By Darin The More Things Change: A Historic 2025 NFL Postseason Recap
In the National Football League, they say the more things change, the more they stay the same. As we wrap up the 2025 Divisional Round and head into January 18, 2026, the landscape of the AFC and NFC Championship games feels like a "parallel universe" where modern stars are walking the same paths as the legends before them.
AFC: A Battle of Blue Bloods
The AFC Championship is officially set, and it’s a matchup steeped in history. The Denver Broncos advanced after a thrilling 33-30 overtime victory against the Buffalo Bills, while the New England Patriots dismantled the Houston Texans to secure their spot.
- Tying the Record:With this win, the Patriots have reached their 16th AFC Championship game, tying the Pittsburgh Steelers for the most appearances in conference history.
- Third Time's a Charm:This marks the third time the Patriots and Broncos will meet with the Lamar Hunt Trophy on the line.
- A New Dynasty?The parallels in Foxborough are impossible to ignore. New coach Mike Vrabel and young quarterback Drake May have "reloaded" the dynasty. Interestingly, May (at 23) is a year younger than Tom Brady was when he made his first historic run in 2001.
NFC: High Stakes in the Windy City and the City of Angels
While we await the final result of the Los Angeles Rams vs. Chicago Bears game, the historical implications are already set:
- The Rams' Offensive Pedigree:The 2025 Rams secured the NFL's #1 offense. This is a feat the franchise has mastered across eras—from the 1950s with Bob Waterfield and Norm Van Brocklin to the "Greatest Show on Turf" under Dick Vermeil. Today, names like Matthew Stafford, Puka Nacua, and Kyron Williams are carrying that torch.
- The Bears' Drought:If Chicago holds on to win, it would be their first trip back to the NFC Championship since the Lovie Smith era nearly 20 years ago.
- Home Field Dominance:History shows that since 1975, the top two seeds in both conferences have advanced to the Championship games only 13 times in 50 years. We are on the verge of seeing that rare "1 vs 2" chalk-walk happen again in 2025.
The Coaching Tree: The Shadow of Bill Parcells
Perhaps the most fascinating "repeat" of history lies in the coaching matchup for the AFC title. Both Mike Vrabel and Sean Payton can trace their tactical roots back to the legendary Bill Parcells.
Vrabel was mentored by Bill Belichick (the ultimate Parcells disciple), while Sean Payton served as an offensive coordinator under Parcells in Dallas. Despite the passage of decades, the Parcells blueprint—disciplined, fiery, and tactically superior football—remains the gold standard for reaching the "Big Game."
Why It Matters
Is it good for the league to see the same logos—the Patriots, the Broncos, the Rams—competing for trophies year after year? Whether you're looking for parity or a dynasty, the 2025 season proves that while the names on the jerseys change, the path to greatness follows a very familiar map.
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Transcript
But the other three games are finals. We had the Buffalo Bills falling to the Denver Broncos, an exciting overtime game 33 to 30.
We also saw Seattle blow out their game against the San Francisco 49ers to advance. And we saw the New England Patriots blast the Houston Texans to hold for at home to advance and move on to Denver to play the Broncos there.
So it's very interesting when we say, you know, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Now we have seen, you know, the number one versus number two teams a total of 13 times in both leagues.
times since:So sit there, think about that, you know, about 50 years, a little over 13 out of 50 times that that has happened. And the home teams seem to be winning these games, which so far.
And if the Chicago Bears hold on and win, that will also save face and make, make be a number one versus number two in the nfc. And all the home teams would have won in a divisional round, which would be an interesting facet too.
And we talked a couple weeks ago about the college football playoffs in its first two years, how the teams with the buys have only won one time out of eight games.
Well, that does not hold true in the National Football League so far because all the those teams with the buys, Seattle and Denver, both won their games very handily in their games to, you know, advance on into the playoffs.
Well, Denver maybe not handily, but won an overtime but held the home field advantage to, to be their advantage and having that week off to make them advance now. So very interesting things there. Now the also a record. We all say, you know, most things change more. They stay the same.
,:The Broncos with their win make puts them at the 11th time appearing in the big game for the AFC, which ties them for third with the Las Vegas Raiders. So these two teams have been in there quite a bit against, you know, other opponents.
Now, as far as the Patriots and the Broncos facing each other in this AFC game, this will be the third time in history that these two teams have met in that AFC championship game. So again, something that has happened before.
And the also the Los Angeles Rams having the number one offense in the NFL for a season, well, that's happened a time or two before.
Also, if you go back into the:They also were the number one offense in the Kurt Warner era when they had the greatest show on turf, you know, with Dick Vermeil at coach, they had a very potent offense to it.
Well, they do it now again with names like, you know, instead of Marshall Falk and Kurt Warner and you know, some of those great players they, they had back then, now it's Matthew Stafford throwing the puka Nukua and you know, Kyron Williams running the ball. So these are some very paralleled universes here that we're going into. Very historic.
But it's also been done before here in the National Football League. Now, the Chicago Bears have not been to an NFC championship game for some years.
So if they could defeat the Los Angeles Rams tonight, well, that would be a big deal for them taking them back into, you know, probably about almost 15, 20 years ago when Lovey Smith took his club into the super bowl as the last time they appeared in an NFC Championship game, they won that game when they were in. So that'll be some, some good stuff too, if for the city of Chicago, if they can do that.
But LA has been no stranger to getting into this NFC game as they have been into it just about.
I think this is their 11th time of if they can win this being in the NFC Championship game, they are well behind the San Francisco 49ers who have been in that championship game 19 times, Dallas Cowboys 14 times in second. Then you have teams like Green Bay and Minnesota and others just about nine times being slightly behind those teams that we just mentioned.
So the more things change, the more they stay the same. And so is this good for the National Football League or is this bad for the National Football League having the same teams go in it all the time.
Now the New England Patriots, it's almost like they reloaded this dynasty that Robert Kraft put together with Belichick and Brady at the helm. Well, those two are no longer there.
Now it's Mike Rabel with Drake May and and company coming into this because could be a dawning of a new new dynasty for the Patriots.
winning that first Super Bowl:Now Bill Parcells, who was a Super bowl winning coach himself multiple times has a lot to do with these ways these playoffs are shaping up. If you think about it, some people that came from his tree are still in this.
Okay, no, Bill Belichick is not into this, but Bill Belichick coached and taught Mike Vrabel and who is now the coach of the Patriots playing in this. On the Bronco side, Sean Payton was the offensive coordinator, came from that Parcells tree when Parcells was in Dallas.
So we have that part of the tree going on. So these two coaches, both in the AFC Championship game came from the Bill Parcells tree. Bill Belichick slash tree.
And very interesting coaching styles of being dis planarians, being fiery, getting their teams fired up and being great tacticians of the game, having their teams ready to play. So that's another interesting fact. You know, more things change, the more they stay the same. That's the way the National Football League goes.
And you know, what do you think about this? Make sure you let us know@pigskindispatch.com and until next time, everybody have a great, great iron day.
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