What’s Hot and What’s Knott in Football – Championship Round

By Rhys Knott

One thing we can all agree on is the playoffs are much less fun now the Bears are out!

If someone told you that the team that drew the most penalty flags in the Championship round would advance to the Super Bowl, you’d be straight in the blower to the men in white coats! As Knott as it sounds, that’s exactly what happened this week! 

In other news, Sean McVay dissolving in the playoffs is hot; it literally happens every year. 

And it’s not often Sean Payton appears in the same sentence as Frank Sinatra, but Ol’ Blue Eyes’ famous line “Regrets, I’ve had a few” must be rattling around Payton’s head. 

The game in Denver threw up some statistics that fall firmly into the “limbo” category when it comes to the hot or Knott debate. Completing 10 of your 21 passes and averaging just 2.8 yards per carry are Knott stats. But Drake Maye and Rhamondre Stevenson left Colorado with the “W”. That’s hot. 

Then there are those pesky officials to talk about again. It wouldn’t be a playoff game in Denver without an inexplicable ruling from the zebras. 

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What’s Hot in Football - Championship Round

First things first, Middlesex’s very own Aden Durde is obviously very  hot!

The NFL’s own clairvoyance is hot, witchcraft maybe? 

Another NFL week, another Mack Hollins fancy dress costume. This week it’s from the 1979 film “Warriors”, no idea why. 

Whether you think sitting in a Maccy D’s is hot is entirely up to you. Joe Burrow being the most relatable NFL superstar is so very hot though. Who amongst us hasn’t contemplated their life choices while waiting for 10 McNuggets? Ochocinco’s commentary is just gravy. 

On the subject of NFL stars we can all relate to, Azeez Al-Shaair really is one of the good guys. We talked about the NFL’s general ickiness last week, but Al-Shaair is clearly more principled than the executives on Park Avenue. 

Kenneth Walker III’s little wiggle is definitely hot.  

It’s not just the Seattle offense that shone out in the Pacific Northwest; rookie defensive back Nick Emmanwori is hot, too. The youngster single-handedly hampered the Rams’ pass offense. 

For Los Angeles, Kobie Turner leaving the Rams’ game with a calf strain in the third quarter might not be hot. “The Conductor” as he is known is reaching his peak. 

Losing is definitely Knott, but the losing in style is hot, right? It’s going to take a while for Matt Stafford to get over this one. 

Erin Andrews might have the biggest coat in the NFL, but Carl Johnson (he’s an alternate line judge) owns the strippiest!

What’s Knott in Football - Championship Round

Calling a pass play to Christian Gonzalez’s side of the field is very Knott. This call will keep Sean Payton awake for a very long time. Gonzo is one of the best football players in the league on offense or defense. When your quarterback is playing his first competitive game since the 2023 season, you need to keep it simple. When three of his four career starts have come indoors, you need to keep it really simple! 

The Rams’ pass defensive performance in Seattle will go down in history as really Knott. It looked like their offensive coordinator had spent more time interviewing for head coaching jobs this week than he had coaching his defense. 

Fumbling is always Knott, but fumbling a punt when you only had to get away from that punt is outrageously Knott!

The cornerback formerly known as Tyriq Woollen (he’s ‘Riq now), his inability to keep his mouth shut is definitely Knott, even if Davante Adams had to lobby the officials to throw the flag. 

Compounding his boneheaded taunting penalty by getting beaten by Puka Nacua is really just the cherry on a disgusting cake. 

Having a barney with your team mate who is playing exponentially better than you are is also very Knott Riq. 

Falling flat on your face in a blizzard is absolutely Knott, but when your quarterback follows you to the deck mere seconds later, it is at least understandable. 

An 85-year-old team owner conducting a press conference to announce the GM and head coach he’s just hired is Knott when the owner can’t remember the names of the people he just hired! Forgetting names is fine; we’ve all done it, but we’re not all leading a multi-billion-dollar NFL franchise. 

The Dolphins have a communications department to handle press conferences. If the owner is superseding the communication team to talk to the media, what chance do the GM and coach have at running the team? 

We’ve long been told that kicking in the Mile High City is easy peasy because the air is so thin. Well, Andy Borregales and Will Lutz dispelled that rumour on Sunday! 

Borregales at least can use the excuse that he is a rookie with no experience at Empower Field. Borregales ended the game 2 from 4. Lutz does have experience, though; he’s played 148 NFL games! Lutz only kicked 1 from 3, missing six points in a game his team lost by three! 

To be fair to Lutz, he had no chance on the second attempt as the snow fell. That attempt wound up being tipped by a defender, but he really should have drilled a 54-yarder at the end of the first half. 

Altitude must really impair officials’ ability to make correct decisions, too. It’s the only explanation for them awarding the Patriots a first down when Drake Maye had been stopped by his own offensive line. 

Not only did that terrible decision extend the Patriots’ drive, just four plays later New England kicked the game-winning field goal. The 2025 NFL season will go down as the worst officiated season on record. 

Then this happened. Everyone thought they knew what happened, but somehow the officials made the wrong decision. It appears to be a two handed pass that is knocked down as it leaves Stidham’s hand. The officials immediately blew the play dead. The recovery and return for a score didn’t stand because the whistle had been blown.

What had actually happened was Stidham thrown the ball backwards and therefore it should have been ruled as a fumble! That would have meant the ball was still live ad the touchdown should have counted. What a mess from everyone involved, well not Elijah Ponder who should have scored his first NFL touchdown.

The nonsense continued in Seattle, as the officials appeared to miss this bit of jiggery-pokery in the backfield. That’s Knott, but Tom Brady’s Olivia Newton-John impersonation is the most Knott thing you’ll hear all year! 

And how do you miss a quarterback’s head being yanked to the side like this? The officiating in the Super Bowl is going to be very interesting!

RHYS KNOTT

NFL/FANTASY FOOTBALL ANALYST

Rhys has been watching the NFL for 30 something years and still hasn’t managed to pick a team to support. When he’s not fixatED on pass rushers you can find him blithering on about most sports on Twitter @wrhys_writes

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