NFL championship games bold predictions: Multiple TDs for Jarrett Stidham, no turnovers for Sam Darnold

We are one Sunday of football away from finding out what the 2025 NFL season's Super Bowl LX matchup will be.

Conference championship Sunday kicks off with Drake Maye's second-seeded New England Patriots facing the top-seeded Denver Broncos and their NFL-best pass rush in the AFC title game. Maye is looking to become the second-youngest quarterback to start a Super Bowl at the age of 23, and the Broncos are trying to become the first team since the 1992 Buffalo Bills to win playoff games with two different starting quarterbacks in the same postseason. 

Over in the NFC, Matthew Stafford's fifth-seeded Los Angeles Rams will face Sam Darnold's top-seeded Seattle Seahawks for the third time this season. Stafford is trying to join John Elway (1998 season), Peyton Manning (2015 season) and Tom Brady (four times) as the fourth quarterback to start a Super Bowl at the age of 38 or older. Darnold is aiming to become the third quarterback to start a Super Bowl after leading the NFL in turnovers in the regular season. The only other two to do it are Jim Kelly in the 1992 season and Eli Manning in the 2007 season. 

What stunning event could occur in the AFC and NFC championship games? Let's cook up some with five bold predictions for the NFL's final four.   

Rams upset Seahawks at Lumen Field to win NFC by multiple scores

There's never been a playoff matchup like the fifth-seeded Los Angeles Rams and the top-seeded Seattle Seahawks. With the Rams winning 21-19 at SoFi Stadium in Week 11 and the Seahawks soaring back 38-37 in overtime at Lumen Field in Week 16, Sunday's NFC Championship game will be the first interdivisional playoff matchup in NFL history where both regular season meetings were decided by two or fewer points, according to CBS Sports Research. Los Angeles outscored Seattle by one point (58-57) and outgained them by a single yard (830-829) in the 2025 regular season. 

It literally could not be a tight, more competitive matchup. These two teams nearly played to a stalemate in the 2025 season. This game is also a matchup of the NFL's No. 1 scoring defense, the Seahawks unit that allowed an NFL-best 17.2 points per game, versus the NFL's No. 1 scoring offense, the Rams' attack that averaged an NFL-best 30.5 points per game. Strength versus strength with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line. 

However, the third matchup in the trilogy will be decided by multiple scores for the first time this season, and the two-and-a-half-point road underdog, odds via DraftKings Sportsbook, Rams will emerge victorious. Yes, the Seahawks are fresh off of tying their largest margin of victory in a playoff game in franchise history after the 41-6 demolition of the San Francisco 49ers. Yes, the Rams barely survived the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field, winning by just three points in overtime -- 20-17. Seattle had the fortune of playing a 49ers squad whose top six highest-paid players missed a combined 64 games including the playoffs, and a San Francisco team that overall had the most player games missed because of injuries among playoff teams this season, including the playoffs, at 287 per CBS Sports Research.

The Seahawks faced a version of the 49ers that had simply run out of gas. Meanwhile, the Rams escaped Chicago with head coach Sean McVay admitting he knew he didn't do a great job with the offensive play calling. McVay gets back in the lab this week and has 2025 first-team All-Pro quarterback Matthew Stafford and 2025 first-team All-Pro wide receiver Puka Nacua rolling once again. That leads to a game that looks like the Week 16 matchup in Seattle prior to Rashid Shaheed's punt return touchdown giving Seattle a jolt to make a rally. In that game, Los Angeles led 30-14 in the fourth quarter. The Rams don't let a lead like that slip through their fingers this time around.

Puka Nacua goes for over 100 yards receiving again vs. Seahawks 

Rams All-Pro wide receiver Puka Nacua has a combined 300 receiving yards against the Rams in their two regular season games this season, including a career-high 225-yard, two-touchdown performance in Week 16 on 12 catches. That included a go-ahead, 41-yard catch-and-run touchdown in overtime that gave Los Angeles a 37-30 lead. The Seahawks overcame that score by converting on a two-point conversion on their ensuing touchdown drive. 

Even though the Seahawks' No. 1 scoring defense has allowed just six touchdowns since Thanksgiving, seven games, four of the six came against the Rams in Week 16. The touchdowns they have allowed are as follows: three Matthew Stafford passing touchdowns (two to Nacua), a rushing touchdowns by Rams No. 2 running back Blake Corum, a touchdown pass by Indianapolis Colts quarterback Philip Rivers and a rushing touchdown by Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young. 

Nacua will be the sixth player in the 21st century to have over 200 receiving yards in a single game against an opponent and then face that same opponent in the playoffs. The other five were Cleveland Browns wide receiver Amari Cooper in 2023 (against the Houston Texans), Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase in 2021 (against the Kansas City Chiefs), Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill in 2020 (against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers), New Orleans Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas in 2018 (against the Los Angeles Rams) and San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Anquan Boldin in 2013 (against the Green Bay Packers). The five prior to Nacua all had fewer than 75 receiving yards in the subsequent playoff rematch. 

