This is the first time since 2010 that no former NFL MVP quarterbacks are playing in the conference championships.
Both conference championship games feature a coaching matchup between two people with the same first name.
Broncos quarterback Jarrett Stidham will be the seventh QB since 1950 to start a playoff game without a regular-season start.
The home team has won all five previous playoff matchups between the Patriots and Broncos.
The team that has eliminated the 49ers from the playoffs has won the Super Bowl in seven of the last eight instances.
Party guests, watch out.
It’s that time of year when everyone gathers to watch the biggest NFL games of the season, meaning you might have a little more company than usual. In other words, it’s time to impress the guests and show your grasp of NFL facts, oddities and useless trivia that have no impact on the games this weekend but are fun nonetheless.
Internet trends have indicated that everyone should party like it’s 2016. Ironically enough, the NFL obliged and gave fans a rematch of the 2016 AFC championship game between the Denver Broncos and New England Patriots. Peyton Manning and Tom Brady won’t be on the field this time around, but these have been the AFC’s best teams all season anyway.
Now it’s up to Jarrett Stidham to carry Denver to Super Bowl 60 after Bo Nix’s season-ending ankle injury.
Over in the NFC, the Seattle Seahawks are set to host the division rival Los Angeles Rams in this winner-take-all third meeting of the season.
With so much history, it’s only fitting that we look back on some of the weird and wacky ahead of the conference championships. These won’t fit on the inside of a Snapple cap, but feel free to use them to impress your friends, family and random strangers anyway.
Here’s a look at some of the factoids, oddities and more ahead of conference championship weekend in the NFL.
NFL championship weekend factoids and oddities
No former NFL MVPs at QB for the first time since 2010
The best players typically play in the biggest games, which shouldn’t come as a surprise.
Despite that, the AFC and NFC championship games feature a quartet of quarterbacks who haven’t won the NFL MVP award. It is the first time since 2010 that the weekend won’t have an MVP quarterback on the field.
That season, the conference championship quarterback menu was Ben Roethlisberger, Mark Sanchez, Aaron Rodgers and Jay Cutler. Of course, Rodgers went on to become a four-time NFL MVP, but he wasn’t one at the time of the game.
Now 15 years later, it’ll be Stidham, Drake Maye, Sam Darnold and Matthew Stafford who will battle with the trip to Super Bowl 60 on the line.
The Name Game
Both the AFC and NFC championship games feature a coaching matchup between two people with the same first name.
Sean McVay vs. Mike Macdonald. Sean Payton vs. Mike Vrabel.
It sets up the possibility for a Super Bowl matchup between a pair of coaches with the same first name. In Super Bowl history, that has only happened twice:
Super Bowl 32: Mike Shanahan (Broncos) vs. Mike Holmgren (Packers)
Super Bowl 45: Mike McCarthy (Packers) vs. Mike Tomlin (Steelers)
Just getting started
Stidham is set to make his first start of the season with Nix out.
Per Sportradar, Stidham will become the seventh quarterback since 1950, when the stat started being tracked, to start a playoff game without at least one start in the regular season. Here’s a look at the list:
Taylor Heinicke, 2020 Washington
Connor Cook, 2016 Raiders
Joe Webb, 2012 Vikings
Frank Reich, 1992 Bills
Gary Danielson, 1983 Lions
Roger Staubach, 1972 Cowboys
Reich was the only one of the group to get a win in the playoff contest.
While Stidham hopes to join Reich in the winner’s circle, he’ll also join Webb as the only quarterback to start a playoff game without throwing a pass in the regular season. The Broncos’ backup last recorded a pass attempt on Jan. 7, 2024, which was his last start that came in Week 18 of the 2023 season.
Stidham will also join Staubach as the second quarterback to make his first start of the season in the conference championship game or Super Bowl.
History not on Patriots side in AFC championship game
The Patriots have battled the Broncos five times in the NFL playoffs.
Home teams have dominated the series, going 5-0 in the previous matchups. Four of those games were in Denver, indicating that home-field advantage could be key to winning the AFC championship.
California dreamin’ or nightmare?
New England has the most Super Bowl appearances of any NFL team with 11. Despite that, the Patriots have never made the Super Bowl when it was played in California, which has been the case 13 times – the second-most of any state.
Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California is set to host the game for the second time in its history – the same building that was the site for the Broncos’ most recent triumph in Super Bowl 50.
On the flip side, Denver has made the Super Bowl eight times and four of those games were played in The Golden State.
49ers to spark Seahawks Super Bowl run?
History is on the Seahawks’ side heading into the NFC championship game. Seattle’s elimination of the San Francisco 49ers in the divisional round activated a trend that not only bodes well for this week, but Super Bowl 60 as well.
Dating back to 2002, the 49ers have made the playoffs eight times. The team that eliminated them has gone on to win the Super Bowl seven of those eight times.
Only the 2022 Philadelphia Eagles failed to win the big game, losing to the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl 57.
Familiar foes
The NFC championship game might as well be rebranded as the NFC West championship game this season. Easily the best division in the league, the Seahawks and Rams will, fittingly, battle for a third and final time to determine which team heads to Super Bowl 60.
It will be just the sixth time that a conference championship game will feature a divisional matchup. The winner of the game went on to win the Super Bowl all five times, with the division winner being victorious in four of those matchups.
Here’s a look at the recent division-themed conference championship games:
2024 NFC Championship: Philadelphia Eagles 55, Washington Commanders 23
2021 NFC Championship: Los Angeles Rams 20, San Francisco 49ers 17
2013 NFC Championship: Seattle Seahawks 23, San Francisco 49ers 17
2010 NFC Championship: Green Bay Packers 21, Chicago Bears 14
2008 AFC Championship: Pittsburgh Steelers 23, Baltimore Ravens 14