:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62836647/usa_today_11989288.1547340294.jpg)
The NFL conference championship weekend schedule is set, with the top two seeds in each conference comprising the final four teams still alive. The conference title games will include a familiar participant plus a pair of teams breaking long playoff droughts.
The New England Patriots throttled the Chargers in the divisional round, 41-28, to advance to a record eighth consecutive AFC Championship Game. New England will have to travel for the AFC title game next Sunday (6:45 p.m. ET, CBS), facing a Kansas City Chiefs team in championship weekend for the first time in 25 years.
Kansas City got things started during the divisional weekend with a 31-13 home win over the Indianapolis Colts on Saturday, and is back in the AFC title game for the first time since after the 1993 season. Saturday’s win snapped a dubious Chiefs streak of six consecutive home playoff defeats, and earns them another home game at Arrowhead Stadium next weekend. It’s the first time Kansas City has ever hosted an AFC Championship Game.
During the regular season, the Chiefs lost on a road thriller in New England, 43-40 in Week 6. Kansas City is 8-1 this season at Arrowhead Stadium.
But to start things off on Sunday, the Los Angeles Rams will travel to face the New Orleans Saints in the NFC Championship Game (3:05 p.m., Fox). The Rams ran past the Cowboys 30-22 in the divisional round for their first playoff win in 14 years, and their first since moving back to Los Angeles.
This is the Rams’ first NFC Championship Game since after the 2001 season.
The Saints are the top seed in the conference and after their 20-14 divisional round win over the Eagles, improving to 6-0 at The Superdome in the postseason under Sean Payton and Drew Brees.
During the regular season, the Saints beat the Rams in New Orleans in Week 9, a 45-35 barn-burner that delivered Los Angeles its first loss of the season.
Conference championship schedule
Sunday, January 20
3:05 p.m. ET: NFC Championship — Rams at Saints (Fox)
6:40 p.m.: AFC Championship — Patriots at Chiefs (CBS)