Inside the coaching chess match at Super Bowl LX: Which staff holds the edge where it matters most?

With just one game left in the NFL season, it's important to break things down from every conceivable angle. The Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots will do battle on Sunday with the Lombardi Trophy on the line, and every little thing is going to matter when it comes to determining who will be getting Super Bowl rings and who will be going home disappointed.

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We here at CBS Sports have been working to break down the game in as much detail as possible throughout the week, and we'll continue to do so up to and through the game itself. That includes our efforts below to break down the coaching matchups.

Each coaching staff has proven its mettle throughout the regular season and playoffs, but how they interact on game day will go a long way toward determining which team ultimately emerges victorious. So we're going to break down the play-callers on each side of the ball, as well as the matchup between the two head coaches.

Seahawks HC Mike Macdonald vs. Patriots OC Josh McDaniels

Macdonald is arguably the NFL's premier defensive schemer at this stage of his career. His ability to blend what the Seahawks do up front with what they do on the back end is second to none. His defense applies pressure, stops the run and doesn't create openings for offenses to throw downfield and create explosive plays. If you can do all of those things at once, you are an elite defense, and that's exactly what the Seahawks are.

McDaniels was a terrible head coach in his two opportunities, but he has proven himself to be one of the best offensive coordinators of his or any era. He shows a consistent ability to put quarterbacks in position to succeed, and he's been able to scheme Drake Maye and Co. into favorable situations despite working with an average-at-best offensive line and a skill-position corps that leaves at least something to be desired, especially at wide receiver. 

The most interesting part of this battle will be how McDaniels chooses to attack Macdonald's zone looks. Seattle played zone at the league's third-highest rate, forcing opponents into -0.10 EPA per dropback on those snaps, per Tru Media. Meanwhile, Maye was one of the best quarterbacks in the league against zone this season, checking in first in EPA per dropback on those snaps. 

While McDaniels is very good, Macdonald may be the single best coach in the NFL at the game-day portion of calling a defense. We have to give Seattle the advantage here.

Advantage: Seahawks

Seahawks OC Klint Kubiak vs. Patriots ILB Coach Zak Kuhr

Kubiak, like both Macdonald and McDaniels, is one of the league's pre-eminent schemers. His under-center, run-heavy, play-action passing offense is one of the most well-designed units in the NFL, getting players like Kenneth Walker III and especially Jaxon Smith-Njigba into spaces so open that you can barely believe it. Sam Darnold has thrived in the ecosystem Kubiak created, whose work has been so exemplary that he landed the open job as head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders.

Kuhr has filled in as the Patriots' defensive play-caller all season as defensive coordinator Terrell Williams dealt with his cancer diagnosis. Williams traveled with the team to the Bay Area, but I expect Kuhr will remain at the controls for the Super Bowl, given the circumstances. Kuhr's unit has been fantastic during the playoffs, after an up-and-down regular season in which its performance hinged on whether Milton Williams was on the field. Williams is healthy now, though, and this has looked like a top defense through the AFC playoff run. 

It's hard to go against Kubiak here, given what he's done throughout this season. He's a finalist for the Assistant Coach of the Year award on Thursday night, and it wouldn't be all that surprising to see him win the trophy. Kuhr has done an admirable job in his situation, but as we have seen all year, Kubiak is up there with the best offensive play-callers in the league. 

Advantage: Seahawks

Seahawks HC Mike Macdonald vs. Patriots HC Mike Vrabel

The Patriots have a clear advantage in game management here. As ESPN's Bill Barnwell noted:

Macdonald has been better as the season has gone along, but he had a markedly conservative streak during the regular season. The Seahawks went for it just 17.6% of the time on fourth down on the offensive side of the field, the lowest rate of any team in the NFL. Macdonald got more comfortable going for it on fourth-and-1 when AJ Barner proved himself to be a viable tush push sneaker, but the Seahawks were one of the more conservative operations in the league.

Vrabel, meanwhile, cost his team less win probability this season than any other coach besides [Pete] Carroll on fourth downs (and that's partly because his Raiders weren't in position to win many games regardless of what they did on fourth down). Vrabel has been aggressive throughout the campaign, including during the playoffs, where the Patriots picked up a critical touchdown on a fourth-and-1 call against the Texans.

Game management isn't the only aspect of the head-coaching matchup, of course, as preparation, culture and scheme matter just as much. (Vrabel is a defensive-minded coach, but he doesn't call the defense, so it's hard to put much on his shoulders in the scheme department. Both coaches have their teams exceedingly well prepared for games and seem to have built strong cultures, which is almost always the case when your team is winning at the level these two teams did throughout the regular season and postseason.) But in a game where every single thing matters on the margins, this could be a big one. 

Advantage: Patriots