Prisco picks Broncos over Patriots and Seahawks over Rams on Championship Sunday

Cbssports' Prisco predicts the Denver Broncos will beat the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks will beat the Los Angeles Rams on Championship Sunday.

Prisco notes the Broncos will turn to Jarrett Stidham with Bo Nix out with a broken ankle; Stidham "hasn't thrown a regular-season pass since 2023," and Prisco says coach Sean Payton believes in him and will scheme to help. He points out New England's Drake Maye will make his first road playoff start and that the Patriots have averaged 156.1 rushing yards per game over the last seven games. Despite that, Prisco expects Denver's defense and Payton's play-calling to lift the Broncos and picks Denver 23, New England 21 for the 3 p.m. ET game on CBS (Stream on Paramount+).

On the NFC side, Prisco highlights a season series split between the Rams and Seahawks with only one point separating them in combined scores and Seattle winning the Week 16 meeting in overtime. He says the Seahawks' defense is the best unit left, that the Rams have struggled to generate outside speed and have shown secondary "leakage," and that Sam Darnold's ball security is the key. Prisco expects Seattle's defensive front to disrupt Matthew Stafford and picks the Seahawks 23, Rams 17 in the 6:30 p.m. ET game on Fox (Stream: Fubo -- try for free).

Key Topics

Sports, Denver Broncos, New England Patriots, Seattle Seahawks, Los Angeles Rams, Jarrett Stidham