There’s only three games left in the NFL Season. Last weekend had some great football, especially the Bills vs Broncos and Rams vs Bears games. I went 3 – 1 in my predictions last week as the Broncos ended up defeating the Bills in overtime. Another heartbreak for Josh Allen and the Bills. This season and the playoffs have been one of the greatest the past couple of years.
Three of the four potential Super Bowl LX (60) matchups would be Super Bowl rematches from previous years. First would be the Rams vs Patriots from Super Bowls 36 and 53. The others are the Broncos vs Seahawks from Super Bowl 48 and Patriots vs Rams from Super Bowl 53. The best of the matchups would probably be the Seahawks vs Patriots from Super Bowl 49, which had the infamous play where the Seahawks didn’t run the ball. I still can’t believe it till this day. All of the remaining teams have won at least one Super Bowl in the last 13 years.
An fun fact before we begin is that the coaches from both sides sides are either Mike or Sean. We have Sean McVay (Rams) vs Mike Macdonald (Seahawks) and Sean Payton (Broncos) vs Mike Vrabel (Patriots). lol. Speaking of Sean McVay, his 10 career playoff wins are the most by any head coach before turning 40.
AFC Championship Game – New England Patriots (2) @ Denver Broncos (1):
The empire has returned. LOL! An interesting fact is that every AFC Championship Game since 2011 has had either the New England Patriots or the Kansas City Chiefs. The moment the Chiefs don’t make it, the Patriots return. Also, the Broncos are 4 – 1 overall and 4 – 0 at home against the Patriots in the playoffs. This is also the rematch of the 2013 and 2015 AFC Championship games, both of which were games that the Broncos won to advance to the Super Bowl. Those were during the classic Manning vs Brady rivalry days, and the Broncos won each of those matchups. A lot has changed for both teams since then.
The Patriots defeated C.J. Stroud and the Texans last week. Stroud threw for not one. Not two. Not three. But actually four interceptions in the first half alone. Their offense didn’t show up at all and they also had many fumbles. They also had way too many three-and-out possessions as well. It was only their dominant defense that tried to keep them in the game. The Patriots won due to many key play conversions, even though Drake Maye was sacked five times. That will be a concern as they will go up against the Broncos pass rush this weekend.
The Patriots have been the one of the most impressive teams the entire season. They went out and hired Mike Vrabel and also got Wide Receivers like Stefon Diggs. They also improved their O-Line. They were only 4 – 13 a couple seasons ago, and it has been impressive to see this turnaround so quick. People were picking the Patriots to be a sneaky wild card team could pull of an upset, but they definitely exceeded that. They are ehading back to the AFC Championship game for the first time since the 2018-19 season.
Soon the Broncos defeated the Bills last week, they would get some unfortunate news, which was that their QB Bo Nix ended up having a season-ending ankle injury. The Broncos need to take advantage of opposing teams turnovers and turn them into points. Josh Allen had a couple of turnovers last week and the Broncos were only able to capitalize by getting some field goals. Their offense was also not as productive and was shut down until the end of the fourth quarter, where Marvin Mims caught an impressive touchdown. The Broncos could not effectively rely on their run game against one of the worst rushing defenses in the league last week. They will need to focus on that this week if they even want to have a chance, especially without Bo Nix. The defense also needs to force turnovers and potentially generate points as well.
The Patriots faced off against good defensive teams like the Chargers and the Texans in the previous rounds. That was despite the fact that Drake Maye also had some turnovers. They will be going up against the explosive Broncos pass rush, who have had the most sacks by any team this season. Maye will need to limit the turnovers like the ones he had that past couple of weeks.
The Broncos offense will need to be productive and focus on their run game, especially with R.J. Harvey, who didn’t perform as well last week. Christian Gonzalez was able to play last week and had a solid game. That will be a concern for Jarrett Stidham. Another concern is the Broncos is their run game. Their best RB, J.K. Dobbins, has been already ruled out for the season, and their other RB, R.J. Harvey, who has had some good moments this season, but didn’t really play good last week. An interesting fun fact is that Jarrett Stidham will be the first QB since 1972 to make their first start of the season during the Conference Championship game. He’s also the second QB to start a playoff game without even throwing a pass in the regular seaason.
Overall, the x-factor for this game will be the defense for both sides and who can force and take advantage of turnovers. This might be a low-scoring and competitive game, especially due to good defenses and the high altitude in Denver. The Broncos will need to pressure and get to Drake Maye and force him to have turnovers. Unfortunately, I feel like the Patriots have the slight advantage, especially due to Bo Nix’s injury. They have a good defense, a solid run game, and have more momentum. I don’t like saying this, but the empire has unfortunately returned.
