History awaits: Will the Super Bowl finally see a punt return touchdown?

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — The first touchdown in Super Bowl history came on a pass from Bart Starr to Max McGee 59 years ago for the Green Bay Packers. The most recent came on a 50-yard deep strike from Patrick Mahomes to Xavier Worthy last year.

In between those, there have been 323 additional touchdowns scored in Super Bowl history coming on runs, passes, interception returns, kick returns, fumble returns and blocked punts.

Surprisingly, no one has ever returned a punt for a score in the NFL's biggest game in a drought that just might come to an end this year in a game featuring two of the league's most dynamic returners.

“I just got educated about that,” New England’s Marcus Jones said this week. “Being able to be the first one in history to do that would mean a lot.”

Jones has three career punt return touchdowns, including two this season. His counterpart in Seattle, Rashid Shaheed, also has three in his career, including one this season.

Shaheed said he was asked this week to guess how many there had been in a Super Bowl and figured at least two, before finding out the actual answer.

"That’s crazy,” he said before echoing Jones in that it would mean a lot to be the first.

After 259 punt returns ended short of the end zone in Super Bowl history, could this be the year someone breaks through?

It nearly happened three years ago when Kansas City's Kadarius Toney had a 65-yard return that set up a 5-yard TD drive in the fourth quarter in one of the key moments in the Chiefs' win over Philadelphia.

Shaheed and Jones will try to do a little better this year.

“It would be obviously, history,” Shaheed said. "It would mean a lot to the team, being able to create a game-changing play like that. It would be amazing.”

It would be fitting if a big special teams play had a major impact on the Super Bowl after a season that seemed to produce more game-altering plays in the often overlooked third phase of the game.

The 2025 season was the year of special teams with a record number of long field goals, a staggering number of blocked kicks, big returns and costly blunders playing a big role every week.

The 44 blocked kicks were tied for the most in any season since 2017 and the 15 punt return touchdowns were the most since 2012. There were also an NFL-record 73 made field goals from at least 55 yards — including 12 from 60-plus for more than double the previous high for a season.

The kick return rate jumped to 74% from 33% last season in the second year of the so-called “dynamic” kickoff for the highest return rate in 15 years.

“I think a big part of that is because now you’re covering every kick and because of that now you’re putting more focus on kickoffs and returns and maybe not as much focus on punt returns,” Patriots special teams coordinator Jeremy Springer said. “Now you are getting a good mix of big punt returns, punt blocks, kickoff returns, kickoffs.

"It's been fun. You have to embrace it and find ways to beat it.”

While Drake Maye, Sam Darnold and the stellar defenses for New England and Seattle might be getting most of the headlines this week, the team that wins the kicking game Sunday might well end up hoisting the Lombardi Trophy.

The Seahawks, under special teams coordinator Jay Harbaugh, were the top team in the NFL this season in expected points added by special teams play, gaining nearly four points per game better than average. The Patriots finished in the middle of the pack, but have a player in Jones who is able to change a game in the blink of an eye.

“I’m not sure he has as much in terms of weaknesses and he can kind of do it all," Harbaugh said. ”He has the very best of what a lot of returners have put together. The speed, the vision, the contact balance. He fields the ball really well. He can make you miss. He’s the real deal."

The Seahawks used a punt return touchdown from Shaheed to fuel a late-season comeback win over the Los Angeles Rams that helped them win the NFC West. Shaheed then returned the opening kick of Seattle’s playoff opener for another touchdown to key a win over San Francisco in the divisional round and the Seahawks used a muffed punt by the Rams in the NFC championship game to make it to this stage.

The Seahawks also had the NFL’s best kick coverage unit with the average starting drive for opponents after kicks starting at the 28.

“He is very creative,” Springer said of Harbaugh. “He does a great job scheming teams up. He finds your weaknesses and he exploits those weaknesses and has a lot of those guys in the right places to make you look weak at the same time. You can tell they have a belief among their special teams group that they’re going to go out there and dominate and they believe that there’s one play away from doing it.”

New England wasn't quite as dominant on special teams as Seattle this season, but had three return touchdowns on kicks and punts and had a blocked field goal in the fourth quarter of the AFC championship game to preserve a three-point lead over New England.

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New England Patriots cornerback Marcus Jones speaks during the NFL Super Bowl Opening Night, Monday, Feb. 2, 2026, in San Jose, Calif. ahead of the Super Bowl 60 football game between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Seattle Seahawks wide receivers Rashid Shaheed (22) and Montorie Foster Jr. (87) stretch during an NFL Super Bowl football practice on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026, in San Jose, Calif., ahead of Super Bowl 60 between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

ISLAMABAD (AP) — A massive bombing ripped through a Shiite mosque on the outskirts of Pakistan 's capital during Friday prayers, killing at least 24 worshippers and wounding nearly a hundred people, officials said.

Islamabad police said the blast at the sprawling mosque was an attack and that an investigation was underway. Rescuers and witnesses said some of the wounded were listed as being in critical condition. Television footage and social media images showed police and residents transporting the injured to nearby hospitals.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the explosion, but suspicion is likely to fall on militants such as the Pakistani Taliban or the Islamic State group, which has been blamed for previous attacks on Shiite worshippers, a minority in the country. Militants often target security forces and civilians across Pakistan.

Though attacks are not so frequent in Islamabad, Pakistan has seen a surge in militant violence in recent months, largely blamed on Baloch separatist groups and the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, which is a separate group, but allied with Afghanistan’s Taliban. A regional affiliate of the Islamic State group has also been active in the country.

Shortly after the explosion was first reported with a lower number of casualties, Islamabad Deputy Commissioner Irfan Memon wrote on X that the death toll had risen to 24.

President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the attack in separate statements and extended condolences to the families of those killed. They instructed that all possible medical assistance be provided for those wounded.

“Targeting innocent civilians is a crime against humanity,” Zardari said. “The nation stands with the affected families in this difficult time.”

Sharif said he has ordered a full investigation. “Those who are responsible must be identified and punished,” he said.

Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi also condemned the attack, and asked authorities to ensure the provision of best medical care to the wounded.

Friday’s attack occurred as Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, who is on an official two-day visit, was attending an event with Sharif. The event in Islamabad was several miles away from the site of the explosion.

The last deadliest attack in Islamabad was in 2008, when a suicide bombing targeted the Marriott Hotel in the capital, killing 63 people and wounding over 250 others. In November, a suicide bomber had struck outside a court in Islamabad, killing 12 people.

The latest attack comes nearly a week after the outlawed Baloch Liberation Army carried out multiple attacks in insurgency-hit southwestern Balochistan province, killing about 50 people.

Security forces responding to those attacks also killed more than 200 “terrorists,” according to the military.

Pakistani security officers and rescue worker gather at the site of a bomb explosion at a Shiite mosque, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

Pakistani paramilitary and police commandos take positions at the site of a bomb explosion at a Shiite mosque, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

People comfort a man, center, mourning over the death of his relative, close to the site of a bomb explosion at a Shiite mosque, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

Pakistani security officers and rescue worker gather at the site of a bomb explosion at a Shiite mosque, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)