The time has arrived, maybe three or four years ahead of schedule.

But it’s Super Bowl Weekend, and another New England Patriots Super Bowl Weekend.

Incredible.

Will the Patriots just be happy to be here? It’s been a fairly quiet week in the Bay Area, part of the reason being the whole Super Bowl experience is so spread out. San Francisco? San Jose? Santa Clara? Pick your spot. You may not stay there for long. Except on Sunday. The world will be focused on Santa Clara, Drake Maye vs. a decent Seattle Seahawks defense and Sam Darnold trying to escape the Patriots pressure.

We don’t think he will.

When the season started, we thought we’d see Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, etc. How could the Patriots possibly stand up to them. Well they never saw Mahomes, spit with Allen, and Jackson lasted a quarter before hurting his back.

In the playooffs it was the Murderers Row of Justin Herbert, C.J. Stroud and, uh, Jarret t Stidham.

And now Darnold. The former Jet didn’t see ghosts last week in beating the Rams, outdueling Matthew Stafford. He’s QB’d two teams to 14-3 records the last two seasons. He’s got talent.

He also turns the ball over. Mike Vrabel wanted a Patriots team that could “take advantage of bad football.”

For a long time in his career, Darnold was bad football. He was bad football last year when Minnesota got drilled in the playoffs, but he landed on his feet in Seattle.

He’s been bad football at times this year, and he had 20 turnvers, including 14 interceptions. Yikes, 20 giveaways.

Seeing ghosts? Nah, instead he’ll see the humongous shadow Patriots defensive lineman Milton Williams casts as he’s bearing down on the QB.

The Patriots defensive coaching staff will likely be dialing up blitzes galore, and dare Darnold to beat them. Maybe he will, but the odds are in New England’s favor. And with back Zach Charbonnet not able to play after suffering a torn ACL in the divisional round, the Seahawks suddenly have no running game. That’s bad news for Darnold. You see a Patriots feast developing.

Now, perhaps that won’t happen. Perhaps Darnold has gotten those turnovers out of his system. The Patriots though don’t have the hunger out of their system. Vrabel & Co. prioritized defense in free agency, starting with Williams, then a ton of others. They just kept adding the steady, not spectacuar. But the results have been superb. When Williams and linebacker Robert Spillane have been in the lineup, the Patriots have been smothering teams. Spillane’s ankle is of concern, he was limited all week in practice and is questionable for today.

The nation isn’t exactly waiting for this one with immense anticipation. There’s nobody to hate. Sure, many are ticked off the Patriots are back in the big game, but there’s no Brady or Belichick to root against. And how can anyone hate Drake Maye? Or even Darnold? Except 49er fans, many of whom have said they don’t want Seattle, which KO’d them from the playoffs, to celebrate on their home field of Levi Stadium.

So here we go. The Patriots need to keep the game in the 20s, but you never know. Darnold will turn the ball over three times and your New England Patriots will be Super Bowl champions by a 28-17 tally.

Pitchers and catchers in 10 days.

CONFERENCE WEEK: 1-1

PLAYOFFS: 7-5

FINAL REGULAR SEASON: 83-43

Tom King may be reached at tking@nashuatelegraph.com. Also, follow King on X (@Telegraph_TomK).