After a long wait, the season seems like it’s flown in as we enter Championship Sunday.
By Monday morning, we will know who the two teams who will enter Super Bowl LIX in Santa Clara, California in just over a fortnight's time. Here's five big storylines to pay particularly close attention to.
AFC Championship: New England Patriots v Denver Broncos (Sunday 8pm Irish time)
Can the Broncos advance without Bo Nix?
There was jubilation and ecstasy in Denver last weekend when the Broncos defeated the Buffalo Bills in a classic play-off encounter. One thing that fans are known for in the Mile High City is the noise that they make throughout a game. They made it nearly impossible for Josh Allen to communicate his plays on the field and won a tight, hardfought battle.
Minutes after when the press conferences started, it was clear there was a serious problem. Starting quarterback Bo Nix was ruled out for the rest of the season with an ankle injury sustained on the second last play of the game, turning the feeling of joy into concern in both the locker room and the streets around the stadium postgame.
Nix had surgery earlier this week and will not feature against the Patriots. Enter backup quarterback Jarrett Stidham, who is set for the game of his life on Sunday.
Stidham has only played one snap in the NFL this season - a kneeldown at the end of the game in October. It’s been nearly three years since he last threw a regular season pass, during the 2023 season. He started two games for the Broncos in this period after the team benched former quarterback Russell Wilson.
This feels like the start of a movie script.
The reality for the Broncos on Sunday is it is very much wait and see in terms of how Stidham approaches the task at hand. He has had practice reps throughout the week with the starting offence and the start to the game will be crucial. If Stidham cannot connect with his receivers, the run game will become vital. It will be on a Broncos defence that has the ability to change games to help run the clock against Drake Maye and Mike Vrabel.
One aspect that will give Broncos fans hope is that backups have won a Super Bowl before - namely Nick Foles, formerly of the Philadelphia Eagles.
Foles started Super Bowl LII for the Eagles against the Patriots after replacing Carson Wentz, who suffered a season-ending injury in Week 14. It’s later, but Foles reckons the Broncos have a chance.
"A positive note going into the game versus the Patriots is that they struggle against backup QBs in championship-type games," Foles said on social media.
The Patriots are back
This wasn’t supposed to happen.
Short of six years after a previous appearance, the New England Patriots are back in the bigtime, with Drake Maye leading New England to within sixty minutes of a Super Bowl.
Maye has been superb this season and was confirmed as a finalist for the regular season MVP (Most Valuable Player) award this week. He could become the first quarterback in the history of the NFL this weekend to defeat three defences that are ranked inside the top five of the league in a postseason.
Outside of Maye, the Patriots are buzzing. They have a significant amount of cap space in the future, meaning they should only get better. Head Coach Mike Vrabel has helped change this team's identity in such a short period of time and while the performances have been gritty against the Chargers and Texans so far in the playoffs, they are winning games.
What has been really impressive for New England is their ability to run the ball. It wasn’t too evident last week as TreVeyon Henderson and Rhamondre Stevenson combined for just under 100 yards, but they have been there in key moments this season and Maye himself rushed for 66 yards against the Chargers. If they can get it moving this way, it could be a key element going forward.
Now, they must go on the road and take down Denver. One aspect which will be decisive on Sunday for New England will be how Maye is protected. There is a struggle starting and the past two games have been hard on the offensive line for New England, with ten sacks allowed by the Patriots in their last two games.
In this period, Maye has fumbled the ball six times.
If Maye and company can get out of Denver with a win, they are sixty minutes from immortality.
Expect the Tom Brady comparisons to increase even further by lunchtime on Monday if it happens.
NFC Championship
Los Angeles Rams v Seattle Seahawks (Sunday 11:30pm Irish time)
Stafford’s MVP run
Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford is having a season for the ages. That’s one factor that is looked at with data from the regular season.
In the playoffs, he is a different kind of beast. In playoff games with Los Angeles, Stafford has 18 touchdowns and a 101.9 passer rating through nine games with only four interceptions. His determination on the road against the Chicago Bears last weekend would almost convince any neutral that this could be the year for Stafford and company.
