One more game is all that stands between us and the NFL offseason. But before we get to the Super Bowl, we have to recap an eventful Conference Championship weekend.

The day kicked off with a crazy defensive battle between the Denver Broncos and New England Patriots. It started as a chilly day, but as the game progressed, it turned into a blizzard, and the Patriots eked it out. In the nightcap, the Los Angeles Rams marched into Seattle and tried to topple their NFC West rivals. They gave them a good shot, but came up just short.

This was a wildly entertaining weekend of football, and here were my takeaways from Conference Championship weekend.

I don’t think Jarrett Stidham fumbled

This is a controversial take, but I don’t think Jarrett Stidham fumbled in the first half. I believe he threw the ball forward, and the only reason it went backwards is that a Patriot defender deflected it.

It was very close, and I understand why people think it was a fumble, but I think it should’ve been an incomplete pass. And it proved to be very consequential, as the Patriots tied the game at seven moments later.

This all could’ve been avoided if Stidham just took the sack and lived to punt the football, but I still think the refs got this one wrong. I also don’t get why they didn’t take a closer look at this play. The whole thing just felt off to me.

Sam Darnold delivered under pressure

I had a lot of questions about how Sam Darnold would perform in the postseason after his disaster last year, but he has absolutely stepped up to the plate. He wasn’t asked to do too much last week, coming off his oblique injury, but he had to do it all this week, and he came through.

The Seahawks ran for just 75 yards behind a 2.9 average on Sunday, meaning Darnold was tasked with torching this Rams defense with his arm if Seattle wanted to win this game. I thought they’d have to get the run game going to win this game, but they did not. Darnold delivered, throwing for 346 yards and three touchdowns with no turnovers. Pretty much every time the Seahawks needed a play, he made it.

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I was very, very impressed with Darnold. It seems like he learned from his first playoff appearance last season, so if he can keep playing like this in the Super Bowl, the Seahawks should win it all.

The MVP did MVP things…but still lost

Matthew Stafford did just about everything he could in this game, but still lost. The MVP frontrunner threw for 374 yards and three touchdowns while completing 22 of his 35 attempts, but his defense absolutely failed him.

The Rams’ defense, which looked like the best unit in the league for the first half of the season, has now given up over 27 points per game over their last nine, including 26.3 in the postseason, which would likely be a lot higher if the weather in Chicago were more favorable.

Luckily for Chris Shula, he’s still one of the top names in head coaching conversations, but after the way his defense ended the year, should he be? He’s going to have a lot of questions to answer in future interviews, and I’d be a bit skeptical if I were a team looking to hire him.

Will Campbell has been extremely disappointing this postseason

Will Campbell’s career started pretty well. He made some rookie mistakes, but overall played some really good football before he suffered an MCL sprain in Week 12. He got back on the field in Week 18 and allowed one pressure, but he’s been incredibly disappointing this postseason.

In his first two playoff games, Campbell gave up nine pressures and three sacks in 74 pass blocking snaps. Things didn’t get much better for him this week. Denver’s pass rush abused New England’s entire offensive line, but Campbell was noticeably poor, especially in the first half. Just look at this rep; it pretty much summed up his entire postseason.

You have to wonder if Campbell is still a bit banged up and rushed himself back for the playoffs, because he isn’t playing like his usual self.

The Patriots couldn’t have asked for an easier path

I know the whole Patriots schedule talk is getting old, but it’s hard to ignore. They really did have one of the easiest paths to the Super Bowl we’ve ever seen.

First, they had the easiest strength of schedule in the entire league, but they can’t help that. They played the teams the league put in front of them, and they won far more often than not. But the playoffs…

In the Wild Card Round, they played a Chargers team that didn’t have an offensive line and had one of the biggest playoff chokers in the league in Justin Herbert. Then, they played the Texans, who have a great defense, but also have C.J. Stroud, who turned the ball over four times. Now, they basically had a free pass against Denver, who started a quarterback who hadn’t thrown a pass this entire season.

Look, New England deserves to be here. They’ve won 17 of their 20 games this season, but to see them struggle to beat a Bo Nix–less Broncos team doesn’t help quiet the strength-of-schedule critics’ allegations.

Tariq Woolen’s worst two snaps of his career

Tariq Woolen just had two of the worst snaps of his entire career. Let me paint the picture. The Rams just failed to convert a 3rd-and-12, forcing them into an obvious punting situation. Instead of walking off the field, Woolen talked some crap to the Rams’ sideline and was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct, giving the Rams a free first down. But that’s not even the worst part.

On the very next play, Puka Nacua burned him for a 49-yard touchdown to cut the Seahawks’ lead to just four points. Instead of it being a two-score game and Seattle’s ball, it ended up being a four-point game in the early part of the fourth quarter.

It didn’t end up mattering in the end because the Seahawks won, but my gosh, could you imagine if they didn’t? I was worried for his well-being when the Rams were in the red zone with a chance to take the lead. If he were in Philly and they lost because of that, there’s no guarantee he even gets out of the stadium safely. Luckily, Seattle’s a better fanbase, and they’re a good enough team to overcome his blunder.