By TERRY LYONS,
BOSTON – There is no day on the worldwide sports calendar that is better than AFC/NFC Championship Sunday.
The Super Bowl is wonderful, but take your pick – one game or two?
NCAA Final Four Saturday is a close runner-up and the half-hour before the tip of the first semi-final is as exciting a pre-gamer as you’ll ever see, but when CBS Sports rings in The NFL Today in advance of the AFC Championship game between the New England Patriots and Denver Broncos, there will be spine-tingling and seven hours of the best American Football on the planet.
Later in the evening, the NFC Championship game will kick-off, featuring the Los Angeles Rams at the Seattle Seahawks (6:30pm ET). That game will be covered by FOX Sports, although it’s been weeks-and-weeks for many New England/Boston area households to obtain a FOX signal via their Verizon FIOS television feeds. That blackout included two New England Patriots games and a good number of college basketball contests, never mind their normal day time and night time programming, should anyone care to watch. The lengthy dispute is apparently about something called – M-O-N-E-Y.
Let’s take a quick look at the AFC match-up:
Denver vs New England can be summed up in three words – No Bo Nix.
Denver took quite a beating vs the Buffalo Bills in earning the right to face the Patriots, and one of the casualties was their starting quarterback who is out for the game with a fractured ankle. In Nix’s place will be former Patriot reserve Jarred Stidham – mediocre at best – with the pressure of the moment quite apparent.
What Denver does have is the best defense in the league and they’ll most likely need to use it to score off turnovers – maybe more than once.
What New England has will counter that point of view, as Patriots quarterback Drake Maye is 8-0 on the road as he’s put together what is very likely to be an MVP season. Also, New England’s running game is superior to that of Denver. Two players – RB Rhamondre Stevenson will need to post 50-60+ yards gained while his counterpart – rookie RB TreVeyon Henderson can break a long run at any point in the game, even against a tough defense.
Stidham will face New England’s No. 2 defense – one that allowed only 224 total yards per game in the regular season.
For an in-depth look at the AFC Championship, click HERE.
In the NFC Nightcap:
The Seattle Seahawks are tough at home (6-2) and have won seven in a row, overall. But, the LA Rams possess the league’s leading scoring offense and one with the most yards gained (394.6 yards) during the regular season.
Credit MVP candidate QB Matthew Stafford who had 46 TDs in the regular season, 10 of them to All Pro wide-out Puka Nacua.
The Rams’ running back combo of Kyren Williams and Blake Corum are among the very best tandems in the league.
Seattle, too, has a formidable RB with Kenneth Walker III, but his back-up Zach Charbonnet is out with a season-ending “significant” knee injury – a major setback to Seattle’s ground game. During the regular season, Charbonnet led the Seahawks with 12 rushing touchdowns, and his 730 yards gained was second to Walker’s 1,027.
The Seahawks roll with WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba who also scored 10 TDs during the regular season, all coming from QB Sam Darnold a cast away of the New York Jets, Carolina, San Francisco and Minnesota who’s found a home in the Pacific Northwest.
For a complete look at the NFC Championship, visit HERE.
HERE NOW, THE NOTES: Blades Brown (T1/-17 after 36 holes) is all the rage! Brown is playing on a sponsor exemption in his 10th PGA TOUR start, and he posted a career-low (60) on Friday. His previous best was a (64) in R2/2025 American Express when he ultimately missed the cut. At 18 years, 8 months, 2 days, Brown became the youngest player in PGA TOUR history to record a round of (60) or better with the prior youngest being Patrick Cantlay at 19 years, 3 months, 7 days. Brown set the tournament 18-hole scoring record at the Nicklaus Tournament Course. The previous best was (61), seven times. Brown also shot a (60) last year on the Korn Ferry Tour at the 2025 Compliance Solutions Championship (finished T43).
Of course, Blades Brown isn’t playing by himself. Scottie Scheffler (T1/-17 after 36), the world’s No. 1 golfer, posted a second-round bogey-free 8-under (64) at the Nicklaus Tournament Course. That marked his 11th consecutive round in the 60s at The American Express.
Scheffler held his 20th career 36-hole lead/co-lead on TOUR and has converted four of his last five 36-hole leads/co-leads into wins (2025 Open Championship, 2025 CJ CUP Byron Nelson, 2024 TOUR Championship, 2024 Memorial Tournament presented by Workday).
On Saturday, Brown shot a (68) and remains tied with Scheffler (-22) but at second place behind tournament 56-hole leader Si Woo Kim (-23).
