Vincent Frank
One of the 12 teams listed below will hoist the Lombardi Trophy in Arizona this upcoming February. From annual powerhouses in New England, Seattle and Green Bay to a couple up-and-coming teams in Dallas and Detroit, the NFL Playoffs are going to be extremely interesting.
Before we get into game previews for wild card weekend later in the week, we figured it made sense to check in on the 12 teams vying for one title.
Taking into account their entire body of work and recent performances, we have ranked all 12 NFL Playoff teams heading into the first weekend of postseason action.
1. Seattle Seahawks (12-4)
There shouldn’t be any question about who the best team in the NFL is heading into the playoffs. Winners of nine of 10 and six in a row, Pete Carroll and Co. are playing some tremendous football right now. During their current six-game winning streak, the Seahawks are defeating their opponents by an average of nearly 16 points per outing. During that span, the defending champs have yielded a total of 39 points.
Russell Wilson finished the regular season with over 4,300 total yards and 26 touchdowns. During the last seven games of the campaign, the young phenom threw a total of two interceptions in 161 pass attempts. If opposing defenses can’t force turnovers, it’s going to be a near certainty Seattle will repeat as champions. No offense in the NFL can drive the length of the field against this defense on a consistent basis. Did I mention Seattle has yielded 39 points in the last six games? That’s utterly ridiculous.
2. Dallas Cowboys (12-4)
Photo courtesy of USA Today; Romo is playing the best football of his career, and it’s not close.
This may be higher than most people would have Dallas ranked. And it’s perfectly reasonable to have this team much lower. But I will ask you one question. Take away the logo on the uniform and the team name and look at how Dallas has performed over the past month. Would you then have this team ranked lower?
Dallas isn’t even winning football games, its absolutely dominating opponents. The Cowboys are averaging over 40 points per game in the last four outings and have outscored their opponents by a total of 86 points during that span. In reality, the only real struggles that Dallas had this season was when Tony Romo was ailing with a back injury. It fell to the Washington Redskins with Romo limited and lost the following week to the Arizona Cardinals with Brandon Weeden starting. Outside of that, it was a consistently great campaign for Jason Garrett’s squad.
In addition to this, Dallas has a pretty clear path to the divisional round of the playoffs. It matches up extremely well with the Detroit Lions, especially considering Ndamukong Suh is suspended for that outing. This is legitimately a team that could contend with the Seahawks in Seattle. Heck, we have already seen that happen this year.
3. New England Patriots (12-4)
I am not entirely sold on the Patriots as a top contender for the title, but this is a team that has proven everyone wrong at one point or another during this amazing run. The 2014 version of the Patriots is much different than previous seasons. Relying on a defense that finished in the top half of the NFL against the pass and the run, New England has the feeling of a team that can battle in the trenches when things aren’t going right offensively.
Speaking of their offense, Tom Brady continues to amaze. He put up 4,000-plus yards for a sixth consecutive season and tallied 33 touchdowns compared to nine interceptions. The only legitimate concern here is that Brady threw seven interceptions in his final eight games after tallying just two in the first half of the season. If the Patriots can get an 18th-ranked rushing attack going, it could do some damage in January.
4. Denver Broncos (12-4)
Peyton Manning and Co. are going to be in all sorts of trouble during the playoffs. Before even facing the real possibility of traveling to New England to take on the Patriots, the Broncos will square off with Indianapolis, Cincinnati or Pittsburgh in the divisional round. All three of those teams provide some tremendous mismatches, especially the Bengals and Steelers when it comes to a pass-rush capability against the immobile Manning. That’s one of the reasons Denver is on the outside looking in when it comes to the teams ranked ahead of it here.
Truthfully, it’s hard to envision a scenario where Manning is able to lead his team out of the AFC unless the Patriots were to falter in the divisional round of the playoffs. Postseason included, Manning is 2-10 with as many touchdowns (25) as interceptions (25) in New England.
5. Green Bay Packers (12-4)
Courtesy of ESPN: Green Bay may have the toughest road to the Super Bowl of any team remaining.
If Green Bay were able to nab home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, it would likely sit atop this list. In fact, Aaron Rodgers and Co. were my preseason pick to win the Super Bowl over New England. Unfortunately, the Packers face the real possibility of having to travel to the Pacific Northwest to take on the Seattle Seahawks should they advance to the NFC Championship game. And before that, a matchup with an equally hot Dallas Cowboys team could be looming in the divisional round.
At home, the Packers are nearly unbeatable. They averaged nearly 40 points per game at Lambeau Field during the regular season compared to just three touchdowns per outing on the road. It’s not a coincidence that Mike McCarthy’s squad finished undefeated at home and just .500 on the road.
6. Pittsburgh Steelers (11-5)
A lack of consistency has been a major issue for Pittsburgh this season. This team will look like a well-oiled machine one week than fall flat on its face the following week. In order for the AFC North champions to be taken seriously, they need to play better all-around football on a consistent basis.
This means running the ball to set up Ben Roethlisberger and a dominating aerial attack. However, it does appear that stud running back Le’Veon Bell is doubtful for the team’s wild card matchup with the division-rival Baltimore Ravens. If Bell does indeed miss that game, the onus will be on Pittsburgh’s offensive line to hold up against what was a stellar Ravens’ pass rush throughout the season. Sadly, Bell’s injury really hampers Pittsburgh’s ability to make hay in the AFC in January.
