The annual spinning of the coaching carousel during the NFL postseason creates real distractions for assistant coaches on playoff teams who are in line for promotions. At a time when every waking moment should be devoted to preparing for the next game, precious hours, minutes, and seconds are siphoned away.
A conflict arises. Finishing the current job versus trying to get the next one. The bigger one. The life-altering one.
Then there’s the reality that success in the current position will delay, if not derail, other opportunities.
Consider the candidates who are coaching this weekend: Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph, Broncos quarterback coach/passing game coordinator Davis Webb, Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula, Rams offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur, Rams passing game coordinator Nate Scheelhaase, Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, and Seahawks defensive coordinator Aden Durde. None has been available to be hired, as five of 10 openings have been filled.
Sometimes, a team will wait through the Super Bowl to make its hire. (And, on at least one occasion, an unofficial deal fell apart.) If it’s close between a candidate who can be hired now and a candidate who may not be available for 17 more days, how can that not be a factor?
Consider Vance Joseph. Unlike the others listed above, he has head-coaching experience. And he has done an excellent job with the Denver defense, finishing second in the NFL in yards allowed (only only yard per game behind the Texans) and third in points per game for the top-seeded Broncos.
This week alone, three defensive coordinators were hired — Robert Saleh with the Titans, Jeff Hafley with the Dolphins, Jesse Minter with the Ravens. It’s unknown whether Joseph may have gotten any of those jobs, if the Broncos had lost last weekend to the Bills. It is known that no one can hire him until the Denver season ends.
There’s no simple solution, unless the league is willing to pause the interview and hiring process until after the Super Bowl. And while that may be the best outcome, the clock starts ticking loudly on the offseason, by the time the confetti falls. The Scouting Combine, free agency, the draft. Teams need time to get coaches in place, and coaches need time to get staffs hired.
Still, the current approach is flawed, in multiple ways. Coaches and their teams pay for success, by having the candidates’ time and attention diluted. And the coaches who are in line to get hired potentially lose, with every playoff win.
Seahawks Clips
The Seahawks activated a pair of players from injured reserve on Friday.
Running back George Holani and tight end Elijah Arroyo are back on the active roster. The Seahawks opened roster spots for them by placing running back Zach Charbonnet and guard Bryce Cabeldue on injured reserve.
Holani has been out since November with a hamstring injury and his return will improve the team’s backfield depth with Charbonnet sidelined by a torn ACL. Holani had 22 carries for 73 yards and a touchdown and he recovered a kickoff in the end zone for a touchdown in his special teams role.
Arroyo missed the team’s last five games with a knee injury. The second-round pick had 15 catches for 179 yards and one touchdown in the regular season.
Four years ago with the Rams, receiver Cooper Kupp had a season for the ages, culminating in the Super Bowl MVP award. Now with the Seahawks, Kupp is facing his former team with a Super Bowl berth on the line.
He was asked on Thursday whether he envisioned this possibility.
“No,” Kupp told reporters, “you take things one day at a time. I’ve touched on this a little bit, we all have a story. All these guys here that step on this field, they’ve all had a story to get them to this point. They’ve all had a journey of what this year has been, what the last few years have been to come to this point. Mine is just one of 53 that are going to be on that field. And my story, this is an unbelievable storyline, the chances of this ends up being what it is. And I’m really excited about that. But this is the Seahawks going into an NFC Championship game and trying to get the job done.
“So that’s the great thing about football. It’s all these guys. All these guys have different stories, and we all get to play for one another. I mean, it’s a powerful thing when all 50 guys are playing for their purpose. But it’s even more powerful when you’re playing for the guys next to you and the people lining up alongside you. And that’s what I’m excited about, is the guys that are in this room that you want to go out there and win for, the coaches that put so much time into this that you want to go and execute your job for. And we’ve got a lot of guys that live that, that are about it. And that’s what makes this a really exciting thing for me.”
