NFL Conference Championship - What We Learned

Written by John Edward Betancourt

The stage is finally set, of the 12 teams that entered the playoffs, only two remain after what was a wild Conference Championship Sunday.  We were witness to one of the greatest playoffs games the sport has ever seen, and we were also privy to a good old fashioned blowout.  Either way, there were some incredible stories to be told on the field so let's look at what we learned from Championship Sunday! 

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1. The NFC Championship was a playoff game for the ages. I mean, wow. Green Bay had this game completely in hand. The defense completely shut down Russell Wilson, and while the offense didn't exactly drop touchdown after Touchdown on the Seahawks...they had the lead.  For three quarters this game looked like a snoozer and then something magical happened, the Seahawks came alive and won the game in overtime to earn a shot at defending their title in Super Bowl XLIX.

If anything this game showed us two key things. First and foremost, the Seahawks are unstoppable with momentum on their side. A four turnover performance meant nothing to the defense or Marshawn Lynch as they racked up the points, it was simply incredible to watch, but they had a little help. The other key to this game was that Green Bay Head coach Mike McCarthy could have put the game out of reach, but didn't. With a fairly conservative game plan that didn't go in for the kill on the goal line early on and well...that became run heavy late in the game, those missing points came back to haunt the Packers. Either way, congratulations to the Seattle Seahawks for winning the NFC Championship.

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2. Turns out the AFC Championship, was nowhere as cool as the NFC Championship. I honestly thought that Indianapolis would put up a better showing after crushing the Bengals and stunning the Broncos. Instead we were "treated" to a complete and utter bloodbath as the Patriots scored at will by both land and air.  Tom Brady handled the Colts with little effort on his way to a sixth title appearance.  

In fact, for a little while there, I had to wonder if the Colts bought John Fox's playbook for the AFC Divisional Game and fully implemented it here. i mean, wow, this squad, well known for its preparation looked woefully lost for the entire game. Everyone simply looked confused as the game wore on and it was just painful to watch. I really expected more from the Colts but that's okay, they weren't ready, simple as that. Now they have the entire offseason to figure it out now that the New England Patriots are the AFC Champion.

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3. Denver is closing in on a new head coach.  It was news that started to leak out as the games came to a close, but the Broncos, roughly a week removed from the John Fox era, began to finalize a four year deal that will bring former offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak back to Denver as its fifteenth head coach. In fact the team sent every executive down to Houston to meet with Kubiak and it looks like an announcement making it official will be arriving from the Broncos come Tuesday.