Super Bowl 2026: Tony Romo Gives His Biggest Key To Winning For Seattle Seahawks & New England Patriots

Tony Romo said a big key to winning Super Bowl LX for both teams will be establishing the run game early to take the pressure off of quarterbacks Sam Darnold and Drake Maye. (Photo by Kara Durrette/Getty Images)

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Tony Romo believes one of the keys to success for both the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots will be establishing the run game early in Super Bowl LX.

Both the Seahawks and Patriots have had remarkable turnarounds this season to advance to the Super Bowl. The Seahawks missed the playoffs last year with nine wins, only to emerge as a 14-win team with Sam Darnold in his first season as quarterback. Meanwhile, the Patriots have had one of the greatest turnarounds in NFL history with 14 wins a year after posting just four wins.

They’re doing all of this in Mike Vrabel’s first season as head coach and Drake Maye’s second year in the NFL.

What is the key to calming down the nerves of two quarterbacks who have never played in the big game? Establishing the run game early, said Romo.

“Just having watched some of the stuff a little bit recently with Seattle, this is going to be a game how the quarterbacks handle the pressure early in the game and late will be as big a factor as anything,” said Romo in a one-on-one interview. “Whoever gets the help early in the game could be the difference maker. In other words, what team is getting five-to-six yards when they’re running the ball to take the pressure off the quarterback. Early nerves are going to be there for anybody.”

As mentioned before, Darnold is making his first Super Bowl start after winning his first playoff game just a couple weeks prior. Meanwhile, Maye is going through his first postseason run.

In contrast to prior years where you usually have experienced quarterbacks with Super Bowl experience, Super Bowl LX will feature two quarterbacks with zero experience and very little playoff experience.

This is where the run games featuring Kenneth Walker of the Seahawks – he has been on absolute tear this postseason – and the Patriots’ two-headed rushing attack of Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson come into play.

Romo stresses that is especially key for the 23-year-old Maye.

“Every quarterback that has played in a Super Bowl, everyone’s talked about like it’s it’s real, and now you’ve got a second-year quarterback in Drake Maye,” said Romo. “The gauntlet of defenses he’s gone through, it’s been unbelievable. He goes through the Chargers, he went through Houston, then he went at Denver, and now he’s got the Seahawks.

“It’s an unbelievable run to have to go through those, so it’s not like he’s going to see something that’s so crazy,” Romo continued. “Because these teams are all great on defense. How he handles the pressure and how they call the game early, and it would take so much off his plate if they can just hand the ball and get five or six yards, just give it to the back and find unique ways to throw it to the back on a swing screen, find a way to do a tight end screen. Find a way just to take that off of him early and then let him go be like he was in the regular season, MVP candidate.”

Romo also gives major credit to Darnold, who has managed to defeat the Seahawks’ two NFC West rivals in the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams on their way to Super Bowl LX.

“Sam Darnold, no different, this is his run,” said Romo of Darnold “Last year, got in the playoffs, he’s already had to hear from everybody about it. He couldn’t win a big game. That’s silly. He’s played outstanding. He’s like an MVP candidate to me as well. He came out and played maybe the best game of his career last week in the biggest game he’s ever played in. He won the NFC Championship against a team who’s had his number. I think he’ll be prepared, but the nerves there, the same thing on that end.

“If he’s able just to hand the ball off early in the game, I think the team that you see who runs it better on the first two drives will probably win the game,” Romo continued regarding the key to winning Super Bowl LX.

Tony Romo & Ramiro Romo On Prostate Cancer Awareness Campaign

Leading into the big game, the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback and current CBS Sports analyst is teaming up with Bayer for their “Highlights REAL” campaign. The initiative is about bringing awareness to advance prostate cancer, a condition that his father, Ramiro Romo, began dealing with back in 2007.

Prostate cancer affects one out of every eight men, but there’s a high survival rate, especially if conditions are detected early.

“Me and my dad, we teamed up with Bayer to raise awareness for prostate cancer,” said the younger Romo. “It’s a personal thing to me, and it’s obviously very close to home. My dad has faced prostate cancer, and so we want to get a message out and raise awareness just for people to end up taking a look at the highlightsreal.com. I end up going on there and commentating a little bit, almost like I’m at CBS and it’s a lot of fun stuff.

“It’s great because you got a lot of people on there, and people we got to meet and stuff,” Romo continued. “But it’s been fun, and then just hoping to raise awareness for people to be proactive and go consult with their doctor and figure out a game plan when it comes to managing prostate cancer. It’s been very fun and rewarding, and hopefully we can help somebody.”

Romo continued why it’s such an important cause for himself and his father to help others out, considering they’ve gone through this as a family.

“It’s recent, and I feel like for us, it’s something when it comes to you, you’re like, ‘Oh, this is important to us,’” said Romo. “We can help. It’s like, ‘You in Dad?,’ I’m in. He’s like, ‘Absolutely.’ Like anybody, you just have things that a family faces, and you go through and you just want to hopefully help somebody else. I appreciate some of the everyday moments we have together, and it’s been fun.”

When asked what is his best advice to those dealing with prostate cancer, Ramiro said it’s a matter of being “proactive.”

“Being proactive, having a game plan, having a support system,” said Ramiro. “Whether that’s your wife, your kids, your doctor, nurses, all your caregivers. These are things you can’t do without when you’re dealing with something like this, or you don’t want to do it without them. I was very fortunate, and that happened for me. Those are some of the things you have to do when it comes to managing prostate cancer.”