(Winner Prediction: New England Patriots)
NFC Championship Game – Los Angeles Rams (5) @ Seattle Seahawks (1):
For the NFC Championship game, we have an third NFC West showdown this season between the Rams and Seahawks. It must suck for 49ers fans that whoever wins this game will play for the Super Bowl in their home stadium. We also have the number one scoring offense in the Rams (30.5 PPG) taking on the number on scoring defense in the Seahawks (17.2 Opp PPG). This will only be the third championship game since 1970 to have this feat.
These teams split the regular season series, with the Rams winning in Week 11, while the Seahawks came back from down 16 and force OT to win in Week 16. However, its important to note that the Rams did not have Davante Adams play that week due to injury. I’m going to talk about some specific stats from this rivalry just to emphasize how closely matched up these teams are. These two teams are only separated by 1 point. In the 57 matchups that these teams have faced off against one another, the Seahawks have won 29 of those games, while the Rams won 28. Also, in those games, the Seahawks scored 1223 points, while the Rams scored 1222. Also, in their matchups in Weeks 11 and 16 combined, the Seahawks have scored 58 points and generated 830 Yards of offense, while the Rams scored 57 points and generated 829 yards of offense. It’s as close as it gets.
Isn’t it interesting that whenever a New Pope has gotten elected from the Vatican, the Seahawks not only got the 1-seed, but also made the Super Bowl that same year. That happened during the 2005-06 and 2013-14 seasons. Will that happen again this year? We also have an elite WR matchup with Puka Nacua going up against Jaxon Smith-Njigba, which are arguably two of the best receivers in the game right now.
The Rams won a rather low-scoring game against the Bears last week. There were zero points scored in the fourth quarter before the game headed to OT. Similar to what I have said the past couple of weeks, the Rams have the number one scoring offense in the entire league. However, their pass rush and defense haven’t been playing the best. They could not get to and sack Bryce Young or Caleb Williams. They will need to get to Sam Darnold and force him to commit turnovers. The Rams will need to play like how they played the first half of the season to have any chance against the Seahawks. They will need to have a good game from their pass rush and defense. The Rams will also need to establish an effective run game from Kyren Williams and run out the clock.
The Seahawks absolutely steamrolled and put BTA on the 49ers from the moment Rasheed Shaheed returned the Kickoff TD when the game started. The 49ers weren’t able to score a TD, and it happened for the second time against Seattle in a span of three weeks. Both the defense and the offense looked dominant as Kenneth Walker also had three touchdowns. The Seahawks have the best defense in the league in terms of points allowed. They will need to have another efficient run game from Kenneth Walker this week. That was a huge reason why they won back in Week 16. They will also need to limit the turnovers as Sam Darnold threw for 4 interceptions back in the Week 11 loss. Darnold also threw 2 interceptions in their Week 16 matchup, but played pretty good in OT to help win that game. However, once again, Walker had a solid game that week, which kept it close.
Even though Zach Charbonnet is out for the rest of the playoffs after undergoing knee surgery and tearing his ACL, the Seahawks still have a reliable running back in Kenneth Walker. The Seahawks will look to continue to extend their streak in games where they haven’t allowed a single touchdown to be scored from opposing teams. The Seahawks are also 3-1 all time in conference championships. An fun fact is that Cooper Kupp won Super Bowl 56 MVP with the Rams a couple of years ago, and now he will face his former team tomorrow.
Overall, I think this will be a close and competitive divisional game. This could go either way. The Rams were able to defeat Sam Darnold and the Vikings last year in the Wild Card Round. However, I believe the Seahawks have way more momentum right now and are playing well on both sides of the ball. Their special teams, defense, and offense are clicking on all cylinders right now. I believe Kenneth Walker will have a good game and the Seattle will rally off that home crowd energy. It will be close, but I have the Seahawks winning.
(Winner Prediction: Seattle Seahawks)
If the Patriots win, there will be a Super Bowl rematch no matter who wins the NFC Championship game. However, I believe it will be a rematch of Super Bowl 49, which was one of the first and best Super Bowls I’ve ever watched. It is also considered one of the greatest Super Bowls of all time. Once again, even though its been said many times before. The Seahawks, if you are at the one-yard line with the game on the line, don’t throw and please run the ball.
The other potential matchups are equally as interesting as Patriots vs Rams will not only be rematches for Super Bowls 36 and 53, it will be an matchup between the top two MVP candidates Matthew Stafford and Drake Maye. The Seahawks Broncos matchup will be a rematch from Super Bowl 48 and similar to the Eagles run with Nick Foles back in the 2017-18 season. Broncos vs Rams could also be a potentially fun matchup.