TIDBITS & NUGGETS: According to the Boston Business Journal, and other local reports, a serious 2026 FIFA World Cup championship contender has chosen Greater Boston as its home base. “Les Bleus,” the French national soccer team will train for the World Cup at Babson College in Wellesley. It is expected the team will stay in the city of Boston, but that is not confirmed as suburban Boston or Providence, Rhode Island are closer to the (No Sponsor) Stadium.
HOLD: The National Basketball Association postponed a game between the Golden State Warriors and Minnesota Timberwolves scheduled for Saturday night at Target Center. The decision was made to prioritize the safety and security of the Minneapolis community (amidst unrest in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area after a controversial ICE deportation unit shot and killed a 37-year old on the streets of the city).
The game has been rescheduled for Sunday (Jan. 25) at 5:30pm ET/4:30pm (local) at Target Center.
TOP 100: MLB (dot) com (via its Pipeline Column) issued its annual Top 100 prospects but after tapping their top three minor leaguers last season, none of the Top 10 are in the Red Sox organization.
The Top 10
1. Konnor Griffin, SS/OF, Pirates
2. Kevin McGonigle, SS, Tigers
3. Jesús Made, SS/2B, Brewers
4. Leo De Vries, SS, Athletics
5. JJ Wetherholt, INF, Cardinals
6. Nolan McLean, RHP, Mets
7. Sebastian Walcott, SS/3B, Rangers
8. Samuel Basallo, C/1B, Orioles
9. Colt Emerson, SS, Mariners
10. Max Clark, OF, Tigers
Boston’s top prospect, left-handed pitcher Peyton Tolle, came in at No. 19 on the league’s 100 best players in the minors.
Since MLB Pipeline started ranking Top 50/100 prospects in 2004, the Rays (95), Dodgers (89), Pirates (78), Twins (74) and Padres (73) have had the most players ranked on preseason lists. The teams with the fewest ranked prospects over that time are the Angels (41), Giants (46), Astros (46), Athletics (48) and Nationals (50).
NO RINGS FOR YOU: A longtime national sports coverage leader – The Washington Post – made a monumental decision this week, one that goes against its decades and decades of coverage of Team USA at the Olympic Games. Kimi Yoshino, a managing editor of The Washington Post, sent a terse and unexpected email to more than a dozen WaPo journalists Friday, notifying them that their coverage plans were abruptly being changed.
“As we assess our priorities for 2026, we have decided not to send a contingent to the Winter Olympics,” Yoshino wrote. “We realize this decision and its timing will be disappointing to many of you, so please reach out to me if you want to talk further.”
Nationally renowned newspapers like The New York Times, USA Today, the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune and Boston Globe have a legendary history of covering the Olympic Games – both Summer Games and Winter. The United States Olympic Committee used to gauge credentials and access, depending on the number of reporters and photographers dispatched by the media outlets. Preferential treatment went to news outlets covering Olympic Trials, World Championships, non-US competitions leading up to the Games – like European Championships.
The decision by The Washington Post sends a horrendous message to its readers, and thus its standing amongst the nationally-respected media outlets which cover sports. The Post’s move is second only to the July, 2023 decision by The New York Times to disband its sports newsroom and discontinue publishing a daily sports section. The Athletic coverage is now run in place of dedicated New York Times staff.
BRODIE: San Francisco 49ers great John Brodie, the 1970 NFL Most Valuable Player, died Friday. He was 90. The star quarterback played all 17 of his NFL seasons with the 49ers from 1957-73. “The 49ers family is saddened to learn of the passing of one of the franchise’s all-time great players, John Brodie,” 49ers co-chairman Dr. John York said in a statement. “As a kid, my 49ers fandom began by watching John play quarterback on television. He displayed an incredible commitment toward his teammates and his support of the organization never wavered after his playing days.
“John became a dear friend of mine, and he will always be remembered as an important part of 49ers history. We express our deepest condolences to his wife, Sue, and the entire Brodie family.”
Brodie guided San Francisco to the NFC Championship Game in the 1970 and 1971 seasons, but the club lost to the Dallas Cowboys on both occasions. He played college football at Stanford from 1954-56 and was a consensus All-American in his final season, and was the No. 3 overall pick in the NFL Draft, selected by the 49ers. He was later inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1986.
He was also on Stanford’s golf team and later played on the Senior (Champions) PGA Tour. Brodie won the Security Pacific Senior Class in 1991, outdueling George Archer and Chi Chi Rodriguez in a playoff at Los Angeles. Brodie played in the U.S. Open in both 1959 and 1981 — a record 22-year difference between appearances — and failed to make the cut both times.
Brodie also served as a football and golf commentator for NBC. He was in the booth with legendary play-by-play voice Curt Gowdy and Merlin Olsen for the Super Bowl XIII broadcast on Jan. 21, 1979 for the Pittsburgh Steelers’ memorable 35-31 victory over the Cowboys.