The AFC and NFC Championships were this past weekend, and they gave us our Super Bowl matchup for this year. One is a very familiar team. We’ve also seen the other a few times, and we’ve seen them play each other in the Super Bowl fairly recently as well. This is how we got to the matchup we have.

The AFC Championship game was the first one to get played this past Sunday afternoon. It was the New England Patriots heading into Denver to play the Broncos. The game was mostly clean, and then late in the 3rd, the snow began to fall, and before we knew it, the game was a mess. The Broncos started with the football. They would eventually get the first points of the ballgame as Stidham found Sutton from 6-yards out to go up 7-0, and that’s how the 1st quarter ended. Drake Maye ran in a touchdown from 6-yards out himself to tie the game up 7-7. That score came after a Stidham fumble deep in their own territory. Both teams missed a field goal inside the final minute of the 2nd quarter and it meant a 7-7 tie at halftime. The Patriots started the 2nd half with the ball and put together an almost perfect drive. They had 16 plays, went 64-yards, and took 9:25 off the clock. The only thing that didn’t make it perfect was they ended up with just a field goal instead of a touchdown. Either way, that gave them a 10-7 lead from 23-yards out with 5:31 remaining in the 3rd quarter. The Pats missed a 2nd field goal with a chance to extend the lead with just 14 seconds left in the 3rd. Denver also missed their 2nd field goal of the game with a chance to tie it up, with just 4:46 left to play in regulation. That attempt was from 45-yards out. Stidham had the ball with just over 2:11 remaining, but threw a game sealing interception, and New England was able to go into victory formation and head to yet another Super Bowl with that 10-7 win.

The NFC Championship game was the later game on Sunday evening and it was a BALLGAME! We saw the Seattle Seahawks host the Los Angeles Rams. Seattle scored first as Kenneth Walker III ran in a touchdown from 2-yards out to go up 7-0. On the ensuing drive the Rams made a field goal to cut the Seattle lead to 7-3. Right after that, the Seahawks made a field goal of their own to go back up seven, by a score of 10-3. Right after that, the Rams responded with yet another field goal of their own, and cut it to a four point deficit, 10-6. Los Angeles eventually got the ball back and found the end zone for the first time in the game. It was a Stafford to Williams go ahead TD pass from 9-yards out to make it 13-10. Right before the half, Seattle punched back with another touchdown. This time Darnold found his all-world wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba for a 14-yard connection to retake the lead heading into halftime, 17-13. The second half was just as intense. The Rams would muff a punt deep in their own territory that Seattle recovered and on the very next play, tossed another TD pass to extend their lead against the Rams, 24-13. LA wasn’t finished as Stafford found Davante Adams from 2-yards out to cut the Seahawk’s lead to 24-20 on the ensuing possession. Again Seattle responded quickly on the next drive as Darnold found former Ram WR Cooper Cupp to again extend their lead to 31-20. Matthew Stafford and the Rams cut it close again as he found Nacua with a 34-yard touchdown strike to cut the Seattle lead to 31-27. The Rams defense held the Seahawks offense right there the rest of the way, however, Matthew Stafford and his Rams offense threatened a few times deep in Seattle territory, but turned the ball over on downs and the Seahawks were able to run the clock out and head to the Super Bowl with that 31-27 final.

We will now see the New England Patriots face off against the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday, February 8th, at 6:30pm on NBC! These two franchises played each other in Super Bowl XLIX on February 1st, 2015. The Pats won that matchup 28-24 in the infamous finished that saw Seattle on the goal line to win, and instead of running with the unstoppable Marshawn Lynch, they threw a quick slant that was intercepted by NE’s Butler to seal another Pats championship. Eleven years later, these teams meet again with very different QB’s, as before they had Super Bowl champion veterans Tom Brady and Russell Wilson. This time it will be young and still proving themselves guys in Drake Maye and Sam Darnold, although the defenses will be elite like they were back then. And just like that, the Football season is down to one game for the Title!