The long road back to National Football League respectability was achieved by this year’s New England Patriots with their 28-16 victory over the mistake-prone Houston Texans team at Gillette Stadium.

In a game that featured eight turnovers (five by the Texans), the second-seeded Patriots did enough to win their second straight playoff game under first-year coach Mike Vrabel. The Pats advance to the AFC Championship contest against the top-seeded Denver Broncos in Mile High Stadium on Jan. 25.

Both the Patriots and Texans defenses dominated this contest, with the New England forcing Texans quarterback C. J. Stroud into four critical interceptions, the biggest being a terrible, forced pass that was intercepted by Marcus Jones and returned 26 yards for the touchdown that put the Pats in front for good by a 14-10 count.

A Craig Woodson interception set up a seven-yard scoring pass from Pats QB Drake Maye to Stephon Diggs, giving the home team a 21-10 advantage at halftime. The Texans got as close as 21-16 in the third quarter, but never really threatened the Patriots as Stroud continued to make glaring mistakes.

The Pats provided the knockout blow when Maye hit Kayshon Boutte (who made a sterling one-handed catch) on a 32-yard-scoring strike in the fourth quarter.

The Pats defense kept pressure on Stroud the rest of the way to secure their biggest victory of this season to date, setting the stage for their AFC title matchup with the Broncos at Mile High Stadium in Denver.

The Patriots will face a Broncos team minus the services of their star quarterback, Bo Nix, who suffered a season-ending fractured ankle in their 33-30 overtime triumph over a gritty Buffalo Bills team that fired its head coach, Sean McDermott, fewer than 48 hours after the crushing defeat. McDermott compiled a 98-50 record in the regular season but was 8-8 in the playoffs in nine seasons with the Bills. He recorded the second-most wins in franchise history but did not make the Super Bowl.

Former Patriot Jared Stidham will replace Bo Nix as the Broncos starting quarterback in the team’s biggest game of the season. The Patriots will be playing in their first AFC title game since 2018. Much of their success this season has come through the (long-awaited) spending of Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who spent $350 million to put the talent on the field needed for success. Objective critics are still asking, “Why didn’t he spend money to give Jerod Mayo a fair chance to succeed in his one and only year as Patriots’ head coach?’ It is a legitimate question that lingers as the Mike Vrabel-led Patriots continue their march toward Super Bowl 60.

The National Football Conference Championship game will feature a matchup between the top-seeded Seattle Seahawks and the upset-minded Los Angeles Rams in Seattle. The Seahawks destroyed the injury-riddled San Francisco 49ers 41-6 as running back Kenneth Walker III rushed for 145 yards and three touchdowns for the victors. The downside of the Seahawks’ win was the loss of running back Zach Charbonnet, who suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament against the 49ers, sidelining him for the rest of this season.

The Rams became the only road team to win an NFL Divisional Playoff game with a stunning 20-17 overtime victory over the second-seeded Chicago Bears. The Bears nearly pulled off an NFL record ninth come-from-behind victory when quarterback Caleb Williams threw a desperation touchdown pass to Cole Kmet to tie the game with seconds to play in regulation time.

Williams, on a 4th-and-4 play, retreated some 40 yards before heaving the football into the end zone and into the hands of Kmet for his first catch of the game and a touchdown that sent the game into overtime. This TD sent the crowd of over 61,000 into a state of total delirium. But it was his third interception of the game that proved fatal for his team as Rams defensive back Cam Kurl picked off his pass to stop the Bears drive for a game-winning field goal. Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford drove his team down the field, with key passes to Devante Adams and Puka Nacua, to set up Harrison Meevis’ 42-yard game-winning field goal.

College football championship game story

There are moments in life that make you feel a special glow inside. I am feeling that glow as I witnessed the conclusion of the amazing story of the 2025-’26 Indiana Hoosiers National Championship College Football team, which has become one of the all-time greatest stories in sports history with their 27-21 victory over the University of Miami Hurricanes. There will also be books sold to millions of people in the state of Indiana, who will spend many nights reading this fairytale over and over again. There has been a century of futility that accurately described the sport of football at the University of Indiana.

The school has a legendary reputation for basketball, having won five National Championships, while its football program was becoming the losingest team in NCAA Division One competition.

But that all changed on Jan. 19 as the Hoosiers completed the first 16-0 perfect season in modern-day history with its epic 6-point triumph over the Hurricanes As for the game itself, the Hoosiers took a 10-0 lead into halftime before the game turned into a wild shootout affair in the final two quarters, as both teams created highlight moments.

Mark Fletcher Jr.’s 57-yard scoring run cut the Indiana lead to 10-7. IU’s Kyle Kamara’s blocked punt was recovered for a touchdown by Isaiah Jones, extending the Hoosiers lead to 17-7. Miami responded with a 10-play, 78-yard drive, culminating in Fletcher’s 2-yard scoring run that cut the Hoosiers’ lead to 3 points,17-14. The stage was set for Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Fernando Mendoza to lead his team on the scoring drive of the game, which he finished with a scintillating 12-yard touchdown run on a quarterback draw play in a 4th down and 5 situation, that is now “a play of legend.”

An interception by Jamari Sharpe, who, like Mendoza, was from Miami but not recruited by the Hurricanes football program, put the finishing touch on the fairytale ending to this story. Congratulations to the Indiana Hoosiers, the National Champions of College Football.

Winning Coach Curt Cignetti:

“There are no words to describe my joy over what this team accomplished this season.” Winning quarterback Fernando Mendoza: “All Glory and Honor go to God for delivering our team to this monumental achievement.”

A movie is definitely to follow.