Welcome back to The MMQB newsletter. With Super Bowl LX days away, it's time to peer into our crystal balls. Our writers and editors each picked a champion, a final score, an MVP and one bold prediction for the big game. Conor Orr broke with the rest of The MMQB, selecting the underdog Patriots to lift the Lombardi Trophy. And while most of the staff feel confident the Seahawks will emerge victorious Sunday, the MVP selections, bold predictions and final scores varied widely. In their dispatches from California, Albert Breer gave an inside look into the secret behind Mike Vrabel's success and Greg Bishop spoke with the man who convinced Mack Hollins to go barefoot. And ahead of Thursday night's NFL Honors, Matt Verderame broke down the 15 modern-era finalists for the 2026 Pro Football Hall of Fame class. He also outlined how he'd fix the Hall's voting process in the wake of Bill Belichick's snub. Let's start with our Super Bowl prognostication. |
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By The MMQB Staff Super Bowl LX is finally here! It was 22 weeks ago that we were staring at the start of a new season and the MMQB's writers and editors looked into their crystal balls to see how it would all unfold. We've checked the tape and, nope, nobody had Seahawks-Patriots as the final game with the Lombardi Trophy on the line. But here we are, and it is an interesting matchup. We've had coverage all week on the two teams still standing. Plus, Super Bowl history lessons with rankings of the 60 greatest moments and a look back at Super Bowl III with Joe Namath. But you are probably here for our thoughts on this upcoming game, so let's get right to our staff picks and bold predictions. |
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By Albert Breer The saying that encapsulates all of this for Patriots coach Mike Vrabel is scribbled in blue marker at the bottom of a giant greaseboard, otherwise covered in football jargon, to the right of the desk in his windowless office. "We Treat You The Way You Treat The Team!" It was his Northstar in September as his program was getting off the ground, and his bellcow running back, Rhamondre Stevenson, fought through a ball-security problem. The 27-year-old had a history of putting the ball on the ground, and did so twice in a loss to the Steelers. His first lost fumble was on the game's fourth snap, the other at the Pittsburgh 2-yard line. The day after that 21–14 defeat, plenty of coaches, including the one Vrabel once sat before in that same meeting room, might've played a lowlight reel of Stevenson's miscues. Instead, the first-year New England boss showed everything else that went wrong on the plays. He showed offensive linemen failing to finish their blocks, and receivers laying off their blocks, leaving defenders clean shots that jarred the ball loose. |
SCOTT CLAUSE/USA TODAY Network via Imagn Conten |
By Matt Verderame This weekend, we will find out who wins Super Bowl LX. We will also find out the 2026 Pro Football Hall of Fame class. Of course, we know one man who didn't make it, with the omission of Bill Belichick potentially revamping the voting process come 2027. Meanwhile, on Thursday, the 15 Modern Era finalists will find out whether they are part of the newest class or will have to wait one more year for their gold jacket. At least three will be enshrined, according to the Hall of Fame bylaws, with no more than five making the cut. As for how voting works, the Hall of Selectors will vote to narrow the 15 finalists to 10. Then, they'll trim the list to seven. Finally, the 50 voters will each select five players, a total of 250 votes. To earn induction, a candidate must get at least 80% of the votes (40 or more) or be in the top three of vote-getters. Here's what each finalist brings to the table. |
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David Butler II/Imagn Images |
By Greg Bishop As he settles into a chair outside a café in Union Square, Aaron Kiegaldie is wearing … shoes. This might not sound unusual. But, for him—and for the Patriots wide receiver whose career he helped resurrect—it is. Kiegaldie is the director of Melbourne Muscular Therapies. As in, Australia. Mack Hollins is among his most famous clients. Both, Kiegaldie says, own no more than five pairs of shoes. Even then, they're "barefoot shoes," meaning they're made so wearers feel like they're walking without shoes even when they're on. Kiegaldie hasn't worn shoes—typical, barefoot or otherwise—to work in about 10 years. He drives barefoot, shops barefoot and works out barefoot.
"I want to get the dogs out for sure here," he says, meaning both feet. Forget no shirt, no shoes, no service. Hollins reached out to Melbourne Muscular Therapies via direct message on Instagram in 2019. Kiegaldie thought someone might be setting up a scam. He was outside when the missive landed, mowing his lawn, his feet, well, bare. |
Robert Deutsch/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images |
By Matt Verderame On Thursday, Bill Belichick will know the names of the Pro Football Hall of Fame class of 2026. The class he should be part of. The class that will ultimately predate his by a year. For Belichick, a man who spent part of his youth roaming around the Hall's basement while learning about the game's glorious past, it's the ultimate indignity. It's one that shouldn't have been endured, but was, due to a system designed to succeed but doomed to fail. Currently, for modern-era candidates (defined as players within their first 20 years of eligibility), there's an annual process that reduces 25 semifinalists to 15 finalists. From there, the group is whittled from 15 to 10, and again from 10 to seven. Once there are seven candidates, the 50 voters cast their five choices. Any player receiving at least 80% of the votes earns induction. A minimum of three must be enshrined, with a maximum of five (if three players don't get 80% of the vote, it's the top three vote-getters who are enshrined). Then there are the senior players, coaches and contributors, who are all in one bucket. Three players are put up for a vote, along with one coach and one contributor. The same 50 voters write down their top three choices. The same 80% threshold applies, with a minimum of one and a maximum of three needing to be enshrined. |
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