The best two teams in the National Football League are preparing to battle each other at Levi’s Stadium in Super Bowl LX.

That is not always the case.

There have been plenty of seasons when a team got hot late, benefited from a fluke play in the playoffs or caught a superior squad looking past them and benefited from an upset in the playoffs. Not this year. The Seahawks have credentials on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball that could allow them to become only the second team in Super Bowl history to win a Vince Lombardi Trophy after losing at home on opening day.

Seattle was edged at Lumen Field on opening day while a slight underdog to the San Francisco 49ers.

The New England Patriots accomplished something only five other teams in history have done, that is winning at least seven consecutive games while scoring 23 or more points and allowing 23 or fewer. The first five teams to do that won their league championship, and the Patriots did it a record ten times.

They are looking to become only the second team to win a Super Bowl after losing their season opening game at home. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers did that in 2002, losing to the New Orleans Saints at home on opening day and then winning it all with a one-sided triumph over the Los Angeles Raiders in Super Bowl XXXVII. The Patriots opened the career of Mike Vrabel as their coach with a loss to, wait for it, the Las Vegas Raiders.

If you ever thought any team couldn't win any game in the NFL just ponder that result for a moment. The Raiders earned the top pick in next April’s draft while only winning three games this season and having their first-year head coach fired. The Patriots bounced off that loss to win 14 games this season and their coach is among the leading candidates to win coach of the year.

This Super Bowl next month is going to crown a team that lost at home on opening day. That is rare, but the talent these two squads demonstrated this season is in perfect alignment with a champion. Including how they cleared their conference with a win in their respective championship games.

Both the American and National Football Conferences had highly competitive games last Sunday. The Patriots won a defensive battle that was grounded by the weather in the second half. The game pivoted around a play by the inexperienced Jarrett Stidham when he tried to pass deep in his territory and the play was originally called an incomplete pass. Then determined to be intentional grounding before determining on replay that the ball was a backward pass that was recovered by the Patriots at the 12-yard-line. In the final analysis, the play was officially scored as a fumble recovered by New England.

On second down, Patriots Quarterback Drake Maye ran six-yards for the Patriots only touchdown of the day with just over two-minutes left in the second quarter. With the addition of a second half field goal, Vrabel led his team out of Mile High and to Super Bowl LX by virtue of a 10-7 squeaker.

The Seahawks triumph over the Los Angeles Rams was just as close and could be attributed to a pair of consequential plays. The Seahawks came into the game having lost to the Rams in six of their most recent seven meetings. Early in the third quarter, Los Angeles kick returner Xavier Smith muffed a punt and set the Seahawks up in the red zone with a first down. Seattle Quarterback Sam Darnold converted that into a touchdown that swelled the Seahawks lead to 11 points, 24-13.

Late in the third quarterback, while leading 31-20, the Seahawks made a key stop on third down at midfield, but in a play that would have haunted him for the rest of his life, Seattle defender Rig Woolen taunted the Rams bench and drew a 15-yard penalty that gave the Rams a first down at the 34-yard-line. On the first play after the penalty, Matthew Stafford found Puka Nacua for a touchdown that cut the Seahawks advantage to 31-27.

In the fourth quarter, both teams had their stout defenses rule the contest and the Seahawks escaped with the four-point win.

Off those two close battles in the conference championship games, the Seahawks and Patriots land in Super Bowl LX. They may have lost on opening day, but these are the two best teams in football and promise to deliver a compelling title game.