Kupp has a far different role with the Seahawks than he did with the Rams. In the regular season, he caught 47 passes for 593 yards in 16 games, his lowest output since 2018, when he caught 40 passes for 566 yards in only eight games.
And while the bigger picture for the Seahawks is getting back to the Super Bowl for the first time in 11 years, Kupp has a chance to keep his former team from getting there, in the first year of his career elsewhere. It’ll be impossible for him to not think about that, even if he’s more focused on the goal of parlaying the No. 1 seed into a spot in the next game.
A major winter storm is coming this weekend, and that could be good news for the NFL.
As noted by Eric Fisher of FrontOfficeSports.com, inclement weather could keep more people in their homes on Sunday, with nothing to do but hunker down for seven hours of high-stakes football.
The AFC Championship starts at 3:00 p.m. ET, with the NFC Championship kicking off at 6:30 p.m. ET.
Whatever the weather, the ratings will be significant. Many millions will be watching both games. But it can’t hurt if people who otherwise wouldn’t be home on Sunday, for whatever reason, are snowed and/or iced in.
There’s one caveat. Ice accumulations could lead to power outages. Which will make it a little harder to turn the TV on.
Last year, Commanders-Eagles generated a relatively disappointing 44.2 million viewers. Bills-Chiefs attracted 57.4 million.
Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold remained a limited participant in Thursday’s practice as he continues to nurse an oblique injury.
Darnold popped up on last Thursday’s injury report after tweaking his left oblique early in practice while warming up. He was questionable, but started and played 47 snaps before turning it over to Drew Lock to finish in mop-up duty.
Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald said earlier Thursday that he is optimistic that starting left tackle Charles Cross will play against the Rams. Cross, though, remained out of practice with his foot injury.
Cross missed the final three games of the regular season with a hamstring injury and injured a knee last week in practice before leaving with a foot injury in Saturday’s playoff win over the 49ers.
The second- and third-string offensive tackles — Josh Jones (knee, ankle) and Amari Kight (knee) — also again didn’t practice.
Guard Bryce Cabeldue (knee) and fullback Robbie Ouzts (neck) remained limited for a second consecutive day.
Edge rusher DeMarcus Lawrence (rest), linebacker Uchenna Nwosu (hamstring), wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba (rest) and defensive lineman Leonard Williams (rest) returned to full participation after limited work on Wednesday.
Tight end Elijah Arroyo (knee), running back George Holani (hamstring), linebacker Tyrice Knight (shoulder) and linebacker Chazz Surratt (ankle) again were full participants.
The Rams had only one change to their practice report on Thursday.
Safety Quentin Lake, who missed Wednesday’s practice with an illness, returned to full participation.
Outside linebacker Byron Young (knee) remained out of practice.
Coach Sean McVay said earlier this week that he expects Young to play. Young’s knee soreness limited him to only 35 of 81 snaps against the Bears in the divisional round, and he likely will be on a snap count if he plays Sunday.
Josiah Stewart and Desjuan Johnson saw more playing time in the divisional round.
Cornerback Emmanuel Forbes Jr. (shoulder) again was limited. He played only four snaps in last week’s game.
Outside linebacker Josaiah Stewart (knee) remained a full participant.
Offensive lineman Rob Havenstein (ankle) returned to practice on Thursday, with a limited session. The Rams opened Havenstein’s 21-day practice window.
The Seahawks’ first injury report of the week appeared to present a big challenge for the team heading into the NFC Championship. The team’s top three left tackles did not participate in Wednesday’s practice.
Charles Cross returned from hamstring and knee injuries to start in Saturday’s divisional playoff win over the 49ers. He played only 36 of 53 snaps, though, before leaving with a foot injury.
Coach Mike Macdonald expressed optimism that Cross will play Sunday.
“Charles is good,” Macdonald said, via Cameron Van Til of Seattle Sports. “We’ll see how today goes, but we’re optimistic for the game.”
Cross missed three games with a hamstring injury, returning for last week’s practice, when he injured a knee. Now, he has a foot injury.
