NFL Conference Championship Sunday

[Cosmo]

AFC Championship
New England (-5.5/41.5) at Denver, 3 EST/1 local, CBS/Paramount+

NFC Championship
L.A. Rams at Seattle (-2.5/47.5), 630 EST/330 local, FOX

 

[Jake from State Farm]

I like Vrabel and Maye but I still hate the Patriots

 

[MileHigh]

Third time for Patriots-Broncos in the AFC title game in Denver and eighth overall AFC title game at 5,280 feet. Lots of folks writing off the Broncos. I think it's going to be a lot closer than folks think.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

I cannot agree. Pats defense is playing so well right now, I don't think Stidham has a chance of leading Denver to more than 10 points. That's just not enough to win or even stay close unless the Bronocs get five tiurnovers.

 

[UNCGrad]

Mike Sando's Pick Six this week had a good note about how well backup QBs play for Payton historically. I look forward to seeing how Stidham plays, just for the hell of it.

 

[DanOregon]

AFC Championship
New England (-5.5/41.5) at Denver, 3 EST/1 local, CBS/Paramount+

NFC Championship
L.A. Rams at Seattle (-2.5/47.5), 630 EST/330 local, FOX

We didn't even get a chance to *****/ponder about time slots.

 

[Brooklyn Bridge]

Denver's quarterback is injured, maybe we should replace them with another team. #CFBLogic

 

[maumann2]

Denver's quarterback is injured, maybe we should replace them with another team. #CFBLogic

I think Notre Dame has a bye week.

 

[Batman]

I cannot agree. Pats defense is playing so well right now, I don't think Stidham has a chance of leading Denver to more than 10 points. That's just not enough to win or even stay close unless the Bronocs get five tiurnovers.

That's where I'm at. The Broncos were so-so offensively with Nix at QB, and you're telling me they can score 20 points with Stidham? Not seeing it.

It's been six-plus years and I'll never forget Jarrett Stidham's suckage costing me about $50 in Week 3 of the 2019 season.
The Patriots were favored by 20 over the Jets during the brief but memorable Luke Falk era and the game was an absolute beatdown like you'd expect. The Jets had 105 yards of total offense and were behind 30-0 late in the third quarter. Then Julian Edelman fumbled a punt inside the 10 that was recovered for a touchdown. And then the Pats took out Brady and put in Stidham to run out the clock on a couple of "let's just get the hell out of here" possessions.
Stidham's third pass was a pick-six that cut it to 30-14.
Pats put Brady back in for the next series and pretty much bled out the clock from there. No cover. No $50. But I did gain an irrational hatred for Jarrett Stidham that endures to this day. My amazement that he's hung around in the NFL for seven seasons is surpassed only by the idea that there is a chance he'll be starting in a Super Bowl in three weeks.

 

[Roscablo]

So the Patriots defense that is playing so well over the last month has played the Dolphins, Jets, a broken Chargers offense and a throw it anywhere Stroud. I know it's a backup, but plenty of people said the Broncos couldn't win a shootout against the Bills either.

Obviously you don't want a backup in a game like this, especially one that hasn't taken a snap in two years, but this is a Sean Payton guy, he was his first signee and Stidham has stayed for three years knowing he wasn't going to play. It was garbage end of the season stuff but he did go 1-1 and complete 40 of 66 passes in 2023. I actually think that the Broncos being so-so offensively with Nix, which is definitely true, means not tons has changed. We just don't know if Stidham can get it done when it matters, which has been a strength of Nix.

The Broncos D is still what it is too and also playing a young QB. They have kind of been hit and miss the second half of the season, but it's not like they aren't pretty good. Limit mistakes and it will at least be a close game.

 

[I Should Coco]

In the “no one cares about your bar trivia night team” category, I give SJ.com an assist for helping me come up with this answer tonight:

Category: NFL postseason

Question: which team has the longest playoff drought?

J-E- …

 

[BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo]

We didn't even get a chance to *****/ponder about time slots.

REMEMBER WHEN THE CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES WERE AT 1 AND 4 PM THAT WAS THE BEST @poindexter WHY CAN'T IT BE LIKE THAT ANYMORE I HATE EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE

 

[dixiehack]

Forget it. The real hipsters have moved on to over-analyzing officiating assignments.

 

[MileHigh]

Forget it. The real hipsters have moved on to over-analyzing officiating assignments.

I mean, Bill Vinovich not getting an on-field playoff assignment certainly is a head-scratcher.

 

[DanOregon]

I could put this in the sports trivia category, but I won't. For the second time in a row, NBC will follow their Super Bowl coverage with Winter Olympics programming. When was the last time before Beijing in 2022, that the Super Bowl was a lead in to a sporting event rather than entertainment programming? What was the event?

 

[MileHigh]

I could put this in the sports trivia category, but I won't. For the second time in a row, NBC will follow their Super Bowl coverage with Winter Olympics programming. When was the last time before Beijing in 2022, that the Super Bowl was a lead in to a sporting event rather than entertainment programming? What was the event?

Saw this the other day. Super Bowl X between Dallas and Pittsburgh on CBS in Miami followed by the Phoenix Open.

 

[maumann2]

Are we allowed to debate the merits of scorebugs on each broadcast, or does Awful Announcing have exclusive rights to that?

 

[Huggy]

Reddit has a Scorebug channel that is pretty interesting

 

[Roscablo]

REMEMBER WHEN THE CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES WERE AT 1 AND 4 PM THAT WAS THE BEST @poindexter WHY CAN'T IT BE LIKE THAT ANYMORE I HATE EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE

It's been so long in this format that most people don't even remember it this way. It definitely had flaws for western teams. In 1989 when the Broncos hosted the Browns, the kick was 11 a.m. local. Definitely caused a mild stir around here (the Broncos dominated that game, no need for a drive or fumble, only to go on to the worst ever Super Bowl loss). The 49ers played the Rams in the NFC.

What's funny is how little people pay attention at all, since the AFC and NFC just flip timeslots every year now. But people still ask, such as this thread!

 

[BTExpress]

When the Super Bowl ends it will be 4:30 a.m. in Italy.

I'm guessing the programming will be largely entertainment.

What's funny is how little people pay attention at all, since the AFC and NFC just flip timeslots every year now. But people still ask, such as this thread!

But do they still "just flip timeslots"? This is the first year I can remember AFC and NFC title game times listed as "TBD" until after the divisional round was completed.