1. I\u2019ll admit, I\u2019ve repeatedly cast side-eye at the Seattle Seahawks\u2019 chances of winning it all because I simply couldn\u2019t get behind trusting Sam Darnold, despite his come-up from his early days with the New York Jets. His mid-season spluttering seemed to justify that skepticism, and thrashing a beat-up 49ers defense in the Divisional Round didn\u2019t really do it for me. In the same way, picking on the Rams\u2019 secondary isn\u2019t necessarily the most world-altering feat. But at some point, you have to acknowledge that Darnold has simply been playing lights-out so far in these playoffs. It\u2019s not just about the defense anymore. He\u2019s been legitimately good. He was good last year, too, and Minnesota might well be kicking itself for letting him leave town. His career revival has been a hell of a story, and there\u2019s no reason the Seahawks shouldn\u2019t win the Super Bowl in two weeks with him at the helm\u2026<\/p>\n
2. Except for this: Drake Maye has been rough so far in these playoffs, and the Patriots have still been winning. It\u2019s not just about the quarterbacks they\u2019ve played, either, though it doesn\u2019t hurt to have CJ Stroud turn the ball over 18 times in one game and then get to face a rusty Jarrett Stidham in the conference championship. This defense has been moving different since getting Milton Williams, their superstar defensive tackle, back from injury. They hit hard, and they play sound, smart football. Plus, if there\u2019s one guy in the league I think could legitimately follow Jaxon Smith-Njigba around anywhere he goes and not get lost, it\u2019s Christian Gonzalez, whose smooth movement skills at cornerback almost perfectly mirror what JSN does offensively. And their off-the-wall coverages might be enough to have Darnold see a few ghosts on the big stage. Don\u2019t count New England out just yet.<\/p>\n
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3. Also, for as bad as Maye\u2019s numbers are in these playoffs, the dude keeps finding a way to do enough to win. His gutsy, impromptu naked bootleg to seal the win with a game-clinching first down shows how tough he is to keep down. His biggest problem right now is learning to take what defenses give him and just cut his losses. But if he gets his comfort level back, he could put on a show that could shock the country. And don\u2019t underestimate this: Josh McDaniels has been here a lot in his career, and he will have this offense\u2014and this young quarterback\u2014ready to play. If the Patriots pull this off, I don\u2019t care what anyone says about their path to a Super Bowl: going from 4-13 to a title, and doing it by going through the three best scoring defenses in football, will be insanely impressive. I have absolutely no reason to believe this will happen, but I\u2019m going to throw it out into the universe anyway: I think the Patriots will win. Somehow, someway.<\/p>\n
4. Speaking of McDaniels and Maye, I absolutely love the theatrics of the two of them calling that bootleg for the win and not telling the rest of the offense it was coming. It could\u2019ve backfired, of course, because a bunch of Maye\u2019s offensive teammates were so stunned to see him with the ball they almost forgot to block for him, leaving Maye to beat Broncos linebacker Jonah Elliss to the corner himself. On the flip side, their lack of knowledge that Maye was keeping the ball was honest, and the Broncos bought the fake, giving Maye just enough space to race around the edge. That play\u2019s going to be talked about a long time in the lore of those two, whether they win it all or not.<\/p>\n
5. Boy, that\u2019s got to be tough for Brian Daboll. In a battle between which offensive coach Josh Allen loves the most and wanted promoted, offensive coordinator Joe Brady won out over Daboll for the Buffalo Bills\u2019 head coaching job, the many who helped Allen ascend to MVP status before getting the New York Giants job. Buffalo was likely Daboll\u2019s only shot at a head-coaching gig, and now will reportedly take the Titans\u2019 offensive coordinator job unless the Raiders offer him their head-coaching gig. The New York Giants really can ruin anybody\u2019s life.<\/p>\n
6. The Chicago Bears didn\u2019t make the NFC Championship game because it simply wasn\u2019t their time. They made too many mistakes, and the Rams made none in the Divisional Round. So it goes. But there\u2019s no doubt about this: they\u2019re more than good enough to be back in that game and make it further next season. As Olin Kreutz<\/a> said, they might just be one player on their roster away from getting to the Super Bowl themselves.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n 7. That might not quite be true, though, and the Bears would be wise to observe some of the defenses that made it further than they did in the playoffs. Specifically, what do these two Super Bowl defenses have in common? They paid really good defensive linemen in the offseason\u2014Williams for the Patriots, DeMarcus Lawrence for the Seahawks\u2014shored up the linebacking corps with affordable options that fit their schemes, and thrived by putting teams perpetually in third-and-long situations. Stopping the run and controlling the line of scrimmage still matters, and the Bears need to make sure they do that next year.<\/p>\n 8. Can we normalize not asking players about their futures right after they win or lose the biggest games of their lives? I know\u2014having worked for news organizations\u2014that editors expect you to ask that question so that they can get a quote one way or another. And I know that, being a journalist, you\u2019re expected to ask the question, and that players expect you to do it, too. \u201cEven if they don\u2019t answer, you still have to ask.\u201d But when has asking guys like Matthew Stafford if they plan to retire or if they expect to be playing for another team right after a game ever resulted in a worthwhile answer? The journalist in me gets it, but the fan in me is over it.<\/p>\n