2025 Conference Championships

[Brian wolf]

For my money, the best weekend of the NFL season. The final four teams cant hold anything back, its time to win their conference championship for the chance to play in the world's biggest event.

--Can NE be the darling team of the year, or can the Broncos pull an upset at home with a backup who has hardly played? Maye is poised to be the only QB in these games who can make the SB with his original team. The other QBs were free agents.

--Can Payton for Denver win this game and go to SBs from both conferences?

--The Rams and Seahawks might have been the best two teams in the NFL this year. Too bad only one can make it to the SB. Can Stafford lead his team to a second SB appearance? Can Darnold continue to play with poise and lead his team to their first SB since 2015?

My Picks

NE
Seattle

The Patriots need to control the ball at the line of scrimmage on both sides. If they get into long-yardage situations, that Broncos pass rush will be there. For Denver, they have to avoid turnovers and cause some of their own on defense to win. Stidham has to play with poise and not try to do too much.

For the Seahawks, they need to run the ball and keep Stafford off the field. Walker needs 30 touches and hopefully, Milroe can be used as a running-passing threat as well.
The Rams need to run the ball as well and make it easier on Stafford to decide the game in the final ten minutes. Whoever wins the turnover battle should decide it.

[JohnBowen]

I think that Stidham will be ok, not great but good enough for Denver being able to win if they contain Maye to Diggs a bit and can force "must pass" downs so their pass rush can get after it. That being said, I'm picking New England to get by at 27-21.
In the NFC, it is wild that these two teams split with Rams at like +7 TO in the two games. I look for the TO battle margin to level out a bit and the home crowd to help push Seahawks through. Seattle 28. LAR 27.

[74_75_78_79_]

Whether Denver gets eliminated anyway, albeit today or two weeks from now, I really wish Nix would still be in it; for his health first-and-foremost, but just so we can see all teams with no significant handicaps. Will either of the other three teams winning-it-all be seen as..."tainted"? How much of a 'cloud' will hang over that Title? Maybe not too much. Maybe I'm making too big of it (maybe not).

As long as Broncos focus most on run-game and defense, not at all putting Stidham in a position where he feels that he has to do too much. He'll still have to do his share, just like Peyton still had to his thing enough times ten post-seasons back, and he may end up doing more than you think. He is a mobile QB as well.

I think Denver ought to take enough advantage of their home-field situation along with their D creating some turnovers to get by. Problem is, two weeks later, their need for Bo playing may be more evident whether its against the 'Hawks or, especially, Lombardi-winning-experienced McVay/Stafford & Co!

I'm guessing that the Rams pull it off if even if barely. I'm not predicting a bad game from Darnold, but the difference between both QBs should be just enough to make the difference in what I think should be an otherwise great, remembered rubber-band match!

Yeah, Rams vs Denver, I think.

[Brian wolf]

I am snowed-iced in, near Nashville, TN so hoping during the three-hour game games, can comment and interact with others on this thread during the broadcasts?

Nice and cold in Denver with scattered snow and a high of 25 degrees. Cloudy into the mid-30s later in Seattle. Championship football outside in the elements. No air-conditioned dome stadiums to worry about.

Hopefully the officiating can stay consistent during the games. Officials tend to keep their flags in their pockets more during the postseason and hopefully their flags late in the game wont create too much controversy.

[Brian wolf]

If the Rams and McVay were to win today, and win the SB as well, could these two games be the last games that Sean McVay coaches?

Would he retire and go into TV? Even if he wins it all, I dont see him coaching past 2028 ...

[74_75_78_79_]

I am snowed-iced in, near Nashville, TN so hoping during the three-hour game games, can comment and interact with others on this thread during the broadcasts?

Nice and cold in Denver with scattered snow and a high of 25 degrees. Cloudy into the mid-30s later in Seattle. Championship football outside in the elements. No air-conditioned dome stadiums to worry about.

Hopefully the officiating can stay consistent during the games. Officials tend to keep their flags in their pockets more during the postseason and hopefully their flags late in the game wont create too much controversy.

Stay safe down there, Brian! Heard some discouraging things about Tennessee with this storm.

If the Rams and McVay were to win today, and win the SB as well, could these two games be the last games that Sean McVay coaches?

Would he retire and go into TV? Even if he wins it all, I dont see him coaching past 2028 ...

Hmm, has McVay said recently about he wanting to step away? It's not as if he's been coaching for decades. Stafford I can, of course, see. Not Sean.

[Brian wolf]

Northerners laugh at Nashville during weather like this. Our city shuts down! We are not used to ice like this ...

Great two passes by Stidham. Any lead will help the defense.

And once again, a team chooses to leave possible points off the scoreboard. Can NE take advantage?

Bad play by Stidham. The officials were correct on the fumble though it was close. Now a tie game.

[Brian wolf]

The snow and wind has really affected the playcalling in this second half. You would think the receivers would have an advantage in these conditions but the teams are running the ball. Drake Maye has not played well but they still have the lead due to his running.

After getting burned in the first quarter of the game, Gonzalez basically seals the game for NE with the interception. Denver should have kicked the FG to go up 10-0 earlier.

Not to sound like an ass, but once again, the Patriots--Chiefs as well-- win and advance in a postseason game called by Jim Nantz for CBS. Can they win it all with Belichick/Kraft making the HOF that same weekend?

[74_75_78_79_]

Hope the weather's still okay for you, Brian!

Yes, Denver should have kicked that FG early on to make it 10-0. But that's just one play. So many plays add up throughout and Denver just didn't play well enough, came up just short, in the very bitter end. I do wish they would have won but the, now, 16-3 Pats - still unbeaten on the road in '25 - are not an unworthy SB-participant despite not having to play against Nix. In fairness, maybe they still win anyway but we'll never know. "Next man up" is what it's all about in the end with an entire 53-man roster (not including practice squad players) to pick from!

Denver was 6-1 at home in AFCCGs going into this very game. Bill Cowher was responsible for that lone defeat. And now Vrabel, who used to play for Cowher, was the one to make it two.

They said that Vrabel could be the first NFL HC to win a SB as a player and also as a HC for the same team. But, of course, 'Super Bowl' is all that was said. As for a League Championship, Mike Ditka won for the Bears in both '63 and '85! Is Iron Mike the only one to win-it-all as both a player and as a HC for the same team?

Thanks in-advance for the answer!

The bad taste is still in my mouth from Brady/Belichick besting my Steelers time and time again when it mattered most (and also when it didn't matter most). So whoever wins this soon-to-start Rams/'Hawks game is who I want to win SBLX. Especially considering that I wish the Rams would have won both their SB-matches against NE, and really wish Seattle would have repeated 11 years ago this February!

[RichardBak]

Not to sound like an ass, but once again, the Patriots--Chiefs as well-- win and advance in a postseason game called by Jim Nantz for CBS. Can they win it all with Belichick/Kraft making the HOF that same weekend?

The real Jim Nance would like to have a word with that guy in the booth....anyway, I wish coaches would quit leaving points on the board in title games that figure to be tight. And in this particular instance the pregame forecast was for shitty conditions as the afternoon wore on, so that should have been taken in consideration.

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