Just Take The Damn Points
I’m not one to say that the outcome of a game would have been completely different had a team done one thing, but it certainly would have changed the momentum. Keep this in mind. The Denver Broncos were hosting the AFC Championship game against the New England Patriots. Both teams knew that an incoming snow storm was going to arrive sometime in the second half. Denver was starting their backup quarterback Jarrett Stidham in place of Bo Nix who broke a bone in his ankle at the end of their Divisional Round game the previous week. Stidham hasn’t started a game since 2023. Rust was certainly going to be a factor in this game and the Broncos offense even with Nix at the helm hasn’t looked overly impressive this season on their way to getting home field advantage. One of Denver’s earlier possessions resulted in a touchdown which gave them an early lead. With the way the Broncos defense has played this season that might be enough to win this game with an impending snow storm approaching. Yet, with just under 10 minutes left in the second quarter Denver’s head coach Sean Payton decided to go for it on 4th and 1 at New England’s own 14-yard line. Mind you, Denver is up 7-0 and a field goal which was well within their kicker Will Lutz’s range would put them up 10-0 with an elite defense and a backup quarterback running the offense. The Patriots defense blitzes on the 4th down play which Stidham is hurried on throws an incomplete pass. The ball and the momentum for the entire game has now gone to New England. On a later possession the Patriots score a touchdown to tie the game and kick a field goal to take the lead 10-7. Sure enough the snow storm arrives when the second half gets underway and what do you know, both offenses struggle to get anything going. Both teams attempted field goals, but they missed them in the second half and that decision to not kick the field goal in the second quarter was looming large for Sean Payton. Stidham threw an easily picked off pass near the end of the game that essentially sealed Denver’s fate. Yet, the Broncos defense didn’t play up to their potential at times when they allowed Patriots QB Drake Maye to scramble for first downs without having a spy on him throughout the entire game. Especially when it mattered most on the last play when Maye scrambled for the final first down to end the game. This trend of not taking the easy three points in these playoffs has been glaring and it needs to stop. This AFC Championship game might still be going on right now if Denver would have just kicked the damn field goal.
The Third Time Was The Charm Once Again
The Seattle Seahawks took advantage of having home field advantage to get to their fourth Super Bowl appearance in franchise history. They had to dispatch their division rivals in San Francisco and Los Angeles to do so which was the third time they had to play them both this season. This was tougher for Seattle in the NFC Championship game as the Los Angeles Rams were not going away. The one thing that was going for the Seahawks to start was the fact that the Rams couldn’t cover WR Jaxson Smith-Njigba as he was wide open for almost all of the first half. QB Sam Darnold has had his struggles in recent matchups against the Rams, but he was nearly flawless in this one as Seattle’s defense kept them ahead when they had the lead going into halftime. Seattle is playing their best football at the right time as they head to Santa Clara, California to play for a second Super Bowl title.
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