Outside of that, he has a superb supporting cast, with Puka Nacua standing out in what has been a memorable campaign so far. One matchup which stands out is how Stafford and the Rams attacked the Seahawks in Week 16 where he put up 457 yards on the night, which is the second most by any quarterback in a game this season.
While they lost the game, he put three touchdowns on the board, with the running game contributing to the scores as well.
Like the Patriots on the AFC side, the Rams have been effective when running the ball with a trustworthy combination of Kyren Williams and Blake Corum. They are about to have their toughest test yet - more on that in a second - but Stafford knows that if they aren’t on the field in Seattle, they can trust in their defence.
Last week, the Rams stood up when it mattered most and ended Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears season with the world watching - but the game against the Seahawks in December accounted for a third of their 16 interceptions this season, with safety Kam Kinchens having standout performances in both games this season between the NFC West side.
Can Stafford produce magic one more time to advance to another Super Bowl?
Remember, many thought he would struggle with injuries this season. Now, he sits on the cusp of an MVP season with potentially the biggest game to come.
In the twilight of his career, another Super Bowl appearance would be an incredible achievement.
Don’t sleep on the Seahawks
For as good as the Rams offence is, it is hard to look past Seattle in this game.
Just look at how they decimated the San Francisco 49ers last weekend.
In truth, the game was arguably over after the first quarter, with the matchup eventually ending 41-6. Over the course of the season, the Seahawks have allowed only 17.2 points per game, which averages as the lowest amount in the league on average.
Their defence whispers memories of the legendary 'Legion of Boom’ which also finished top in the rankings between 2012 and 2015, where the team reached the Super Bowl on two occasions, winning one and losing the other.
That being said, the Rams have bucked that trend this season. They have scored an average of 29 points in two games against the Seahawks this year and Seattle will be wary of this going into Sunday’s matchup.
The Seattle defence has had an interesting time against Stafford this season. They haven’t sacked him and have only recorded seven quarterback hits in both games. They actually haven’t sacked him since Week 11 in 2023. It’s obvious that this needs to improve in the biggest test of the season.
If the Seahawks defence can find a way to exploit Stafford, the game will come to them. The Rams have so many weapons going forward, so early pressure is going to be pivotal, along with remaining healthy - they had multiple injuries entering the final quarter of the game against the Rams just last month.
Consistency and focus will be key in a game that could go either way for both sides.
On the offensive side of the ball, Sam Darnold sits four quarters away from a Super Bowl berth - but he has had two touchdowns and six interceptions against the Rams defence this season.
Darnold needs to start early and find a way to exploit a Rams defence who will be eager to shut down any optimism in Seattle. With running back Zach Charbonnet out for the rest of the season, it will be up to Kenneth Walker III to run riot on Sunday. He rushed for three touchdowns last weekend against the 49ers.
One thing is for sure - this is going to be fun to watch, going by Sam Darnold’s comments earlier in the week.
"If I feel like a guy is open, I’m going to let it rip."
Smyth giving back
Finally, a quick note on Charlie Smyth of the New Orleans Saints. The Mayobridge man surprised students on Thursday at St Marnock's National School in Portmarnock.
Students from the Dublin school will represent Ireland at the 2026 NFL Flag Under-13 International Championship being held during Pro Bowl Week in San Francisco, California, ahead of Super Bowl LX, which Smyth will travel to next week. Flag Football is growing in popularity across Ireland and it now has over 4,500 participants in 60 schools across the island.
With other players such as Daniel Whelan and Jude McAtamney in the NFL over the course of the past two to three years, Smyth is excited to see what the future holds for Irish talent overseas - but he remains settled and focused about his own path.
"Theres a standard and I am trying to reach that standard," Smyth told RTÉ Sport on Thursday.
"I feel like there's another level I can go to again to increase that standard even more. I don’t really feel like I am in a reflective mode and I'm ready to push on. The moment you think you’ve got it in the NFL is the moment you are going to be out the door and that’s just how cut-throat a business it is."
