his rookie season in 2024, where he threw for 2,276 yards, 15 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. This season he completed 72% of his passes for 4,394 yards, 31 touchdowns and eight interceptions.

Head to head, though, Seattle is a complete team. Great offensive line, great defense, a top five wide receiver in Jaxon Smith-Njigba and a solid running game that has been a difference maker and helped make Darnold’s job even easier.

Safe bet, but Seattle is going to win this year’s Super Bowl 28-23.

Ari Selvey (Journal Sports Writer): It really seems like only a few teams are allowed to go to the Super Bowl. In my lifetime, there have been 48 teams that have attended the Big Game. The Patriots have been 10 of them, Chiefs have been to five, and the Seahawks and Eagles have each been to four. Just those four teams have accounted for nearly half of all conference championship teams that I have ever experienced.

This year’s Super Bowl is an exact repeat of one from just 11 years ago. This is perhaps the biggest testament to how much culture and ownership can impact championship odds. The “Patriot way” persists even after the departure of the greatest quarterback and coach of all time, and The 12th Man continues to win even without the Legion of Boom and a (most likely) hall of fame QB. In a season with some of the most unexpected team turnarounds and falloffs in recent memory, in the end, it seems like everything the same as it has always been.

Still, this year’s championship game still has some fresh things to offer. Drake May promises to lead a new generation of young quarterbacks that are poised to take over the league. As much as we might moan about him going to the Patriots of all teams, it’s none the less good to know that the future of the position in the league has plenty of promise. On the other side, the journey that Sam Darnold has had is something to be celebrated — drafted third overall to the Jets, a team devoid any of the stability or culture that has made the Patriots and Seahawks so great, where he perhaps predictably struggled. He was cast off by not only them, but the Panthers, 49ers and Vikings as well, only to be picked up by Seattle to lead them to the Super Bowl in his first season with them.

Darnold’s story offers a lesson for NFL teams today. Like Kevin O’Connell said himself, organizations fail young quarterbacks more often than young quarterbacks fail organizations. This seems to become truer every year, with quarterbacks like Daniel Jones, Geno Smith and Baker Mayfield all reviving their careers and becoming above-average signal callers on their third or fourth teams. Mac Jones and Malik Willis both looked strong in their time taking over for injured starters this year, and quarterbacks like Josh Allen, Bryce Young and Trevor Lawrence have rewarded the patience teams have offered them after looking below average in their first few years.

Perhaps it may be time to give a second look to other old castaways like Kenny Pickett, Zach Wilson and Anthony Richardson. In a few years, Tua Tagovailoa might be taking another franchise to the playoffs. These are all quarterbacks who were drafted because of immense talent, and it just takes the right circumstances to unlock those talents. At the very least, fans can grant their first- and second-year draft picks some patience before slapping them with the dreaded “bust” label. In a copy-cat league that has watched Sam Darnold’s ascendance, it wouldn’t surprise me to see some teams reaching out to some of those former busts looking to give them a fresh start.

On the Super Bowl itself, I have little to say. Both teams offer stout defenses complimented by explosive offensive potential. I will be rooting for Seattle to have the storybook ending for Sam Darnold’s journey. Seahawks 31, Patriots 24.

Jim Bastian (Journal Sports Writer): This will be a hard game to watch for Vikings fans as Sam Darnold gets his Super Bowl ring and Vikings fans wonder if JJ McCarthy continues to disappoint and looks like he may be a bust. Seattles wins 27-17.

Jeff Meder (Journal Sports Writer): New England 27-20. The Patriots have a winning tradition which means they know how to win and continue winning in critical games.

Clay Schuldt (Journal News Editor): I suspect the Seattle Seahawks will win the big game Sunday, but it will likely be a close game. The score will probably be relatively close for most of the game, but Seattle will pull away early in the fourth quarter. The Patriots will make a respectable attempt at a com back but come up short. The final score will be 30-23.

This prediction is based on basically nothing. I have very little talent for calling sporting events. I rely on The Journal’s sports department for all my knowledge and they are convinced the Seahawks will win.

That said, I have lived in Minnesota all my life and I am convinced the Vikings are cursed in some way. The only way the Vikings will ever win a Super Bowl is if they are playing the Buffalo Bills and even then it would probably end in a tie. It is a cruel curse that finds new and interesting ways to break the hearts of Minnesota sports fans every year. This year, the curse will give Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold, a former Vikings quarterback, a Super Bowl ring. Of that I am certain.

Also, if the Patriots lose they will have the record for most Super Bowl losses and the cynic in me finds that amusing.

Fritz Busch (Journal News Writer): Seattle 28, New England 21.