When the Seattle Seahawks beat the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Championship Game on Sunday night, it didn't just clinch them a spot in Super Bowl LX, but it ensured a rematch of Super Bowl XLIX.
To go back 11 years — look away Seahawks fans — the New England Patriots outlasted Seattle, 28-24, on that fateful night in February 2015, thanks to a game-saving interception from Malcolm Butler and an MVP-performance from Tom Brady.
So, with these two familiar foes, will Super Bowl LX replicate that matchup from 11 years ago?
FOX Sports analyst Michael Strahan believes otherwise.
"If Seattle's offense comes out and plays — if its star players come out and play like this, they're hard to beat," Strahan said on FOX's postgame show following Sunday's NFC Championship Game. "I mean Sam Darnold, 346 yards. Ken Walker was running like there was no tomorrow. He realized, 'If we don't win this game, there is no tomorrow.' So if he can run like that — JSN (Jaxon Smith-Njigba), he's one of the best receivers in the league. If they play like this, it's going to be tough for the Patriots. I don't if the Patriots can score enough points."
Seattle's offense certainly pulled its weight Sunday as the defense allowed Los Angeles to score 27 points, while quarterback Matthew Stafford threw for 374 yards and three touchdowns. But it's been dominant all season — allowing just 17.2 points per game in the regular season — and made clutch plays when it had to Sunday.
"The two biggest plays in this game were by the Seattle Seahawks defense," FOX Sports analyst Rob Gronkowski said. "When the Rams were going down there, and it was third-down-and-goal, fourth-and-goal, and the Seattle Seahakws defense put the handcuffs on the Rams' receivers in crunch time, and that's why they're going to the Super Bowl."
Specifically, Devon Witherspoon broke up passes to Konata Mumpfield and Terrance Ferguson to force a turnover on downs with 4:59 remaining.
While Gronkowski was impressed, he's sensing that Super Bowl LX might remind Patriots fans of a decade ago.
"The last time Seattle was in the Super Bowl, it was against the Patriots, and the Patriots won, and it was the start of the second dynasty," Gronkowski said. "Is it gonna be the start of the third dynasty?"
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