Over the weekend, the NFL’s divisional playoff round wrapped up, leaving four teams remaining in the hunt for Super Bowl LX. This article will give a brief overview of the remaining teams as they head into the final week of conference play for a chance to travel to Santa Clara and compete for the Lombardi Trophy.
Sunday 3:00 P.M. AFC Championship - New England Patriots vs. Denver Broncos
The first of the two championship games will be played in Denver as the Broncos earned the AFC’s top seed after a dominant 14–3 regular season, edging out the 14-win Patriots due to the tiebreaker. This past week, Denver started their playoff run after receiving a bye in the Wild Card Round. They welcomed the Buffalo Bills to Empower Stadium at Mile High, appropriately named after the fact that the stadium sits a mile above sea level.
Broncos quarterback Bo Nix found himself in an offensive battle with 2024-25 MVP Josh Allen. Despite having the number two ranked defense in terms of yards allowed per game, the Broncos were having a tough time stopping the four-time Pro Bowl quarterback, even with his limited receiving options. Nevertheless, the Broncos took a 30–27 lead with just under a minute remaining in the game after a 26-yard touchdown catch by Marvin Mims Jr., setting up a game-tying 50-yard field goal by Bills kicker Matt Prater to send the game to overtime.
The Broncos won the coin toss in overtime and decided to receive the kick. After stalling on their first drive in overtime, they punted back to the Bills. The next score would win. On third-and-11, Allen attempted a deep pass to Brandin Cooks, but it was intercepted by Ja’Quan McMillian. Nix led the team down the field and, helped by two defensive pass interference penalties on the Bills, the Broncos were in position to advance. They kicked a game-winning 23-yard field goal.
After the Broncos had clinched a home AFC Championship game and defeated last season’s MVP in an overtime battle, everything seemed to be going their way. That was until head coach Sean Payton went up for his post-game press conference and announced that starting quarterback Nix had suffered a season-ending ankle injury. Backup Jarrett Stidham, whose last pass attempt came in 2023, is expected to start the AFC Championship.
Stidham (who was drafted by the Patriots in 2019) and the Broncos will take on the Patriots next weekend. The Patriots, led by MVP candidate Drake Maye and coach of the year candidate Mike Vrabel, defeated the Houston Texans 28–16 to secure their place in the AFC Championship.
Coming off a 16–3 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers, who boasted a top five defense, the Patriots were up against the NFL’s top defense in the Texans, led by Will Anderson Jr., Derek Stingley Jr. and Azeez Al-Shaair. Anderson Jr. was a problem throughout the game, sacking Maye three times and forcing two fumbles. While the Houston defense gave Maye trouble, he still managed to pass for three touchdowns against them. Former Texans receiver Stefon Diggs had four catches for 40 yards, one of which was a touchdown, while Kayshon Boutte had three catches for a total of 75 yards, including a one-handed touchdown grab in the fourth quarter to put the team up by 12.
On the other side of the ball, New England was even more dominant. Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud ended the game with a 28.0 passer rating after throwing four interceptions — two picked off by Patriots corner Carlton Davis and one returned for a touchdown by Marcus Jones. To say that Stroud struggled would be an understatement. In his third straight divisional round appearance, he failed to show up again. Stroud led only one touchdown drive all game despite his defense repeatedly setting up great field position. Maye was not quite up to the exceptional standards we have come to expect this season, but he was far better than Stroud.
Despite having to travel to Denver to clinch a spot in the Super Bowl, the Patriots are heavily favored after the Nix injury news, with Vegas setting them at -258, an implied probability of 72.08 percent to win. Maye will have to face another top-tier defense, but the spotlight will be on Stidham as he takes the field for the first time in over two years against a Patriots defense that has been firing on all cylinders for the past two weeks. If Stidham manages to lead the Broncos to victory, he will no doubt go down as a Broncos legend, despite only having 1,422 career passing yards, a total that Maye eclipsed in the first six games of the season.
Sunday 6:30 P.M. NFC Championship - Los Angeles Rams vs. Seattle Seahawks
With both the Chicago Bears and San Francisco 49ers losing this past weekend, the NFC Championship will come down to either the Los Angeles Rams or the Seattle Seahawks. These NFC West rivals will match up for the third time this season at Lumen Field, with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line.
The Seahawks were an absolute juggernaut this season, going 14-3 in arguably the NFL’s most competitive division and earning the top seed along with home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. After their bye in the Wild Card Round, they set themselves up to host the 49ers in the divisional round. Seattle’s last game of the regular season, which earned them the top seed, was against the 49ers, so with their bye they were essentially playing them back-to-back. That game was a defensive standoff, with both offenses struggling, ending in a 13–3 Seahawks victory. It is safe to say that last Saturday, the offensive struggles continued for the 49ers while Seattle found a way to open up the run game.
The Seahawks made easy work of the Niners, winning 41–6, proving that they are a force to be reckoned with. Quarterback Sam Darnold, who had been dealing with an oblique injury most of the week, didn’t seem to be affected during the game, completing twelve of his seventeen passing attempts for 124 yards. Running back Kenneth Walker III, however, carried the load, rushing for 116 yards and three touchdowns. Behind a strong offensive line performance, Walker completely torched the 49ers’ defense.
Mike McDonald’s defense followed suit, limiting the Niners to 236 total yards and forcing three turnovers. The 49ers were also missing several key players due to injury, most notably tight end George Kittle, who left their previous game with a torn Achilles. 2024 Offensive Player of the Year and 2025 All-Pro running back Christian McCaffrey had a quiet game by his standards, rushing for only 35 yards while adding 39 more through the air. Next week will present a bigger challenge when the Rams, who recently put up 37 points in their last meeting against the Seahawks and have arguably the best offense in the league, come to town.
The Rams are by no means a run-of-the-mill six seed in the NFL, with MVP favorite Matthew Stafford under center throwing to 2025 All-Pro wide receiver Puka Nacua and three-time All-Pro wide receiver Davante Adams. The offense averaged an NFL-high 394.6 yards per game and has put up 54 points through two playoff games so far. While it took an overtime victory to get past the Bears and a last-minute drive to beat the Panthers, the Rams have looked solid on both sides of the ball. That being said, they will likely need an even stronger performance if they have their eyes set on their second Super Bowl appearance in five years.
In their first matchup with the Seahawks this season, the Rams narrowly edged them out 21–19 in Week 11 at home. In their second matchup during Week 16, the Seahawks managed to take down the Rams 38–37 in overtime on a two-point conversion attempt that won them the game. Much of the concern in this championship game will pertain to whether Sam Darnold — who has been known to implode in big games — can lead the Seahawks to the Super Bowl. While the Week 11 game seemed close with a 21–19 score, the Seahawks likely would have won if Darnold had avoided throwing four interceptions. When things go bad for Darnold, he tends to spiral quickly, so it will be up to Jared Verse and the rest of the Rams defensive line to apply pressure and try to force turnovers. This third and final game between the top NFC West competitors should be nothing short of must-watch football.
