From XLIX to LX: How the league has changed since the last Patriots-Seahawks Super Bowl

Summary of From XLIX to LX: How the league has changed since the last Patriots-Seahawks Super Bowl

by The Athletic

48m•February 5, 2026
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Overview of From XLIX to LX: How the league has changed since the last Patriots–Seahawks Super Bowl

This episode of The Athletic Football Show (Radio Row special) uses the Patriots–Seahawks Super Bowl rematch as a lens to compare the NFL in 2014 (Super Bowl XLIX) to the league in 2025 (Super Bowl LX). The hosts (Robert Mays, Derek, Dave) run a free-form discussion across several dimensions — personnel, schemes, coaching, analytics/decision-making — and back observations with league-wide statistics wherever possible. The conversation highlights how much (and how quickly) style, roster construction, and choices on the sideline have evolved.

Key takeaways

  • The NFL is materially younger at key positions (especially QB and head coach) and more tilted toward speed, versatility, and mobility.
  • Schematically the game has moved away from base defenses and man coverage toward nickel/dime and more two-high concepts; blitzing is less common overall.
  • Analytics have changed behavior: teams go for it on fourth down and on fourth-and-short far more often than in 2014.
  • Coaching trees and a wave of young offensive-minded hires (McVay/Shanahan influence) have reshaped both play-calling and front-office tastes.
  • The Seahawks’ modern defensive approach (big, run-capable nickel, two-high shells) is influential but fragile — it requires very specific personnel to work.

Major differences (2014 → 2025), with data

Quarterbacks and their ages / archetypes

  • Top-10 QBR average: 32.5 years (2014) → 28.9 years (2025).
  • Primary starters 31+ years old: 13 (2014) → 6 (2025).
  • Effect: fewer late-career legacy quarterbacks; currently great QBs are younger, and many still have chapters to write. Mobility is more common — scramble rate league-wide rose from 3.7% (2014) to 5.6% (2025). Teams with >7% scramble rate: 3 (2014) → 10 (2025).

Defensive personnel and looks

  • Nickel usage: about 46.5% (2014, TrueMedia) → ~59% (2025). Base (traditional) snaps dropped from ~38.5% → ~29.8%.
  • Slot defender body types: among PFF’s top-25 slot snap leaders, 4 were ≥6' (2014) vs 13 ≥6' (2025). Nickel/slot players are now generally bigger and more physical.
  • Two-high shells increased (noted surge around 2021); teams use two-high more often than in the mid‑2010s.
  • Coverage and press/man: early-down Cover-1 (man) fell — 2019 average ~27.6% → 2025 ~14.9% (man is much less common).
  • Blitzing: number of teams blitzing >30% of snaps fell from 14 (2014) to 7 (2025). League-wide blitz rate is down ~3% from 2014.

Coaching and organizational change

  • Average head coach age fell from ~56 (2014) to ~49 (2025); with recent hires it drops further (~48). In 2014 there were many 50–60-year-old head coaches (20); in 2025 there are far fewer (7). In 2014 there were zero head coaches under 40; in 2025 there are multiple hires in their 30s–early 40s (Kellen Moore, Mike McDonald, Sean McVay’s cohort, etc.).
  • Offensive-minded hires dominate: roughly 21 offensive-background HC today versus ~17 in 2014; defensive hires are fewer now. Sean McVay (and the McVay/Shanahan tree) is described as the single most influential figure on how the modern NFL looks since Belichick.

Decision‑making and analytics

  • Fourth-down aggression: NFL teams went for it on ~12% of fourth downs in 2014 → roughly double that (~24%) in 2025.
  • Red zone 4th-and-1 to 4th-and-6 go-for-it rate: 31% (2014) → 63% (2025).
  • Fourth-and-2: 11% (2014) → 31% (2025).
  • Midfield-ish decisions (+25–+28): going for it 21% (2014) → 48% (2025).
  • Team-level behavior: 29 of 32 teams went for it <20 times in 2014; in 2025, 31 of 32 teams went for it ≥20 times. Seahawks were the outlier in 2025 (only 12 fourth-down attempts).

Notable insights / quotes from the discussion

  • “Teams are going for it twice as often a decade later as they used to.” — encapsulates the analytics-driven behavioral shift.
  • “Sean McVay is the most influential person in how the NFL operates now since Bill Belichick.” — a statement about modern coaching influence.
  • The league has a “missing era” of durable starters from certain drafts (2013–2015); many of those QBs failed to stick, contributing to the younger QB profile today.

Implications for the Patriots–Seahawks rematch (and how to watch the game)

  • Personnel matchups matter more than schematic copy-paste: the Seahawks’ big, two‑high/nickel-run-fit approach only works with specific players (big nickel, stout DL, long-armed corners). Teams that copy it without those components will struggle.
  • Watch fourth-down decisions and game management: expect both coaches to be informed by modern analytics — aggression on fourth down is now routine, but the Seahawks were unusually conservative in 2025.
  • Coverage choices: fewer man blitzes and more two-high coverage shells will create more matchups for route-heavy, pre-snap RPO/play-action concepts. See how each offense exploits or avoids big-nickel matchups.
  • QB mobility: if either QB can extend plays or create with his legs, it changes run/coverage balance and forces defensive substitutions (bigger nickel vs lighter slot matchups).
  • Coaching youth/tempo: younger, offensive-minded staffs may push tempo, creative personnel groupings, and aggressive fourth-down choices; contrast coaching styles and decision-making tendencies pre- and in‑game.

Practical takeaways / action list for a viewer who wants the most from the game

  • Track fourth-down situations and field position decisions — they reveal modern analytics in action.
  • Note personnel groupings (nickel vs base, heavy personnel) and how each team counters them — that shows which roster constructions are working.
  • Watch the slot matchups: is the defense using bigger slot defenders in run fits or smaller, shifty types in coverage? That will determine which offense can exploit seams.
  • Observe pre-snap safety alignment (one-high vs two-high) to anticipate whether coverage will be man/press or zone/man‑match concepts.
  • Pay attention to coaching tempo, trick plays and play-calling aggressiveness — the winners of the modern NFL often win the decision-making battles as much as the Xs and Os.

Conclusion

The NFL of 2025 looks younger, faster and more analytically driven than the league that met in Super Bowl XLIX. Schemes have shifted (more nickel, fewer base/man, less blitzing); coaching staffs skew younger and offense-oriented; analytics have normalized aggressive fourth-down decision-making; and quarterback archetypes lean more toward mobility and play-extension. The Patriots–Seahawks rematch serves as a convenient snapshot of how both personnel and philosophy have evolved — and warns against simplistic copying of an approach (e.g., the Seahawks’ big-nickel model) without the right players to execute it.