Super Bowl 60: Where Seattle Seahawks vs New England Patriots will be won and lost

The defensive front seven are the wrecking crews of the NFL, tasked with, among other things, making life as uncomfortable as possible for opposing quarterbacks.

Both sides excel here with terrific units and we’ve seen before how dominance here can decide the outcome of a Super Bowl.

Harold Landry and K’Lavon Chaisson combined for 16 regular season sacks for New England, thanks to defensive tackles Christian Barmore and Milton Williams bringing constant interior pressure, collapsing pockets at will.

The Patriots made Williams the highest paid player in team history with a $104m deal in free agency last year, following a dominant Super Bowl display for the Eagles against Patrick Mahomes’ Chiefs.

If he replicates that here then Darnold is in trouble.

It’s Seattle, though, who could hold the advantage here as they are bringing a four-headed monster of Leonard Williams, Uchenna Nwosu, Byron Murphy and DeMarcus Lawrence who have combined for 30 sacks this season.

Lawrence, who left Dallas to win a Super Bowl, has had a sack and forced fumble in both play-off games so far and has been particularly impressive, but it’s the danger right across the Seahawks defensive front that gives them the edge.

As the Patriots will make history by starting two rookies on their offensive line in Will Campbell and Jared Wilson – with left tackle Campbell, the man charged with protecting Maye’s blindside, having some rookie struggles.

Maye has been sacked 15 times in the play-offs, the record is 19, and if the two rookies fail to protect him again then it could get ugly – think Patrick Mahomes’ two Super Bowl defeats by the Eagles and Buccaneers.

Skill players scoring touchdowns make the headlines, but Super Bowls are won and lost in the trenches – and that battle on Maye’s blindside could just decide the whole argument.