Jan. 19, 2026, 11:45 a.m. PT

There’s simply nothing like the NFL playoffs. Especially when it features the Seattle Seahawks hosting a Conference Championship game against an explosive NFC West rival they split the regular season series with, a week after they had a convincing Divisional Round win over a team they beat soundly earlier in the year, while the Denver Broncos and New England Patriots duke it out over in the AFC. Man, 2013 sure was a memorable year!

If any of that is sounding even a little familiar, and it absolutely should, it’s because this perfectly describes the current state of the NFL playoff landscape. They say history repeats itself, and that certainly is the case with the NFL this year, at least somewhat. It’s not a perfect 1:1 comparison, but spiritually it is.

Back then, it was the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC title game against Seattle. Now it’s the Rams. However, these playoffs have featured the Seahawks defeating the Niners, it just happened in the Divisional Round. In 2013’s Divisional Round, it was the New Orleans Saints that Seattle handled with relative ease after dominating them in prime time during the regular season. Head coach Sean Payton is still involved in the 2025 postseason, although he’s over in the Mile High City with the Broncos.

Speaking of the Broncos, it’s a bit of a role reversal between Denver and New England. During the 2013 campaign, that version of the Patriots were not as great a roster like many obviously associate New England with having. It was mainly Tom Brady and Bill Belichick dragging them to the AFC Championship where they were severely outgunned against Peyton Manning’s historic Broncos offense. Now it’s Denver, without starting quarterback Bo Nix, who will be facing an uphill battle at home against a resurgent New England team.

We will find out in short order if history will repeat itself further for Super Bowl LX, especially since any combination of Seahawks vs Broncos, Seahawks vs Patriots or Rams vs Patriots will be yet another Super Bowl rematch.

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