This article is part of our NFL Reactions series.
The conference championship games had teams with three of the four best records in the NFL. Four worthy opponents faced off with Super Bowl berths on the line. Here are my reactions to Sunday's playoff action.
Patriots 10 Broncos 7
Denver showed early that it held a speed advantage, particularly when Marvin Mims was matched up against New England's cornerbacks. I expected Jarrett Stidham to take an early deep shot off play action, but it was still surprising when Sean Payton dialed one up on third-and-10. The gamble paid off, as a 52-yard completion set up a Courtland Sutton touchdown. That would be the only score Denver would post.
For much of the first half, the Broncos controlled the game. They kept the Patriots' defense off balance, ran the ball more effectively than expected, and converted key third downs. Still, in what was a low-scoring game, I disagreed with Payton's decision to go for it on fourth-and-one near the Patriots' 20, a choice that resulted in a turnover on downs. Meanwhile, New England's offense struggled badly early. The run game went nowhere, forcing Drake Maye into obvious passing situations, and by the middle of the second quarter a shutout felt possible.
The game flipped late in the half. With three minutes remaining, New England's pressure finally broke through. On a third-and-three from their own 33, Stidham panicked under and accidentally threw the ball backward, leading to a Patriots recovery. Two plays later, Maye scored on a scramble to tie
The conference championship games had teams with three of the four best records in the NFL. Four worthy opponents faced off with Super Bowl berths on the line. Here are my reactions to Sunday's playoff action.
Patriots 10 Broncos 7
Denver showed early that it held a speed advantage, particularly when Marvin Mims was matched up against New England's cornerbacks. I expected Jarrett Stidham to take an early deep shot off play action, but it was still surprising when Sean Payton dialed one up on third-and-10. The gamble paid off, as a 52-yard completion set up a Courtland Sutton touchdown. That would be the only score Denver would post.
For much of the first half, the Broncos controlled the game. They kept the Patriots' defense off balance, ran the ball more effectively than expected, and converted key third downs. Still, in what was a low-scoring game, I disagreed with Payton's decision to go for it on fourth-and-one near the Patriots' 20, a choice that resulted in a turnover on downs. Meanwhile, New England's offense struggled badly early. The run game went nowhere, forcing Drake Maye into obvious passing situations, and by the middle of the second quarter a shutout felt possible.
The game flipped late in the half. With three minutes remaining, New England's pressure finally broke through. On a third-and-three from their own 33, Stidham panicked under and accidentally threw the ball backward, leading to a Patriots recovery. Two plays later, Maye scored on a scramble to tie the game, despite Denver having largely dominated. I also questioned New England's late timeout usage, which gave Denver another chance at points, though Wil Lutz missed a 54-yard field goal to keep the game tied at halftime.
Snow began to fall in the third quarter, and New England leaned heavily on Maye's legs. A 28-yard scramble on third-and-nine highlighted a 9:31 opening drive, with improved running from Rhamondre Stevenson helping set up a short field goal and a 10–7 Patriots lead. There would be no more scoring in this game.
As noted in my pregame preview, Denver needed to assign a spy to Maye if they planned to play man coverage. They didn't, and Maye repeatedly extended drives with his legs. New England even mixed in misdirection, with a flea-flicker to Mack Hollins setting up another field-goal attempt, though Andy Borregales missed from 46 yards as the weather worsened. The Patriots dominated time of possession in the quarter and entered the fourth with a narrow lead.
By the final period, the field was more white than green, and the wind favored Denver's offense. Still, Stevenson showed improved ball security despite worsening conditions. New England also leaned harder into man coverage, forcing Stidham into tight-window throws- an approach that paid off given the weather.
With eight minutes left and backed up inside their own 10, both Maye and Stevenson slipped on first down, demonstrating the deteriorating field conditions and leading to a three-and-out with a shanked punt that gave Denver the ball at the Patriots' 33. Stidham scrambled on third-and-long to set up a 45-yard field goal, but Lutz's attempt was tipped and missed wide left. That miss proved decisive. New England went conservative, trusted its defense, and forced one final mistake when Stidham underthrew a deep ball that Christian Gonzalez intercepted, sealing the win and capping a well-managed performance by the Patriots under brutal conditions.
Seahawks 31 Rams 27
I've been saying for years- great defenses that aren't all-time great units rarely stop great offenses on a bigger stage. The Rams offense had some hiccups early, but as the game went on, moving the ball wasn't an issue.
