2019 NFL Playoffs

Now it's all down to the Rams and Patriots. Who do you want to win?

Flickr.com.

Now it’s all down to the Rams and Patriots. Who do you want to win?

Dylan R. and Hayden K.

Every year, all 32 teams compete for one thing, the Lombardi Trophy. Before any team can claim the trophy, they have to make the playoffs first. This year we have these 12 teams in the playoffs: the New England Patriots, the New Orleans Saints, the Los Angeles Rams, the Los Angeles Rams, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Chicago Bears, the Philadelphia Eagles, the Baltimore Ravens, the Dallas Cowboys, the Seattle Seahawks, the Houston Texans and the Indianapolis Colts.

In the Wild Card round we had four matchups: the Indianapolis Colts faced the Houston Texans, the Dallas Cowboys hosted the Seattle Seahawks, the Los Angeles Chargers played the Baltimore Ravens and the Chicago Bears faced the Philadelphia Eagles. The Colts beat the Texans in a highy one sided affair, that ended in a score of 21-7. The Dallas Cowboys defeated the Seattle Seahawks in a game that came down to the wire, and had a final score of 24-22. The Ravens struggled immensely against the Chargers, and ended up losing 23-17. The Eagles barely beat the Chicago bears off a missed field goal by Cody Parkey. The final score to the game was 16-15.

In the divisional round we had 4 matchups: the New England Patriots hosted the Los Angeles Chargers, the Dallas Cowboys played the Los Angeles Rams in the Colosseum, the Philadelphia Eagles faced the New Orleans Saints, and the Indianapolis Colts played the Kansas City Chiefs. The Patriots blew out the Chargers 41-28 in a fairly surprising game. The Saints came back against the Eagles to beat them 20-14. The Chiefs pretty much controlled the entire game against the Colts, defeating them 31-13. Lastly, the Rams ran all over the Dallas Cowboys to beat them 30-22.

On Championship Sunday, the New England Patriots were playing the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship, and the Los Angeles Rams were playing the New Orleans Saints in the NFC Championship. Many people expected these teams to be where they are. The winners of these games will be heading to Atlanta to play in Super Bowl LIII.

To start Championship Sunday, the Saints took on the Rams in New Orleans. The Saints quickly jumped out to a 13-0 lead over the Rams. At first, everything was going wrong for the Rams. Their defense holding the Saints to two red zone field goals was the only good thing for them. Slowly, the Rams got things together and tied the game 20-20 with five minutes left on the clock. The Saints marched down and were forced to kick a field goal after a clear pass interference wasn’t called by the referees. The Rams returned and tied the game 23-23 to send the game to overtime. On the first drive of overtime, Saints quarterback, Drew Brees, threw a devastating interception that came back to haunt him. The Rams won the game off of a 57-yard field goal by Greg Zuerlein, which sent them to the Super Bowl.  

In frigid weather, the New England Patriots and the Kansas City Chiefs faced off. The entire first half was controlled by the Patriots. They scored 14 points, and surprisingly shut out the Chiefs. Kansas City ended up taking a four point lead in the fourth quarter. A few touchdowns later, the Patriots were up 31-28 with 39 seconds left. The Chiefs tied the game with a field goal, and sent another game to overtime. Then, Tom Brady and the Pats led and amazing drive with three straight third down conversions. The game ended with a Rex Burkhead touchdown that sent the Patriots to the Super Bowl.

After a great NFL season, there are only two teams left. The New England Patriots, and the Los Angeles Rams. The Patriots are headed to their third straight Super Bowl, while it is the first time the Rams have gone to a Super Bowl since Tom Brady and the Patriots beat them in 2001. That was Tom Brady’s first out of five Super Bowl victories. Since the stage is now set, all we can do is wait to see who will hoist the Lombardi Trophy.