NFL Championship Weekend Review.

The Conference Championship Round Started With Slow Burn Molasses like Game In The Snow Between The Patriots and the Bo Nix-Less Broncos, which I couldn’t Take My eyes Away From Just Hoping Something Major Might Happen.The Biggest play Of The Day Came From Jarrett Stidham But Ultimately The Former Patriots Back-up Prove Why HE Never Elevated To A Starter In This League.The Defenses Of Each Team Controlled game, Two Turnovers Forced By New England, And The Patriots Overcome In The End And Punch Their Ticket To The Super Bowl For The First Time In Seven years. The Rams and Seahawks Saved The Day With a Thriller In Seattle that swung back and forth. On Sunday, Sam Darnold Lived Up To 100 Million Dollars And More As Special Teams Cost The Rams again, and the Seahawks punched their ticket to the Super Bowl In Their Second Season under Mike McDonald. The Seahawks Will Open As Early Favorite In The Super Bowl.

Seahawks vs Rams

The Seattle Seahawks Emerged As The Top Team coming Out Of The Regular Season And Into These playoffs After An Impressive Regular Season. Sam Darnold, The $100 Million Man, Started The Season “Hot”, Productive But By The Final Stretch Of The The Offense Has Lagged Behind The Defense In pedigree and Rank Outside The Top Ten Offenses In These Playoffs. The Seahawks didn’t Need Their Offense To Play At A High Level To Defeat The Niners, But Will they Have Enough To Keep Place With The Number One Offense Rams? The Seahawks and San Darnold Jump On The Rams Right Out Of The Gate. After the Rams' offense punted on the first drive of the game, the Seahawks landed in the Rams' red zone in a flash as Darnold Connects With Receiver Rashid Shaheed For A 51 Yard Connection. Shaheed, Who Came Over From The Saints, has dealt more damage as A Return Man But He Used His Speed To Get Behind The Rams' secondary. Seattle’s Lead Receiver, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, got in on the action, catching a one-handed pass for 16 Yards That Set Up An Eventually Two Yard Rushing Touchdown For Runningback Kenneth Walker. Seattle’s first two drives landed in the red zone, and the Seahawks took command of the game early. The Seahawks, however, taper off after The First Quarter, starting the Game with 19 Plays For 137 yards over two drives, but 7 Plays For Four Yards In The Second Quarter. Matthew Stafford and the Rams struggled to keep drives alive after settling for two field goals to start the game, but Los Angeles Broke Through with Their Own Red Zone Drive. Stafford gets the ball to his top receiver, Puka Nacua, for 21 Yards, Blake Corum hits a 19 Yard Run, and Stafford Closes The 12 Play Drive, 87 yards with a 9 Yard Touchdown to running back Kyren Williams. The Touchdown Put The Rams Up 13-10, Shaking Off The Slow Start.

The Seahawks' offense showcased impressive momentum as they executed a determined drive, tapping into a higher level of play. Their strategy centered on getting the ball to Jaxon Smith-Njigba, the league's leading receiver, in a straightforward manner. This approach emphasized simplicity, avoiding any gimmicks or overly complicated plays. By focusing on their star receiver, they not only capitalized on his exceptional skills but also established a rhythm that energized the entire team and kept the defense on its heels. The Seahawks ' offense drove six plays for 74 Yards, Smith-Njigba Accounting For 56, Including A 14 Yard Touchdown and the 42 Yard Downfield Reception That Set Up The Red Zone Opportunity. The Touchdown Proved The Easiest Catch for Jaxon, who Racked Up 102 Yards In The First Half as The Rams Just Forgot About Him In The End Zone. His Ten-Yard Catch To Start The Drive Got Things Going as JSN secured The Catch Despite A Defender Trying To Seize The Ball Free. JSN Made A Move On A Defender DownField To Get Free on The Deep 42 yard Pass That Set Up The Touchdown. The Seahawks, who nearly lost momentum, snatched the game back, setting Seattle up 17-13 Lead Before Half. In The Second Half, Special Teams Betrays The Rams Once More. Seattle punts, but Rams Returner Xavier Smith can’t Field The Punt Cleanly, and the Seahawks Scoop Up The Muffed Punt. The Seahawks Waste No Time Inside The twenty Of The Rams Sam Darnold Connects With receiver Jake Bobo For a 17 Yard Touchdown. The Rams shook Off The Unexpected Turn Of Events, and in four big plays, the Rams punched in their answer to the Seahawks ' touchdown, a 40 Yard Pass Play To Colby Parkinson, and a 29 Yarder to Davante Adams that set a two-yard score to Adams, The League Leader In Receiving Touchdowns. The Rams Don’t Go For Two, And The score Settled At 24-20 in The Third. Seattle Proved Their Offense could Live Up To The Billing, by responding with a field-to-field touchdown drive, 9 Plays, 65 yards. No explosive plays, just a Consistent Barrage of Success Plays of 5 Plus Yards and A Touchdown Catch by Former Rams’ star Cooper Kupp. Beating up on that short-handed 49ers Team Didn’t Prove Anything For Darnold, But The Reclamation Project Delivered In The Third Quarter, matching MVP Candidate Matthew Stafford As Both Team Traded a Pair Of Four Straight Touchdowns In the third Quarter. Stafford played, trying to match Darnold Most Of The Game, and the Rams Nearly Failed. The Seahawks ' defense stops the Rams inside Seattle Territory. As Seahawks Corner Tariq Wholen nearly picks off a pass, a Stafford pass is directed to Puka Nacua on Third Down. Wholen Picks A 15 Yard UnsportsmanLike penalty for Taunting The Rams' bench, giving the Rams A New Set Of Downs With The Rams Facing Fourth and 12. Stafford and the Rams immediately dialed in a call for Nacua, Who Reeled In A 34 Yard Reception going To The Ground But Over The Red Zone Line to cut Seattle’s Lead To 31-27. Why The Rams Offense Didn’t Go For Two, TO Set Up A One-Possession Game Didn’t Make Sense And Ultimately Came Back To Bite Them Later. The Rams' Final Drive, a 14-play, 84 Yard Drive, falls short in the red zone. The Rams Converted For Two. A Field Goal Would’ve Tied The Game. Stafford Had The Chance To Run Into The End-zone Or Atleast Go For The First Down But He’s a 37-year-old drop-back savant, So That Figurative Run Never Materialized.