Macdonald said backup left tackle Josh Jones (knee/ankle) and third-stringer Amari Kight (knee) are “day-to-day” after they were non-participants on Wednesday.
Jones started at left tackle for the three games Cross missed, and Kight finished Saturday’s game at left tackle after Cross was injured.
Macdonald declined to reveal the Seahawks’ contingency plans if Cross, Jones and Kight can’t play Sunday.
“We have a plan for it,” Macdonald said. “I don’t really want to say what we’d do, but we have a plan for it.”
The NFC Championship Game will feature a rare playoff matchup of the NFL’s No. 1 scoring offense and the NFL’s No. 1 scoring defense.
The Rams led the NFL by scoring 30.5 points per game in 2025, while the Seahawks led the NFL by allowing 17.2 points per game. That makes Sunday’s meeting just the third conference championship game in NFL history that matches the top scoring offense against the top scoring defense.
The previous two times were the 2014 NFC Championship Game, in which the Packers had the No. 1 offense and Seahawks had the No. 1 defense, and the 1980 NFC Championship Game, in which the Cowboys had the No. 1 offense and the Eagles had the No. 1 defense.
In both of those cases, defense won the NFC Championship: The Seahawks represented the NFC in the Super Bowl after the 2014 season, and the Eagles represented the NFC in the Super Bowl after the 1980 season.
The Seahawks will hope that history repeats itself on Sunday.
And then there were four.
On Sunday, the teams for Super Bowl LX will be set. Our picks for the Conference Championships — we disagree on both games — appear below.
Last week, I went with all four underdogs. None could pull it off. I went 0-4; Simms went 2-2.
Against the spread, we both were 1-3.
Simms has clinched the straight-up title for the year, at 187-94-1. I’m 177-104-1. Against the spread, I’m still holding a two-game lead, 142-136-4 and he’s 140-138-4.
Check out our picks. One of us is bound to be right, for each game.
Patriots (-4.5) at Broncos
For the Patriots, it’s the toughest game of the year. For playoff games in Denver, history isn’t on their side. In four prior tries, the Patriots have never beaten the Broncos on the road. Can quarterback Drake Maye minimize mistakes?
For the Broncos, can Jarrett Stidham step up? The Broncos believe in him. He needs to believe in himself. He needs to run the offense, staying within himself and letting the others do their jobs.
The extra benefit for the Broncos is that they can legitimately play the “nobody believes in us” card. Most will pick the Patriots. (Not me.)
Florio’s pick: Broncos 27, Patriots 23.
Simms’s pick: Patriots 24, Broncos 17.
Rams at Seahawks (-2.5)
They split a pair of great regular-season games, capped by an epic Thursday night overtime thriller. In that one, the Rams gained 581 yards, while blowing a 16-point fourth-quarter lead.
Seattle needs to commit to the run, taking advantage of an undersized Rams front and softening things up for quarterback Sam Darnold. The Rams will have receiver Davante Adams this time around. Both he and Puka Nacua had a hard time against man-to-man coverage in Chicago. Will Seattle play less zone and more man in round three?
The difference could be the experience and skill of Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford and Rams coach Sean McVay. They’ve been there, done that.
However it goes, here’s hoping for another great game.
Florio’s pick: Rams 34, Seahawks 30.
Simms’s pick: Seahawks 28, Rams 20.
The Browns may take both of the defensive awards handed out at this year’s NFL Honors.
Defensive end Myles Garrett is the favorite to be named the defensive player of the year after setting the single-season sack record and linebacker Carson Schwesinger has the best odds of being named the league’s defensive rookie of the year.
Schwesinger was a second-round pick last year and he went on to start all 16 games he played during his rookie campaign. He finished the year with 156 tackles, 2.5 sacks, two interceptions, and 11 tackles for loss.
Two Falcons — safety Xavier Watts and edge rusher James Pearce — join Schwesinger, Giants edge rusher Abdul Carter, and Seahawks safety Nick Emmanwori as the finalists for this year’s award.
