This Super Bowl is already being called the most unexpected in modern NFL history — at least by preseason betting lines.
Before the 2025 season began, odds markets installed the Philadelphia Eagles, Buffalo Bills and Baltimore Ravens as joint 7/1 favourites, with the Kansas City Chiefs next at 8/1. Few would have paused over the Seattle Seahawks at 60/1 or the New England Patriots at 80/1. Those opening prices combine to make this Super Bowl pairing the longest-priced matchup since records began in 1977.
Only five Super Bowls have produced combined preseason odds above 1,000/1:
– 2025: Patriots 80, Seahawks 60 — combined 4,800
– 1999: Titans 30, Rams 150 — combined 4,500
– 1981: Bengals 60, 49ers 50 — combined 3,000
– 2021: Bengals 150, Rams 12 — combined 1,800
– 2000: Ravens 22, Giants 60 — combined 1,320
Several of those matchups produced classics. Super Bowl XXXIV — the 1999 Rams against the Tennessee Titans — ended when Mike Jones tackled Kevin Dyson at the one-yard line, preserving a 23–16 Rams victory. That St. Louis team began the year at 150/1 and became the longest-priced Super Bowl champions in history, after a season that marked the franchise’s first playoff appearance since 1989 and first division crown since 1985.
Another long-shot story came in Super Bowl XVI, when the San Francisco 49ers beat the Cincinnati Bengals 26–21. The 49ers had started the season at 50/1 but quickly became a force under Joe Montana and Bill Walsh, dropping to 5/1 the next year.
A win in Super Bowl 60 would cement this season as one of the great surprise runs. A victory by either New England or Seattle would rank among the longest-priced Super Bowl winners ever — only the 1999 Rams (150/1) remain a greater preseason long shot.
New England’s turnaround has its own narrative arcs. The franchise’s modern revival followed a 4–13 2024, a coaching change that saw Mike Vrabel replace Jerod Mayo, and a remarkably favourable 2025 regular-season slate: their opponents’ combined winning percentage was just .391, the lowest among all 32 teams. The Patriots’ AFC Championship road win over top-seeded Denver came while Denver was missing starter Bo Nix. In the last 35 years, only the 1999 Rams faced an easier combined regular-season and postseason path to the Super Bowl. New England’s defense jumped from 22nd to fourth in points allowed, and the unit surrendered only 8.7 points per game across the playoffs.
Seattle’s route was tougher on paper. Their division sent three teams to the postseason, and the Seahawks had to navigate multiple matchups with both the 49ers and the Rams. Seattle finished the regular season allowing the fewest points and scoring the third-most, even as quarterback Sam Darnold led the league in turnovers. The Darnold–Jaxon Smith-Njigba connection and a productive run game led by Kenneth Walker have been key to Seattle’s success.
There’s extra emotional weight for Seahawks supporters. The franchise has chased redemption ever since Malcolm Butler’s goal-line interception sealed Super Bowl XLIX for New England; a Seattle triumph in Super Bowl 60 would feel like closure for a generation of fans, similar to how other long-standing sports heartbreaks have lingered until finally repaired.
Whatever the result, the 2025 season will be remembered as one of the year’s biggest surprises. It won’t quite rival Leicester City’s 5,000/1 Premier League title in scale, but in American football terms this has been a remarkably unpredictable campaign that will make next season’s preseason odds — and every underdog’s chances — far more interesting.
Watch Super Bowl 60: New England Patriots vs. Seattle Seahawks at Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara, California on Sunday, February 8. Coverage begins at 10:00 pm live on Sky Sports NFL, with kick-off expected around 11:30 pm.