THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: Still one more game before y'all really go crazy

I have some shocking news. 

The Seahawks did NOT win the Super Bowl on Sunday. 

Sorry, but they didn’t. 

The NFL has rudely insisted that Seattle must dispatch New England on Feb. 8 to actually take possession of the Lombardi Trophy. 

I thought I should share this information, since almost everyone in the Northwest danced themselves silly after that 31-27 thriller over the Rams. 

True enough, it FELT like the Hawks had finished off a spectacular season with one last magnificent victory. 

In fact, most Seahawks fans don’t want to consider that a team better than the Rams might be waiting to crash the party. 

I mean, you don’t even want to IMAGINE a gang that could dust the Rams. 

That’s why Seahawks fans — the much-ballyhooed “12s” — burst into the streets when the Rams’ final, desperate pass came too late. 

These folks have won a Super Bowl before (2014, when they thrashed Denver 43-8) and they know the Lombardi hardware when they see it. 

AS WE wait for the Hawks’ showdown with New England in northern California (Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara), it’s eerie to once again ponder a bizarre connection to the Catholic Church. 

In the 21st century, the Seahawks have reached the Super Bowl each time a new Pope has been elected. 

It’s true. 

In 2005, Pope Benedict XVI was the choice of the conclave, and that same NFL season saw Seattle reach Super Bowl XL.  

Eight years later in 2013, Pope Francis I was elected, and the Seahawks went on to reach Super Bowl XLVIII, where they won their first Lombardi Trophy. 

Now, Pope Leo XIV was elected in 2025, and once again, Seattle has booked its place in the Super Bowl. 

The least the Seahawks can do for Pope Leo — the first American pontiff — is finish their end of this deal against the Pats. 

To be honest, I understand why Hawks loyalists think (or thought) this thing was over. 

Nothing is guaranteed in a sports event, but the Seahawks are favored in the Super Bowl for a good reason. 

They’re a better team. 

First-year coach Mike Vrabel has done an amazing job with the Pats, taking a four-win team and turning it into a bona fide NFL powerhouse. 

Besides Vrabel and the addition of several free agents at the line of scrimmage, the Pats are riding the skills of second-year quarterback Drake Maye. 

Maye is big (6-4, 225), strong and is a willing runner in addition to having a cannon arm. 

When passing was out of the question in a snowstorm last weekend, Maye ran for critical first downs in a tense 10-7 victory at Denver. 

The Patriots will not be a pushover. 

NFL scouts and personnel people claim that Seattle is deeper in all phases of play, and ultimately can combine strength with explosions involving receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, all-purpose speedster Rashid Shaheed and running back Kenneth Walker III. 

THE PATS are not as dangerous as the Rams, especially since they’ve had some issues that required some shuffling along the offensive line. 

The Seahawks are favored by 4 1/2 in Vegas at the moment, but that number could go up.  

Seattle only faces danger with turnovers (the Pats are ball-hunters) and a running game that might sputter. 

Walker basically will have to carry the load alone, with partner Zach Charbonnet out for the year with a knee injury. 

Missing Charbonnet could matter, and it might have against the Rams if Sam Darnold hadn’t thrown the ball on running downs to keep a final possession alive. 

Meanwhile, New England will NEED to run the ball successfully — or Maye’s going to face a fierce pass rush that regularly forces big plays by the secondary. 

The Pats, meanwhile, don’t plan on being pushed around. 

Free agent defensive tackle Milton Williams — who clinched the AFC title by running down Denver QB Jarrett Stidham — made that clear.eanwhile 

“We got a bunch of dogs,” Williams said. “We don’t care what nobody says.  

“We’re gonna come out and prove that s**t on the field every time we get out there.” 

Well, if Williams plans to create some carnage in Santa Clara, that clinches it. 

The Seahawks haven’t won the Super Bowl. 

Yet. 

Email: [email protected] 

Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press three times each week, normally Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday unless, you know, stuff happens. 

Steve suggests you take his opinions in the spirit of a Jimmy Buffett song: “Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On.”