Super Bowl berths are on the line this weekend, but that's not all that's up for grabs. Championship weekend has a chance to alter the legacies of numerous players, including three of the four quarterbacks playing this weekend. (I guess it would change Jarrett Stidham's legacy if he leads the Broncos to a Super Bowl, but it's probably worth noting that Stidham doesn't currently have a legacy).
From Matthew Stafford having a shot to play in his second Super Bowl to Demarcus Lawrence getting a shot to do something he never did in Dallas, the AFC and NFC Championship Games have a chance to define careers on Sunday.
QB Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams
There have been 22 quarterbacks to start in multiple Super Bowls. Los Angeles Rams Matthew Stafford has a chance to make it 23 with a win over the Seahawks this weekend.
Perhaps more importantly, Stafford may be able to set himself up for a head-to-head battle for the Lombardi against the player who may or may not beat him in the MVP race: Drake Maye.
Passing Yards | Passing Touchdowns | Interceptions | Rushing Yards | Rushing Touchdowns | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Matthew Stafford | 4,707 | 46 | 8 | 1 | 0 |
Drake Maye | 4,394 | 31 | 8 | 450 | 4 |
Stafford is the favorite to take home MVP. Assuming he does win it, a few things are on the line here. First, this could be just the fifth time that the top two MVP finishers have met in the Super Bowl. Only once (Patrick Mahomes in the 2022 season) has the actual MVP winner actually won that game.
Second is simply that the MVP winning the Super Bowl isn't as common as you might think. Football is a team sport, so having the best player on the field is not a guarantee of success. Mahomes in 2022 is the only MVP winner to also win that season's Super Bowl this millennium. Stafford is trying to put himself in position to possibly be the second.
WR Davante Adams, Los Angeles Rams
Despite being one of the best wide receivers of his generation, Davante Adams has never played in the Super Bowl. Four NFC Championship Game appearances have all resulted in defeats.
Date | Opponent | Score | Receptions | Yards | Touchdowns |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1/18/2015 | Seattle | 28-22 | 1 | 7 | 0 |
1/22/2017 | Falcons | 44-21 | 3 | 16 | 1 |
1/19/2020 | 49ers | 37-20 | 9 | 138 | 0 |
1/24/2021 | Buccaneers | 31-26 | 9 | 67 | 1 |
Adams has had good days and bad days with a Super Bowl berth on the line, but each time, regardless of how he played, his team's season ended there. This time, though, he might have a defense capable of not letting his team down. Another performance like the ones from his two most recent NFC Championship Game appearances would be a major boost to his legacy, to the point where Adams could sneak into the conversation for top 10 wide receivers of all time.
QB Sam Darnold, Seattle Seahawks
Sam Darnold is two wins away from becoming this generation's Joe Flacco.
Yes, Darnold has been better this season than Flacco was in 2012 when he led the Ravens to a Super Bowl title, but I'm not necessarily talking about stats here, though I'll post some stat comparisons below. I'm mostly thinking about narratives.
Record | Completion Percentage | Pass Yards per Game | Touchdowns | Interceptions | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2012 Flacco | 10-6 | 59.7 | 238.6 | 22 | 10 |
2025 Darnold | 14-3 | 67.7 | 238.1 | 25 | 14 |
The "narrative" here is that Flacco leading the Ravens to a title basically was the driving force in extending Flacco's career so long that he's still bouncing around in his 40s. It launched the "is Joe Flacco elite?" meme. It earned him enough goodwill to stay the Ravens starting quarterback until he was replaced in 2018 by Lamar Jackson. It was huge for Flacco's career.
Darnold had a rougher start to his time in the NFL than Flacco did, but he's grown into a very good starting quarterback over the past two years. Is he elite, though? Can you win the big game with him? Am I repeating the same kind of questions that were asked about Flacco 13 years ago? Will this game help define his legacy and secure him a job with the Seattle Seahawks for at least the next half-decade?
DE Demarcus Lawrence, Seattle Seahawks
I lived in DFW for almost a decade and spent much of that time listening to sports talk radio, which means I heard a lot of people questioning Demarcus Lawrence in ways that never really felt fair. Yes, his sack totals dropped after 2018, but he remained a very good defender.
This season, Lawrence finally moved on from Dallas after 11 seasons and promptly made the Pro Bowl in his first season with the Seahawks, recording six sacks and scoring two fumble return touchdowns.
For all his NFL success, Lawrence doesn't have a great playoff track record. The two fumbles he forced last week were his first playoff forced fumbles since 2014, for example. But another game like the one he had last week and we're suddenly talking about a potentially legendary playoff run for Lawrence. That would be massive for his legacy.
QB Drake Maye, New England Patriots
People like to say things like "oh, he'll be back" when a young quarterback fails to win a title, but there's really no guarantee of that. Joe Burrow hasn't made it back to the Super Bowl. Jared Goff hasn't either. Cam Newton, Matt Ryan, Colin Kaepernick...all players who got to the big game and lost, never to return.
So, there's a lot of pressure on New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye here, and that pressure isn't just about winning the Super Bowl. It's also about getting there, and with Bo Nix out for the Broncos, it's also about not suffering what might be a confidence-ruining AFC Championship Game loss to Jarrett Stidham.
Quarterback | Passes Thrown in 2025 |
|---|---|
Drake Maye | 492 |
Jarrett Stidham | 0 |
Plus, as mentioned above in the Stafford section, this is a chance for Maye to do his part in ensuring that the top two players in the MVP voting will play each other in the Super Bowl. Considering betting odds favor Stafford for the award, it's also a chance for Maye to put himself one game closer to (maybe) proving the voters wrong.
EDGE Nik Bonitto and CB Patrick Surtain II, Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos are in a rough spot this weekend. The Nix injury means that Denver very likely isn't winning because of something its offense does. It's going to have to rely on its defense.
Two players should really feel the weight of that: Nik Bonitto and Patrick Surtain II. Bonitto is a finalist for Defensive Player of the Year, while Surtain was named a Pro Bowler for the fourth consecutive season.
Denver needs Bonitto to get pressure on Maye and Surtain to lock down whichever receiver he's matched up with. Probably at least one of the two needs to force a turnover. It's a tough task, but if the Broncos manage to win this with Stidham under center, it's going to be because these two defenders stepped up and took over, and both are going to see their stock rise with a victory.