By Travers Cummings
Patriots over Broncos (Sunday afternoon): Well, this COULD have been a decent game. It still might be, but things took a really weird turn for Denver after the game ended. At the post-game press conference, Coach Sean Payton announced that quarterback Bo Nix broke his ankle on the second-to-last play of the game. A pretty freak injury that couldn’t have come at a worse time. With him now being out for the rest of the playoffs, backup (and former Patriot) Jarrett Stidham will be tasked with leading the Broncos’ offense with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line. Stidham hasn’t thrown a regular season pass since 2023, so it might be a little rough. But as expected, he has the full support of the team and coaches behind him. Me? Not so much.
The Patriots struggled early on against the Texans’ defense and the weather, but when you’re gifted four interceptions (in one half) by CJ Stroud, eventually things will start to shift in your favour. Even though Drake Maye had a case of the fumbles, Houston was unable to capitalize on that—hence why they’re at home now and the Pats are off to yet another AFC Championship, a game they haven’t played in since some guy named Tom Brady was around. It will be another test for Maye going up against another elite defense, but I think he has enough tools to get it done, and I just think the Broncos’ offense won’t be able to score much without Bo Nix.
Rams over Seahawks (Sunday night): Unfortunately, both teams can’t lose this game (these were the last two teams to beat San Fran), so I begrudgingly have to pick a winner and sulk about one of them going to the Super Bowl. The Seahawks beat the snot out of the 49ers, so no need to talk about that, but the Rams certainly played the more interesting game. The Chicago Bears’ magic (or as I refer to it, “The Script”) struck again at the end of the 4th quarter as Caleb Williams threw up a prayer into the end zone, and it was caught by Cole Kmet to force overtime. But for every good thing Caleb might do, there are also the bad things that come with it—like the interception he threw that essentially sent the Rams to the NFC Championship.
Now we get Sam Darnold looking to shake the stigma of not being very good come playoff time vs. Matt Stafford, who is looking to make his second Super Bowl appearance. Again, my bias is I couldn’t care less who wins, but I trust Stafford and Coach McVay more than I trust Darnold because they’ve been in this spot before. As long as the Rams’ offensive line can keep Stafford upright, he should be able to pick apart the Seahawks’ defense, although it will not be easy.
Last week: 2-1
Playoffs overall: 3-3