Nacua will buck that trend and go for over 100 yards receiving against Seattle in this playoff rematch.

Sam Darnold doesn't turn the ball over vs. the Rams 

Sam Darnold continued his 2024 resurgence he had with the Minnesota Vikings into 2025 with the Seattle Seahawks. There's no denying that. However, he led the NFL with 20 turnovers in the 2025 regular season, and he has struggled with Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula's defense across his last three games against Los Angeles dating to the 2024 NFC wild card round with the Vikings. That night, Darnold absorbed an NFL playoff-record nine sacks in a 27-9 defeat. 

Fast forward to today, and Darnold has an oblique injuy. He wasn't nearly as mobile in the pocket in Seattle's 41-6 divisional round win against the San Francisco 49ers because of the ailment. On the Seahawks injury report, he was a limited practice participant because of that injury on both Wednesday and Thursday this week. Given his history against the Rams and his current health situation, it would seem like he's primed for more turnovers against the Rams especially since he's tossed six interceptions against them in two games this season. However, Darnold will overcome the past and present to play turnover-free football on Sunday.

* Includes nine sacks in 2024 wild card round loss with Vikings, tied for the most in a playoff game in NFL history

Drake Maye sacked no more than twice, doesn't fumble vs. Broncos' No. 1 pass rush

New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye, the 2025 second-team All-Pro QB, has been sacked 57 times this season, including the playoffs. That's the second-most in the NFL ahead of only Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert's 60. Maye's 10 times sacked and 6 fumbles in the playoffs are both the most in the NFL this postseason. His six fumbles are the most by any player in the first two games of a postseason in the last 35 seasons, according to CBS Sports Research.

Now, Maye and the Patriots will face the top-seeded Denver Broncos, whose 68 sacks led the NFL in the regular season. They also added three more against 2024 NFL MVP quarterback Josh Allen in a 33-30 overtime victory in the divisional round. Their pass rush is led by two-time Pro Bowl edge rusher Nik Bonitto, whose 14.0 sacks ranked as the fifth-most in the regular season and whose 19.1% quarterback pressure ranked as the third-best in the regular season, minimum 400 pass rushes. 

On paper, that's not an ideal matchup for 2025 fourth overall pick left tackle Will Campbell, a player whose three sacks allowed are the most in the NFL postseason and whose eight quarterback pressures allowed are tied for the most in the league in these playoffs. 

Maye is the 2025 second team All-Pro quarterback, so he'll be the fifth quarterback with an All-Pro on his resume Denver's defense has faced this season. The previous four they faced were Allen, Patrick Mahomes, Jalen Hurts and Dak Prescott. Denver combined to harass the four of them into more turnovers (seven) than total touchdowns (six).  

* All-Pro QBs: Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Jalen Hurts, Dak Prescott (Maye: 2025 2nd-team All-Pro)

Despite that, Maye will play a relatively clean game against the Broncos at Mile High because of his production when pressured and blitzed this season. He averages 5.5 yards per dropback when pressured, the second-most in the NFL, and he's registered an NFL-best touchdown-to-interception of 17-0 when blitzed this season, including the playoffs. That's the most touchdowns passes without an interception against the blitz by any quarterback in the last 10 seasons, according to CBS Sports Research. Denver blitzes at the fifth-highest rate in the NFL this season at 34%, and Maye will beat Bonitto, the Broncos' blitz and pass rush to be sacked no more than twice while playing fumble-free football. 

Jarrett Stidham throws multiple TDs in first start of 2025 season 

With Broncos quarterback Bo Nix done for the season with a broken bone in his ankle, Denver is turning to Jarrett Stidham, who has just four career starts with the  last one coming in Week 18 of the 2023 season with the Broncos. That gives him the distinction of the fewest career starts by a quarterback set to start in a conference championship game all time, per CBS Sports Research. The previous record holder was New York Giants quarterback Jeff Hostetler's five entering the 1990 NFC Championship game. 

When Stidham drops back to pass on Sunday, it will mark his first pass attempt since that 2023 start. He played in three games in 2024 and just Week 8 against the Dallas Cowboys while up by 20 points. His four snaps in Week 8 were three handoffs and a kneel down. That's not great news ahead of facing a New England Patriots defense that has more wins (two) than touchdowns allowed this postseason (one). New England has the fewest touchdowns allowed through two playoff games in the last 25 playoffs, which is tied with the 2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the 2006 Indianapolis Colts. Both of those previous squads did win the Super Bowl.

However, Stidham will throw multiple touchdown passes on Sunday as some of his checkdowns get taken to the house by players like running back RJ Harvey and wide receiver Courtland Sutton. Harvey has racked up a touchdown in five of the last seven games including the postseason, and Sutton's 25 receiving touchdowns across the last three seasons are the sixth-most in the NFL.