After shedding blood, sweat and tears, the American Football Conference (AFC) and National Football Conference (NFC) Championship games have been set. This weekend concluded the divisional play in the NFL playoffs.
In the NFC, The San Francisco 49ers faced the Seattle Seahawks, and the Los Angeles Rams faced the Chicago Bears. In the AFC, the Buffalo Bills took on the Denver Broncos, and the Houston Texans took on the New England Patriots.
Entering the weekend, every starting quarterback was under the age of 30 — with the exception of the Rams’ quarterback Matthew Stafford, aged 37. Although still young, Brock Purdy of the 49ers, Josh Allen of the Bills and Sam Darnold of the Seahawks are no longer the new kids on the block. This season has experienced an emergence of young leaders in the NFL.
Throughout the playoffs, Bo Nix of the Broncos, C.J. Stroud of the Texans, Drake Maye of the Patriots and Caleb Williams of the Bears — who were all drafted in either 2023 or 2024 — have shown to be incredible young, talented leaders in the league. It was an especially notable appearance for the Bears, who, prior to their win in the Wildcard game against the Green Bay Packers, had not won a playoff game since 2010.
The Broncos and the Patriots prevailed in the AFC, while the Seahawks and the Rams won out in the NFC.
Ahead of the weekend play, several teams made incredible comebacks in the wildcard round, especially in the NFC. The 49ers had played through injury all season. In their wildcard game against the reigning Super Bowl champions, the Philadelphia Eagles, the 49ers’ star tight end George Kittle tore his Achilles tendon. Despite the setback, the 49ers persevered and beat the Eagles 23-19.
While the 49ers have persisted through injury, the Bears, with Williams at the helm, have brought hope back to football in Chicago. The Bears’ defense against wildcard opponents and midwest rivals, the Packers, pushed them to an incredible comeback of 31-27, sending them to the divisional game this past Sunday.
Over the course of the divisional games played on Jan. 17 and 18, there was continued heartbreak, sustained hope and the ultimate defeat of four teams. The Broncos and the Patriots prevailed in the AFC, while the Seahawks and the Rams won out in the NFC — however, not without a tough fight brought by their opponents.
An injured 49ers team, missing a key member of their offense in Kittle, fell to the Seahawks. The Texans will have to come back stronger next year in hopes of a first-time appearance in the Super Bowl, as they fell 28-16 to six-time Super Bowl champions, the Patriots.
Both the Bills and the Bears lost to the Broncos and the Rams, respectively, with key interceptions that changed the course of both games.
The Bears attempted to continue their Cinderella season at home on Sunday. With 27 seconds of regulation remaining, the Bears were down 17-10. Williams turned back 15 yards before throwing an over 50-yard pass to Cole Kmet in the left corner of the endzone, sending the Bears into overtime against the Rams and further proving their fourth-quarter strength.
“It was the most special throw I’ve ever seen,” Bears safety Kevin Byard III said. “I’ve seen him do it so many times this year. … That was insane. It left us speechless on the sideline for sure.”
However, the flame of hope was quickly extinguished with an interception that gave the ball back to the Rams, putting them in a position for Harrison Mevis to score the game-winning field goal and send Los Angeles to the NFC Championship game.
Thanks to a combination of several interceptions thrown by Allen and some key plays put together by second-year quarterback Nix, the Bills and the Broncos’ game was also forced into overtime on Saturday night, where Wil Lutz ultimately kicked the game-winning field goal for the Broncos. Despite their win, the Broncos are going into the AFC Championship game against the Patriots on wobbly legs after the announcement that Nix broke his ankle and that Jarrett Stidham will start in his place. In a postgame interview, Broncos Head Coach Sean Payton explained that he spoke to Nix shortly after the loss.
“I said (to him), ‘Listen, I believe you’re the second quarterback in year two to take your team to a championship game. … This team, all year, has lost key players. We’ll rise up for the next challenge, and we’ll go from there,’” Payton said.
The AFC and NFC Championship games will be played on Jan. 25 at the Empower Field at Mile High in Denver and at Lumen Field in Seattle. The winners of the conference championships will play in the Super Bowl on Feb. 8 at the 49ers’ home, Levi’s Stadium, to see who will take home the Lombardi Trophy.