7. Cincinnati Bengals (10-5-1)
Now is the time for Andy Dalton to prove that he can actually win when it counts. With a 0-3 postseason record, questions have continued regarding Dalton’s ability to perform at a high level in the playoffs. After all, he boasts a 56.2 quarterback rating with one touchdown and six interceptions in those three postseason games. Speaking of Dalton, he seems to have regressed from what was a stellar 2013 regular season. The former second-round pick threw a career-low 19 touchdowns to go with 17 interceptions for a substandard 83.3 rating. He also led the league’s 15th-ranked scoring offense.
The good news here is that Cincinnati has finally found a winning formula on the ground. Utilizing rookie Jeremy Hill as the team’s primary ball carrier with Giovani Bernard coming on passing downs and to spell Hill, Cincinnati finished the regular season averaging 134.2 rushing yards per game, a mark that ranked Hue Jackson’s unit sixth in the NFL in that category. If the Bengals can continue to pound the ball on the ground, they should be able to make an impact in the postseason, especially with a defense that ranked in the top 12 in points allowed.
8. Indianapolis Colts (11-5)
Courtesy of the Star-Telegram: Luck needs to play better or it’s one-and-done for Indy.
Indianapolis has been far from impressive this season. Sure it won double-digit games for the third consecutive season with Andrew Luck under center. But it’s important to note that the Colts were 4-5 against teams that finished above .500 and 7-0 against the rest of their opponents. Put Indianapolis in the NFC West or the AFC West and it likely doesn’t even make the playoffs.
And as it relates to Luck, he simply needs to play better football than he has recently. The man that has been anointed the next great quarterback around the NFL has struggled recently, throwing six touchdowns compared to five interceptions in the past four games. If Luck’s struggles continue, the Colts are going to be in a world of trouble against a good Bengals defense. After all, Indianapolis ranked 22nd in the NFL in rushing offense. It’s high time that Luck ups the level of his play in the postseason after putting up record numbers during the regular year. That’s going to be the deciding factor here.
9. Detroit Lions (11-5)
Why is Detroit so low on this list? There’s a simple two-word answer to that loaded question. Matthew Stafford. The enigmatic franchise quarterback has been downright atrocious in his career against winning teams. Following a disheartening Week 17 loss to the Green Bay Packers that forced Detroit to play this upcoming weekend, Stafford is now 3-27 against teams that finish that particular season above .500. That’s three wins in 30 attempts.
Outside of Stafford’s stunning ineptitude against good teams, the Lions will have to take on a dominating Cowboys rushing attack without the services of all-everything defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, who was suspended for the wild card game after stomping on the foot of Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers this past Sunday.
These two aspects have a chance to ruin what has been a solid first season for head coach Jim Caldwell. And in order for Stafford to prove his skeptics wrong, Detroit needs to pull off a major upset against a hot Cowboys team.
10. Baltimore Ravens (10-6)
Unless Joe Flacco gets on a roll like we saw during the 2012 playoffs, the Ravens aren’t going to go too far this January. Baltimore backed into the playoffs by virtue of San Diego’s loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. And to be honest, this is a team that doesn’t seem to have what it takes to win January football games.
We are talking about a team that went 5-4 in its final nine games and has lost four of its last seven road games. We are talking about a quarterback in Joe Flacco that is just a couple weeks removed from putting up the single-worst performance of what has been a mediocre career. This doesn’t even take into account the fact that as the sixth seed, Baltimore must run the table on the road in order to earn a Super Bowl trip. Yeah, it’s not happening.
11. Carolina Panthers (7-8-1)
If you have read this entire article, first off, I am sorry. Secondly, you probably have a good idea that the Panthers-Cardinals game is my least favorite of wild card weekend. But I digress.
Despite a four-game winning streak to earn the NFC South title, it’s hard to overlook the fact that during a 10-game stretch this season, the Panthers won a total of one game. ONE stinking football game. I don’t care what the NFL Playoff format is, this team doesn’t belong anywhere near January football. With that said, Carolina opens up as near-touchdown favorites against the 12th-ranked team in this article.
12. Arizona Cardinals (11-5)
Bruce Arians has done an amazing job this year, but the injury bug will be Arizona’s downfall.
Sadly, the Cardinals don’t stand much of a chance of advancing past the wild card round of the playoffs. For all the amazing work that my Coach of the Year pick Bruce Arians has done, injuries finally caught up with this team. And now the Cardinals are forced to start a quarterback in Ryan Lindley who was on the San Diego Chargers practice squad earlier this year and has thrown two touchdowns compared to 11 interceptions in his career. Simply put, Lindley doesn’t even belong holding the clipboard as a team’s third-string quarterback.
To make matters even more disturbing for fans in the desert, Andre Ellington has been sidelined for a few week’s with an injury and will not suit up in the playoffs. Now add into account the losses of Darnell Dockett and Daryl Washington for what has been the entire season, and you fully understand that injuries are the primary reason Arizona is likely going to go one and done.
Photo: USA Today
