It is one of the best weekends of the year, Martin Luther King Jr. weekend. Not only is there three days off for school children and working adults alike, but the NFL Championship games are held. With the Saints and Rams set to square off in New Orleans at 3:30, and the Pats and Chiefs clashing at 6:40, this looks to be one of the most exciting final four in a while. Wait. It could be the greatest final four the league has ever seen. Here is why,
1. The offenses are legendary
These four offenses can each make a case for the best in the league. The Chiefs, Rams, Saints, and Pats were ranked 1,2,3,5(respectively) in offense, with the Steelers coming in fourth. This means that four of the five best offenses in the league will be clashing against each other. The Saints and Chiefs topped 40 points on 5 different occasions this season. In the modern day NFL, where offense is literally everything, this proves to be an exciting set of games.
2. The defenses are mediocre at best
Much to NFL fans' delight, all four of these defenses are on the wrong side of mediocre. All four of them were bottom half of the NFL in every single major defensive categories, with the Chiefs allowing 6500 of offense over the course of a season. While there are some flashy players like Aaron Donald and Marcus Peters, these defenses can easily be picked apart. The Rams-Chiefs epic Week 11 showdown featured 105 points. The Saints allowed were outscored 28-0 in the first half of week 17 by the Panthers third string quarterback. The Pats let Ryan Tannehill drop 34 on them. That tells you how bad these defenses really are.
3. These are the best coaches in the NFL.
The four coaches that are featured, Andy Reid, Sean Payton, Bill Belichick, and Sean McVay could all have extremely good arguments for coach of the year. With all due respect to Doug Pederson, Matt Nagy, and Jon Gruden(who doesn't what someone who kills a franchise) these are the best coaches in the league. Belichick is arguably the greatest coach ever. Reid is an offensive mastermind that wreaks havoc on defenses with his toy named Patrick Mahomes. Sean Payton has done an excellent job of establishing a run game for Drew Brees, and deploys do-everything player Taysom Hill in extremely creative ways. McVay is the prototype for the future NFL coach. He too is a genius when it comes to offense, and is a quarterback whisperer. Jared Goff went from being labeled as a bust to a MVP candidate in one year under McVay. He is exactly what every NFL teams wants in a coach.
4. There are two rematches from the regular season.
When I ranked the best games of 2018, I had the Patriots-Chiefs game and number two, and the Saints-Rams one at the third spot. Guess who's playing on championship weekend. That's right. We get to see rematches of two of the three best games of the season, and might get to see a third if the Chiefs and Rams win. The Patriots-Chiefs series has been quite a rivalry lately, with both teams producing wildly entertaining games.
In 2014, the last time the Pats played in Kansas City, they were absolutely demolished 41-14. That was the famous, 'on to Cincinnati game'. The great dynasty was supposed to be over, and it looked like Tom Brady had finally aged. The Pats won the Super Bowl that year, and then knocked KC out of the playoffs the following year. They also went blow for blow last year and Alex Smith upset Brady 42-27 in Foxboro. They also had the aforementioned back-and-forth showdown in Week 6, with the Patriots triumphing 43-40.
The Saints and the Rams also produced a great game this season, with the Saints handing the Rams their first loss of the season in week 9. Drew Brees and Jared Goff trading scores the entire game, and Michael Thomas iced the game on a 72 yard score, and proceeded to do a Joe Horn impersonation by pulling a phone from under the goal post This is only the third time Brees and company are taking on the Rams since they moved to L.A, with the Rams winning 26-20 last season.
5. This could be a major changing of the guard.
When asked the best quarterbacks of our generation, and even all time, Drew Brees and Tom Brady's names are sure to come up. They are two of the greatest players to ever do it. Brady has 5 Super Bowl rings, and has been nonstop winning for the last 17 years. Brees has every record a quarterback could ever want and more. Meanwhile, both Patrick Mahomes and Jared Goff are sensations on their own, just much younger. With Brady and Brees over 40 years old, their time playing is bound to come to end sooner than later. Mahomes and Goff are both under 25, and have at least a decade of success ahead of them. This sets up a situation for a possible changing of the guard. The two veteran QBs have generally dominated their conferences for years. It appears that it is time for Brady and Brees to take their step down from kings of the league, and pass it down to the younger generation.
Pats-Chiefs specific bonus - Arrowhead Stadium is going to be crazy
The Chiefs are hosting their first AFC Title game since 1970, and just won their first home playoff game since 1993. The last time these two teams met, Arrowhead broke the record for the loudest stadium in NFL History. They will likely be even louder than that, and Tom Brady will have a tough time hearing his own thoughts on Sunday. Furthermore, it's going to be cold. Freezing cold. In fact, weather experts say a possible arctic blast could hit Kansas City, and temperatures might be below 0. The game might mark the coldest temperatures in Patriots history, and they play in New England! To cap it all off, there is going to be a Super Blood Wolf Moon. This means that, during Sundays lunar eclipse, the moon will be glowing red right over the stadium. It is a sign from the heavens that the game is going to be an exciting one.
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