The NFC West was arguably the best division in the NFL this season, ignoring the Arizona Cardinals‘ 3-14 season. But that fact was confirmed in the postseason. The NFC Championship Game is a battle between two teams in the NFC West. One team had to beat a third NFC West team in their playoff game to get there.
The NFC’s representative in Super Bowl LX will be from the Cardinals’ division.
The Los Angeles Rams and Seattle Seahawks will face one another on Sunday, Jan. 25 at 6:30 p.m. ET (4:30 p.m. Arizona time) at Lumen Field in Seattle. The winner will face the AFC champion, either the New England Patriots or Denver Broncos, in the Super Bowl in Santa Clara, California.
How did the Rams and Seahawks get to the NFC Championship Game?
The Seahawks won the division, going 14-3 in the regular season. They were the No. 1 seed in the conference, earned a first-round bye and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
They beat the San Francisco 49ers 41-6 on Saturday, punching their ticket to the conference title game. Rashid Shaheed returned the opening kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown, and the rout began there. The Seahawks rushed for 175 yards, led by Ken Walker’s 116 yards with three touchdowns. Quarterback Sam Darnold, dealing with an oblique injury, completed 12-of-17 passes for 124 yards and a touchdown. The Seahawks defense had three takeaways.
The Rams went 12-5 in the regular season and were the No. 5 seed in the conference as a wild-card team. They beat the Carolina Panthers 34-31 on the road on a last-minute touchdown pass from Matthew Stafford to Colby Parkinson.
On Sunday in the divisional round, they needed overtime to beat the Chicago Bears 20-17. They took a 17-10 lead in the fourth quarter with Kyren Williams’ second
touchdown run of the game, but Bears QB Caleb Williams had a ridiculous 14-yard fourth-down touchdown pass to Cole Kmet to tie the game with 18 seconds left.
In overtime, the Rams picked off Williams and got a game-winning, 42-yard field goal from Harrison Mevis.
Rams and Seahawks for the third time
Both regular-season games were close. The Rams beat the Seahawks 21-19 at home, and the Seahawks rallied from a 30-14 fourth-quarter deficit to beat the Rams 38-37 in overtime in Seattle.
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This article originally appeared on Cards Wire: It is an all-NFC West NFC Championship Game