Thanks for showing up, Minnesota and Washington. Cool little run there, Houston. But the grown-ups are in charge now.
Most of the eight remaining teams in the NFL play-offs are no strangers to the championship scene, with a combined 18 Super Bowl titles and 35 appearances among them.
Pittsburgh are still in the hunt for a record seventh title, while New England and Green Bay are each seeking their fifth. Denver have won two, but have been to five other Super Bowls. Seattle are looking to become only the third team to go to three straight Super Bowls. And the typical heroes of the story are still there: Tom Brady, Ben Roethlisberger, Russell Wilson, Aaron Rodgers and Peyton Manning have a combined nine Super Bowl rings in 14 appearances.
Only the NFC’s top two seeds, Carolina and Arizona, have a chance of winning their first titles. Each team has one appearance in the championship game.
If you are tired of the same-old, same-old, the league’s upstarts let you down this weekend. But if familiar is your flavour, you are in football heaven.
The NFL is surely hoping the 50th iteration of one of the world’s biggest sporting event is a marquee match-up. With several traditional powers advancing past the wild card round, the chances are strong that will happen.
Kansas City on a roll
The Chiefs’ lone championship came way back in 1970 at Super Bowl IV. It has been a long time since the franchise has seen that much success, and they ended an especially futile run in emphatic fashion with a 30-0 dismantling of the Houston Texans to advance to the divisional round.
The play-off win was the team’s first since 1993, when a near-his-end Joe Montana led the team to the AFC Championship game. It took another former 49ers quarterback, Alex Smith, to snap an eight-game post-season losing skid.
Kansas City now head to New England to face the rested Patriots, an imposing proposition for anyone. But as winners of 11 straight, it is doubtful there is any team the Chiefs fear.
How cool would it be if Super Bowl 50 were a re-match of Super Bowl I? Kansas City can make that happen, and their fans would surely love a shot at beating the team that beat them 50 years ago, the Green Bay Packers.
Warmer climes await Seattle
It looked as though the Vikings were set to eliminate the Seahawks without even reaching the end zone. But a shanked Minnesota field goal in the final minute ensured Seattle’s 10-9 victory in a subfreezing Minneapolis.
The Seahawks will have to win two more road games to get to a third straight Super Bowl, a feat no NFC team has ever accomplished, but at least the weather should be a little nicer in Charlotte next week.
Manning or Osweiller?
Avoid the internet or ESPN if you don’t want to hear about Peyton Manning this week. Whether he or Brock Osweiller should start when the Broncos host the Steelers will be the most overly discussed topic of the week. It might not matter with the way their defence is playing, though.
The Broncos allowed a league-best 283.1 yards per game in the regular season, only 199.6 of that through the air, yet another mark that was tops in the league.
That is a daunting task for Roethlisberger to overcome, especially since last we saw the two-time Super Bowl winner, who was hobbling at the end of the Steelers’ win over the Bengals.
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