The Offense Outplayed Seattle’s +0.343 EPA Per Play, + 0.176 EPA Per Play, 8.5 Yards Per Play, 6.0 Yards Per Play, 494 Yards Of Offense To 387 Yards Of Offense For The Seahawks.

The Real Momentum Swimg Started With The Special Teams Mistake, as The Rams Never Recovered.

The Seahawks Drain The Clock and The Rams Final Drive With 25 Seconds Left On The Clock Net 44 Yards For The Box Score, But The Seahawks Move On To The Seahawks Defeating Both Divisional Foes In Back-To-Back Weeks.

The Rams' Two Achilles Heels, Their Third Down Offense, Finishing 1/8, and Special Teams Ultimately Prove Costly. Matthew STAFFORD 22/35 374 Passing Yards, 301 Explosive Passing Yards, 10.7 Yards Per Attempt, Three Touchdowns, 127.6 passer Rating. Puka Nacua had 9 Catches For 165 Receiving Yards, and Davante Adams had four catches for 89 Receiving Yards and One Touchdown Each and one touchdown each. Despite some success on the ground, the Rams had little success on third down. The Late Challenge Proved Costly in Terms Of Time speared In The End. Sam Darnold 25/36 346 Passing Yards, Three Touchdowns, Three Sacks, And A Passer Rating of 127.8 Passer Rating and He Delivered In This Big Game With much Of The Offense Resting On His Shoulders In This Game as The First Arch Of A Potential Hall of Fame Career Begins To Form For Darnold. Jaxon Smith-Njigba had 10 Catches For 153 Receiving Yards, and his playmaking made things a lot Easier For Darnold, Much Of The Game.

Patriots Vs Broncos

The Patriots enter the Conference Championship round to face the number one-seeded Broncos in a game where New England would serve as the underdog if not for the ankle fracture. No Saw Coming, But Everyone In Football Felt It When Sean Payton Reported The News To The Media. Quarterback Bo Nix Fractured His Ankle On The Penultimate Play Of The Game, and He’ll miss the Broncos' playoff run, dampening the “Celebration” Surrounding Payton and Nix’s First Playoff Win with the Broncos. The Other Top Storyline For The Broncos, Jarrett Stidham Taking Over For Nix In His First Playoff Start, First Start In Two Seasons. Stidham Gives The Broncos A slight Advantage They Wouldn’t Have If Bo Nix were the element of the unknown. The Patriots know Jarrett Stidham. Maybe Only The Broncos Know Him Better Because New England drafted Stidham In The Fourth round in 2019 as One Of The Number Of Assumed Heir Apparent To tom Brady Of That Era. The Patriots Liked What They Saw In Stidham. Clearly, they may have anticipated that Stidham would eventually play in a conference title game for the Patriots franchise, but he never progressed beyond being a backup. The Patriots won’t Know How Sean Payton Plans On Deploying Stidham. How Much Development Stidham Undertook Over The past Three Seasons In Denver, Two As The Back Up To Bo Nix, against the Patriots, That Has Allowed Just One Touchdown All Postseason? The Game Got Off To An Inauspicious Start. New England Did Not Shut Down The Run, Expected, But Against The Broncos' Impressive Offensive Line, New England Put Pressure On Stidham Without Blitzing. The Patriots Got After Both Justin Herbert and CJ Stroud With Pressure, as expected. Those two quarterbacks rank As The Two Highest Pressure Targets All Season But Getting Consistent Pressure Against Stidham and the Broncos ' offensive line. The Broncos' offense flipped the pressure, Conning New England, Starting The Script With Quick Screens and Quick Runs That Set Up A Big 52 Yard Pass play from Stidham to Marvin Mims, who burned Patriots Cornerback Christian Gonzales On The Broncos' second drive of the game. The Explosive Play from The Broncos set Up A 6 Yard touchdown to Cortland Sutton, closing off a 5-play, 59 Yard Drive with an Early Touchdown. The Patriots allowed a 6.1% explosive play rate to Justin Herbert and C.J. Stroud in the first two rounds of the playoffs and -0.42 EPA per play, but the Broncos found success moving the ball. The Patriots had to respect “Stiddy” as a passer, and eventually the run game started working, along with the short pass game. Despite a lot of yardage gained, the Broncos only scored 7 points.

