MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
The matchup for Super Bowl 60 is set. The New England Patriots will take on the Seattle Seahawks. Both teams won their respective conference titles yesterday, and now they have a little under two weeks to get ready before they hear Bad Bunny in the halftime show - I mean, at the Super Bowl - at Santa Clara, California. Martenzie Johnson is with ESPN's Andscape, and he's with us now to tell us about both games. Good morning.
MARTENZIE JOHNSON: Good morning, Michel. How are you?
MARTIN: I'm good. I'm better than you because you had to stay up late and watch both games. I had to go to sleep so I could get up and do this. OK. But you're here now, so thank you for that. So the Patriots beat the Denver Broncos 10 to 7 to win the AFC championship, and then the Seattle edged out the LA Rams to clinch the NFC title 31 to 27. Two very different games. What'd you take away from them?
JOHNSON: Well, the first one - let's just say that that was playoff football weather, right? It was a blizzard out. All the weather that we're seeing impacting the rest of the country - you saw it on full display there, so it was a low-scoring game. But the Broncos couldn't eke it out in the end and threw an interception. It was a good game to watch, maybe not a good game to play in. On the other side, the Seahawks, that was - if you want to talk about playoff football, Michel, that was playoff football. Came down to the end - the Seahawks needed a third-and-8, and they got exactly 8 by inches. So I stayed up late last night. That was no problem for me. I enjoyed it.
MARTIN: OK. All right. Well, glad to hear. So the Patriots' first Super Bowl appearance since they had Tom Brady in the lineup, the GOAT for many.
JOHNSON: Yes.
MARTIN: But let's talk about the quarterback matchup for this year's big game.
JOHNSON: Yeah. Drake Maye is a second-year player for the Patriots. He looked all right last year and then - and only won four games with the Patriots last season. And then out of nowhere, he's a MVP candidate this year - 4,000 yards passing, 35 touchdowns. But I think the more impressive story here is Sam Darnold. He's a former No. 3 overall pick cast off by three other teams, including his team from last year, the Minnesota Vikings, who he won 14 games with, and that team didn't even make the playoffs this year. Sam Darnold's just one of those incredible comeback stories for the NFL that they'll - stories that they like to sell really well. And it's really impressive what he was able to pull off - 350 yards last night, three touchdowns. And again, that third-and-8 that they needed - he got it to Cooper Kupp with just inches to spare.
MARTIN: So - and both coaches - their first time leading a...
JOHNSON: Yeah.
MARTIN: ...Team into the Super Bowl?
JOHNSON: I think Mike Macdonald - again, a - amazing story. Was a graduate assistant at Georgia, longtime assistant for the Ravens - their defensive coordinator, helps them get deep in the playoffs a couple years ago, turns around the Seahawks. But Mike Vrabel - I think what's most important about him is that the Tennessee Titans, of all franchises, didn't want him anymore, pushed him out, and then in his first year with the Patriots, he takes them to the Super Bowl. Meanwhile, the Titans haven't made the playoffs in four years.
MARTIN: Theme here. Theme emerging.
JOHNSON: (Laughter).
MARTIN: If you want to win a Super Bowl, get kicked to the curb...
JOHNSON: (Laughter).
MARTIN: ...By somebody else, come back and make the thing happen. OK. So what are you looking forward to on February 8? Other than Bad Bunny, which we...
JOHNSON: It's...
MARTIN: ...All are.
JOHNSON: It's No. 1 defense versus top-five offense on both sides. This is two top-five offenses and defense going against each other. But the Seahawks, I think, have the advantage here. They have Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who led the league in receiving. Last night, he had 155 yards. Somehow, he's just always open. I've seen way too many mistakes from the Patriots, six fumbles by Drake Maye in the first two rounds. And he's just green, very, very green second-year player. So I've got the Seahawks.
MARTIN: All right. All right. Looking forward to it. Martenzie Johnson with ESPN's Andscape.
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