The stage is set for NFL Conference Championship Sunday, with the winners of each game advancing to Super Bowl 60 in Santa Clara, California on February 8, 2026.

The day starts with the AFC Championship Game: back at Empower Field at Mile High for the first time in 10 years, and even with the same matchup of teams. NFL MVP candidate Drake Maye and the AFC East-winning New England Patriots will take on the top-seeded Denver Broncos, who finished the regular season 14-3. The only catch? Broncos starting quarterback Bo Nix broke his ankle in last week’s overtime win over the Bills, leaving Jarrett Stidham as the starter with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line.

Afterwards, Sam Darnold the NFC’s top-seeded Seattle Seahawks host Matthew Stafford and the Los Angeles Rams in an epic NFC Championship Game. For the second straight week, Seattle will play a divisional opponent for the third time: the NFC West really went above and beyond producing some of the best teams in football.

By the end of Sunday, the Super Bowl 60 matchup will be set, and those two teams will be immortalized in history. Who will it be? Read on for my 2025-26 NFL Conference Championship Game Picks, and if you’d like to debate or discuss any picks, join the conversation with @SakSports on Twitter/X, on Facebook, or by commenting directly on this post!

Picks Record

Divisional Round Picks: 1-3

Regular Season: 171-100-1 (63%)

Wild Card: 5-1

Divisional: 1-3

AFC Championship Game

(NBC Sports Boston)

Time: 3:00PM ET / 1:00PM MT on CBS

Line: Patriots by 4.5 points

The overwhelming story of this game revolves around how the Denver Broncos’ offense will respond to losing starting quarterback and inserting career backup Jarrett Stidham: who was once supposed to be Tom Brady’s successor in New England.

Even with Nix under center, this game would’ve projected to be an extremely tight one. Removing Nix appears to give a clear advantage to the New England Patriots.

But I’m not convinced Drake Maye and the Patriots are just going to waltz their way in to a Super Bowl 60 appearance. While this year’s defense isn’t quite as good as the Von Miller-led, Super Bowl 50-winning defense, the unit is still the team’s strongest. The Los Angeles Chargers defense held Maye and the Patriots to 16 points in the Wildcard Round of this year’s playoffs: in New England. Now on Sunday, Maye faces the #1-ranked defense in the league (by many metrics) and the game is expected to be bitter cold.

My point being, if the Broncos can hold the Patriots offense to 16 points or less, it will be Denver’s game to lose. I don’t expect the Broncos to put up 33 points like last week, but Stidham is a capable passer: a downgrade from Nix, sure, but not a huge one.

Maye was also sacked sick times last week, and if Nik Bonitto and the Broncos pass-rush can get to him early, the Patriots offense might struggle all afternoon.

The scenario I just described is the one I’m officially predicting. While I’m not hedging my prediction, I also just want to note there’s a chance that the Patriots run away with this game, if Stidham turns the ball over or plays too conservatively. In other words, this should either be a close win for either team, or a solid win for the Patriots. A Broncos blowout is unlikely unless Maye starts throwing touchdowns to the wrong team.

Broncos win 17-16

SEE ALSO: Review: e.t.d.s. A Mixtape by .idk.

NFC Championship Game

(X.com)

Time: 6:30PM ET / 3:30 PM PT on Fox

Line: Seahawks by 2.5 points

The NFC West might just have housed the best three teams in the league when all is said and done. The San Francisco 49ers failed to show up for their Week 18 or Divisional Round matchups with the Seattle Seahawks, but otherwise were consistently strong and nearly earned the NFC’s #1 seed.

The Los Angeles Rams were also on track for the conference’s top seed before a late-season hiccup, caused in no small part due to the Seahawks beating the Rams in overtime on a two-point conversion if one of, not even exaggerating, the NFL’s tightest games ever.

With this context, there’s two ways to look at this game. 1. Every time Seattle is thrown a challenge, they come out on top, usually in electrifying fashion. 2. The Seahawks are due for a dud game after showing up for so many big matchups this season.

The second scenario is boring and discredits everything Sam Darnold and the Seahawks have worked towards all year long. Seattle has been the best team in the NFL for months now. Yes, the Seahawks and Broncos finished with identical 14-3 records in the regular season, but with Seattle playing Los Angeles and San Francisco four times in the regular season, their resume is stronger.

From the Rams perspective, winning this game would mean a second Super Bowl appearance in the last five seasons under Matthew Stafford, and a third Super Bowl appearance in eight seasons, indicating elongated success. Los Angeles had the Seahawks on the ropes in the regular season, and were a two-point conversion away from potentially hosting this game.

But that brings us to our final point: the Seahawks always have one of the best homefield advantages in the league, and this year is no different. Additionally, no dome-based team has ever won an outdoor Conference Championship game on the road before.

With these trends, it’s hard not to pick Seattle. The Seahawks don’t have to play a perfect game, they just have to play their brand of football for 60 minutes to book their trip to Santa Clara.

Seahawks win 27-23

Bonus: Picking Each Super Bowl 60 Matchup

(The US Sun)

Broncos vs. Seahawks: My original prediction in my 2025-26 NFL Playoffs and Super Bowl 60 Bracket. Unfortunately, without Bo Nix, Seattle would handle this game pretty easily. Seahawks win 30-13

Broncos vs. Rams: The Seahawks are the most complete team in football, the Rams are less perfect. Los Angeles would likely win this game against backup quarterback Stidham, but it could still be tight. Rams win 23-16

Patriots vs. Seahawks: Seattle gets revenge for their Super Bowl 47 loss to the Patriots, as Drake Maye can’t keep up with Seattle’s defense. Seahawks win 28-17

Patriots vs. Rams: Another Super Bowl rematch where the Patriots came out on top the first time. The Rams might be a better team, but again aren’t perfect, and I don’t want to pick the NFC in all four matchups. Patriots win 23-20

SEE ALSO: Post-Divisional Round Power Rankings

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