The Rams made two costly mistakes on Seattle's opening drive. On third down, they failed to provide safety help over Rashid Shaheed, allowing a 51-yard gain. Later, they didn't set the edge against Kenneth Walker inside the five, giving up an easy touchdown instead of forcing a possible fourth down.
Seattle's offense looked far sharper than it had in either regular-season meeting. The Seahawks moved the ball with ease, leaning heavily on Walker, who once again proved to be a problem for the Rams. A holding penalty stalled their second drive, forcing a field goal and a 10–3 lead.
The Rams responded with occasional big plays from Puka Nacua, Kyren Williams, and Davante Adams, but red-zone issues limited them to field goals on two of their first three drives. Trailing 10–6, Los Angeles struggled to build momentum.
Seattle missed a chance to extend the lead when a botched snap led to a Sam Darnold sack on its third possession. The Rams capitalized by featuring Blake Corum, and Matthew Stafford finished the drive with a screen touchdown to Williams, briefly giving Los Angeles a 13–10 lead late in the half.
The Seahawks answered before halftime, as Darnold connected repeatedly with Jaxon Smith-Njigba to set up a touchdown and a 17–13 lead at the break.
One key adjustment came on special teams, where the Rams consistently avoided Shaheed, producing touchbacks on kickoffs and forcing fair catches on punts.
I was confused by the Rams' defensive approach coming out of halftime. In the regular-season meetings, they played with a shell and forced Seattle to work underneath- an approach that largely worked. Instead, Los Angeles dared Sam Darnold to beat them over the top, even after he had already hit multiple downfield plays in the first half. Just as importantly, the Rams removed the underneath defenders who had previously baited Darnold into mistakes.
Special teams then flipped the quarter. After forcing a quick stop on Seattle's opening drive, Xavier Smith tripped on the ensuing punt and fumbled, giving the Seahawks the ball in the red zone. One play later, Jake Bobo scored, extending the lead to 24-13. Special teams had been an issue all season, and it burned the Rams again.
The Rams offense responded with urgency. Stafford needed just four plays to go 75 yards, connecting on gains of 40 to Colby Parkinson and 29 to Davante Adams before hitting Adams for a short touchdown. It was the most aggressive drive Los Angeles had played, cutting the deficit to 24-20.
Los Angeles then reverted defensively, allowing underneath throws. Darnold gladly took them, going 65 yards in nine plays and finishing with a touchdown to Cooper Kupp to make it 31-20 with five minutes left in the quarter.
The Rams answered once more. A drive that nearly stalled was saved when Puka Nacua stripped a would-be interception from Riq Woolen. Moments later, Woolen was flagged for taunting, and Stafford immediately hit Nacua for a 34-yard touchdown. With 2:06 left in the quarter, the Rams had closed the gap to 31–27, setting up a frantic finish.
To begin the fourth quarter, Seattle quickly moved the ball past midfield to open the quarter, but a nine-yard sack of Sam Darnold helped the Rams force a punt. With just over 12 minutes left, Los Angeles took over at its own 10, a drive that would ultimately define the game.
The Rams again moved the ball with ease. On third-and-one, they avoided the mistakes from earlier matchups by using play action, but a perfect pass to Colby Parkinson was dropped. Sean McVay stayed aggressive, going for it on fourth down, where Matthew Stafford broke a tackle on a scramble to move the chains. Inside the red zone, however, the drive stalled. Seattle dropped into heavy coverage, and a third-and-four pass to Konata Mumpfield fell incomplete. McVay passed on a field goal that would have cut the deficit to one, and with Stafford having nowhere to go against a nine-man coverage, the Rams came away empty after an 84-yard, seven-and-a-half-minute drive.
Still trailing by four with under five minutes left, the Rams needed a stop, but it never came. Seattle converted three straight first downs, and a defensive pass interference penalty effectively ended the game. The Seahawks closed it out with textbook execution.
This was a conference championship worthy of the stage. These looked like the two best teams in football, and Sam Darnold in particular delivered, shedding the reputation of coming up small in big moments. He consistently made the necessary plays without hurting his team. The Rams played well enough to win, but ultimately, a handful of costly mistakes proved decisive.
Conclusion
We're moving onto the Super Bowl. Let's hope we have an epic game to talk about in the next article. Keep an eye on RotoWire's NFL depth charts and Injury Report to stay ahead as the NFL season winds down.
