Super Bowl 60: Where the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots will be won and lost

The defensive front seven are the NFL’s wrecking crews, tasked with, among other things, making life as uncomfortable as possible for opposing quarterbacks.

Both sides have great units here and we’ve seen before how dominance here can decide the outcome of a Super Bowl.

Harold Landry and K’Lavon Chaisson combined for 16 regular-season sacks for New England, thanks to defensive tackles Christian Barmore and Milton Williams creating constant interior pressure, collapsing pockets at will.

The Patriots made Williams the highest-paid player in team history with a $104 million deal in free agency last year, following the Eagles’ dominant Super Bowl showing against the Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes.

If he repeats that here, Darnold will be in trouble.

However, it is Seattle that could have the advantage here as they will bring in a four-headed monster in Leonard Williams, Uchenna Nwosu, Byron Murphy and DeMarcus Lawrence who have combined to produce 30 sacks this season.

Lawrence, who left Dallas to win the Super Bowl, has been sacked and forced a fumble in both playoff games so far and has been particularly impressive, but it’s the threat across the Seahawks’ defensive front that gives them the edge.

As the Patriots will make history by starting two rookies on their offensive line in Will Campbell and Jared Wilson — with left tackle Campbell, the man tasked with protecting Maye’s blind side, facing some rookie struggles.

Maye has been sacked 15 times in the playoffs, the record is 19, and if the two rookies fail to guard him again, it could get ugly — think Patrick Mahomes’ two Super Bowl defeats to the Eagles and Buccaneers.

Skilled players scoring touchdowns make headlines, but Super Bowls are won and lost in the trenches — and that battle on Maye’s blindside could decide the entire debate.