From roughly Week 5 forward, the Rams, the Saints and the Chiefs were considered favorites to get to this point.
And while it was a down season for the Patriots, it will probably be several years after Tom Brady’s retirement before people stop assuming he will find a way into the A.F.C. championship game.
With the high-powered Rams and Chiefs going against the Saints and Patriots, respectively, these games are going to be close and whichever teams eke out a win will meet in Atlanta two weeks later in Super Bowl LIII. This is the Shark's Conference Championship Picks.
AFC Conference Championship
1st Seed Kansas City Chiefs (12-4) vs 2nd Seed New England Patriots (11-5)
The Pats and Chiefs already have had a glimpse of how good both teams really are. In their last matchup the game that took place was all about the offense, as both offenses had a field day. Both Quarterbacks had similar stat lines with Mahomes racking up 352 yards and Brady throwing for 340 yards.
Although the Patriots won that game 43-40, the Kansas City Chiefs showed the rest of the N.F.L, that they were a team that should not be messed with. Since that game, this same statement has held true.
At only 23 years old Patrick Mahomes ended the season with over 5,000 passing yards and 50 passing touchdowns. Keep in mind that the passing touchdown record is 55 touchdowns in 2014 by Peyton Manning. This was Mahomes first year as a starter, and he ended with a historic year.
Almost the entire N.F.L fanbase wants to see a Rams and Chiefs Superbowl, excluding Pats and Saints fans of course, but it won't be easy to get there.
At 41 years old Brady is still finding a way to take his team to the Super Bowl year after year. He is having unprecedented success for someone over the age of 40. Going back to Week 6 of the regular season Brady did what Brady does best.
Kansas City outscored New England, 31-19, in the second half of that game, and Mahomes tied the score with just over three minutes to play by hitting Tyreek Hill for a 75-yard touchdown — only to have Brady march his team downfield for a game-winning, 28-yard field goal as time expired.
The entire year it has seemed like the entire N.F.L has doubted them. Brady is too old, he needs to retire, Bill Belicheck's era is over, this is the end of the Pats as we know it. Well, they were wrong. Brady and the Pats are going to arrive at Arrowhead stadium ready to play in frigid temperatures and they will put up a fight.
After dismantling the Chargers in a 41-28 game that wasn't even close since the start, the Patriots are going into this game with a whole lot of confidence.
This game is going to be close and the game between these two teams earlier this season in Week 6 further proves this statement. Except, with the game this Sunday the result will be different. Brady is a great quarterback, but the Chiefs have a high-powered offense that has shown game in and game out that nothing can stop them and this won't change in the AFC Championship Game.
Verdict: Kansas City Chiefs
NFC Conference Championship
1st Seed New Orleans Saints (13-3) vs 2nd Seed Los Angeles Rams (13-3)
Both teams have been compared throughout the season, and both teams have taken the N.F.L by storm this year with games where it felt like they were going against some type of high school team, but they are not. They're just that good.
The Saints have not only been spectacular this season, they have been consistent. Each game the result is the same and their Week 11 matchup was no different. Both teams combined for an absurd 80 points and 970 yards of total offense and Drew Brees ended the Rams undefeated start to the season.
But since then the Rams roster gained a couple of noteworthy additions. Aqib Talib go injured early in the season in Week 3 and only returned in Week 13, but since then Aqib Talib completely changed the Rams defense. According to NFLtotalAccess without Talib allowed over 30 ppg, but with Talib it is a completely different story, they only allowed 17.3 ppg. Without Talib the Rams allowed 273 pass ypg. With Talib they allowed just 200 pass ypg.
The difference are visible and this may just be enough to push them over the Drew Brees lead Saints. Along with Talib, the Rams also acquired CJ Anderson who is performing great as a back alongside Gurley. If you still didn't believe that Anderson was a running back who can be an important part of a team during the Rams' regular season games, Anderson's performance against the Cowboys in the divisional round convinced everybody and silenced the doubters.
In the Divisional Round matchup C.J. Anderson put on a show and toyed with the Cowboys D-Line. He rushed for 123 yards and 2 touchdowns. Without CJ Anderson the matchup in this game might have been different.
The Rams are electric and have arguably the best offense in the N.F.L, but there is a reason why the Saints were the #1 team in the NFL. With Drew Brees already having one Super Bowl under his belt he knows what it is like to play under pressure, and he knows how to win big games. He has been coming in clutch his entire career and Brees isn't going to stop.
Brees also has a great supporting cast around him. With an all-pro wide reciever Michael Thomas, Drew Brees always has someone he can trust to make a play when it counts. At a loft height of 6'3" Thomas has 125 receptions and over 1,400 yards receiving.
Along with Thomas the Saints have a running game that most teams would dream to have. Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram have combined for over 1,500 yards rushing.
Both teams have played spectacularly all year long and both deserve to be in the NFC Conference Championship game and have a shot at the Lombardi trophy, but as you know only 2 can remain. The Saints can throw it deep, pound the rock and they got the players to make it happen, but with the below average Saints defense having to face the #1 offense in the league it faces a hard road ahead of them, and for this reason...
Verdict: Los Angeles Rams