The Patriots' offense struggled against the Broncos' defense, recording only one yard per play and managing just one first down across three drives. They registered their first first down at the 8-minute mark of the first quarter and their second first down at the 8-minute mark of the second quarter. The Patriots' defense needed to make a play, and in the second quarter, they successfully forced a turnover, showcasing their strong performance throughout the playoffs. A controversial backward pass was recovered by the New England defense in the Broncos' red zone. Drake Maye Completed Quick Pass To Kayshon Boutte, Then One Play Later He Rushed Into The End Zone For A Six Yard Touchdown. The Patriots’ offense couldn’t accomplish much, and New England Had To Feel “Lucky” To Stay In Lock Step With The Broncos. The Broncos ran 41 Plays To 23 for New England, for 149 to 59 Total yards for New England. Drake Maye Showed Signs Of Wavering Confidence. He short-armed a Couple Of Throws and Held On To The Ball Instead Of Taking Shots Down Field. He Took Three Sacks So The Down Field Play Calls May Not Work Against This Broncos Defense. Somehow, the Patriots Got The Lead In This Game, Only A Field Goal On The First drive Of The Second Half, and the Patriots flipped the script, holding Denver To Just Six Yards In The Third Quarter While New England tacked on 115 Yards But Settled For Two Field Goals Attempts One Conversion In The Snow. The snow created a challenge for both teams in the second half, causing their offenses to struggle and making it difficult to sustain drives. Throughout the season, the Patriots' defense has relieved pressure from the offense by forcing turnovers. A Fourth Quarter Pick By Patriots Corner Christian Gonzales In The Fourth Quarter. The Patriots' offense came up late with a quick Run By Drake For Seven Yards and Only The Second First Down Of The Fourth Quarter For Maye and the Patriots, but New England But Just Enough For The Patriots To Take The Game Home 10-7. The Patriots would end The Game By Out-gaining Denver 206-181, Rushing For 141 Yards On The Ground In The Process. New England Avoided Turnovers In This Game as Denver Suffered Two lost Possessions That Helped New England Run Down The Clock and Seal The Game. The Broncos Had To Get Something Going Late To End The Back and Fourth Punting And Maybe They Hoped To Catch New England Off Guard By Going Deep But Trying To Get All Those Yards In One Play Cost Them On The Pick and Sean Payton Couldn’t Stay Patience Late. I don’t believe Bo Nix Would Have Made A Difference In The Elements, and Jarrett Stidham Played Very Nix-Ian, 17/31 for 133 passing yards, one touchdown, One Pick, 63.0 Passer Rating. He Took Three Sacks and Added 23 Yards On The Ground and Lost One Fumble. Stidham Converted One Big 52 Yard Play early, But After New England Respected Stidham’s Passing Prowess and locked in, keeping the Broncos and Stidham Out Of The End zone. The Broncos' offense and Receivers Lost 49 Yards On Drops, A Persistent Problem For The Broncos This Season.

Drake Maye Still Finished Underwhelming, 10/21, 86 Passing Yards, Five Sacks, 58.8 Passer Rating, while adding 65 yards On The ground, and He Settle Down In The Second Half and Delivered When McDaniels Called His Number. Mack Hollins, back from injury, caught Two Passes For 51 Receiving Yards To Lead The Team. The New England Defense Force, Denver’s Offense, To Settle At A -0.434 EPA Per Play, and Denver’s Elite Pass Protection Surrendered 23 Pressures. The Patriots Have Now Beaten Three Top Ten Defenses On Their Road To Their First Super Bowl in Seven Years.