With 17 weeks down, the NFL playoffs are officially here.
So, which are the most dangerous teams? Which are the least dangerous teams?
Before we answer those questions, we first must look into what defines a dangerous team. Really, there are two factors.
One, are they a team that any sane opponent would want to face? Another way of looking at this would be, if teams got to choose their opponents in a one-game scenario, where would the team in question rank?
Two, since the finish line is so close, what are their chances at winning a Super Bowl? A team might be a nightmare scenario in one game but to get to the Super Bowl, a team needs to win either two or three games.
When we combine those two factors, this is how the 12 teams in the NFL playoffs rank.
12. Green Bay Packers
Sometimes it’s just best to let the numbers do the talking and in this case, a blind numbers comparison yields pretty telling results.
Quarterback 1 is Aaron Rodgers. Quarterback 2 is his first round opponent, Kirk Cousins.
The numbers don’t mean that Cousins is a better quarterback than Rodgers, but that the weapons at his disposal are so much better than what Rodgers has.
If Aaron Rodgers can’t dominate a game against a good team, it’s hard to imagine the Packers winning. While the Washington Redskins have a 9-7 record, they finished the season 7-3, while the Packers finished 4-6.
The Packers are going to have a hard enough time beating the Redskins in Washington. When it comes to winning a championship, they’re the least dangerous team in the playoffs.
11. Houston Texans
The Texans are rock solid on defense, led by the best defensive player in the game, J.J. Watt.
On the other side, DeAndre Hopkins seems capable of making big plays against any coverage.
So, why aren’t the Houston Texans ranked a little higher?
Well, someone has to get Hopkins the ball. Yes, he can make fantastic catches but if he’s going to dominate a game, Hopkins will need a quarterback to get him the ball consistently. It’s not likely that opposing defenses are exactly worried about either Brian Hoyer or Brandon Weeden.
Like the Packers, anything can happen in one game, but the Texans are still a quarterback away from being a credible Super Bowl threat.
10. Minnesota Vikings
Somehow the Minnesota Vikings are going to have to find a way to beat the Seattle Seahawks, the same team that downed them 38-7 in Minnesota on Dec. 6. How can that happen? Two words: Adrian Peterson.
You know he’s getting the ball. You stack your defense to stop him, but it still doesn’t matter.
The Minnesota Vikings also have a strong defense and get a slight nod over the Texans because unlike Hopkins, Peterson can dominate a game without a quarterback.
The fact that the Vikings have to beat a team that’s already crushed them, then likely go on the road to win two more games keeps Minnesota from being higher on this list, but in a one-game knockout scenario, they are dangerous.
9. Washington Redskins
For so much of the 2015 season, it seemed like a shame that the NFC East would even have a team in the NFL playoffs. Now, not only are the Redskins in the playoffs, but they are in against a team that looks quite shaky.
The Redskins are hot, finishing the season at 7-3 over their final 10 games to go 9-7 overall. So, what was the turning point?
Maybe. It’s still very hard to imagine Washington beating both Carolina and Arizona on the road, so they can’t be any higher. Still, this team is peaking at the right time. Kirk Cousins might just be a good NFL quarterback and with guys like DeSean Jackson, Pierre Garcon, and Jordan Reed, he’s got good weapons to play with.
8. Cincinnati Bengals
The AFC is wide open. While Andy Dalton’s absence hurts the Bengals chances, A.J. McCarron has not been bad.
Cincinnati has a balanced running attack with Jeremy Hill and Giovani Bernard. A.J. McCarron is a question mark, but he’s got weapons like A.J. Green, Tyler Eifert, and Marvin Jones to make plays. They also have a defense capable of being dominant, at least one home game, and will be competing in a very manageable AFC.
Here’s the problem. The Cincinnati Bengals have not won a playoff game in 25 years. In big games, they seem to have a little brother syndrome against the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens. As if that wasn’t enough, the Steelers handily beat the Bengals on Dec. 13 in Cincinnati. There’s a lot of baggage to overcome to win just one game, let alone three.
7. Pittsburgh Steelers
In a one-game scenario, no team is more dangerous than the Pittsburgh Steelers. Honestly, the New England Patriots losing the first seed might have been a tremendous break, as it means they wouldn’t have to face the Steelers until the AFC Championship Game.
Honestly, would you want to go against the duo of Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown in a single elimination game?
There is a problem, though. The Steelers’ secondary is shaky, and that’s being polite.
A path to the Super Bowl would mean beating A.J. Green, Tyler Eifert, and Marvin Jones in the wild card round. Then, Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders in the divisional round. Then, depending on who survives, Julian Edelman & Rob Gronkowski, Jeremy Maclin & Travis Kelce, or DeAndre Hopkins in the AFC Championship Game. That secondary is going to get exposed.
Pittsburgh also lost to a bad Baltimore team in Week 16 and took way too long to put the shorthanded Cleveland Browns away in Week 17. They’re dangerous for one game, but they’d need to win three games to reach the Super Bowl, and it’s hard to see that happening.
6. Kansas City Chiefs
Do you remember when the Kansas City Chiefs couldn’t throw a touchdown pass to a receiver? Well, that’s no longer a problem.
The Chiefs are hands down the hottest team in the NFL, having won their last 10 contests, outscoring their opponents by 15 points per game in that stretch. They’ve also recorded victories over AFC playoff teams like the Denver Broncos, Pittsburgh Steelers, and their first round opponent, the Houston Texans.
Winning three road games will be a difficult task, but it’s been done before, most recently by the 2010 Green Bay Packers. While his performance Sunday wasn’t great, Alex Smith doesn’t generally make mistakes that cost his team wins. If the Chiefs were in the NFC, that wouldn’t be good enough. In this year’s AFC, it just might do the trick.
5. Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos aren’t the best or most dangerous team in the NFL playoffs. They are, however, the most intriguing team in the NFL playoffs.
Both Brock Osweiler and Peyton Manning saw time in Denver’s Week 17 over the San Diego Chargers, with drastically different numbers.
Nicki Jhabvala from the Denver post had this to say about Manning:
‘But his (Manning’s) return and his game-changing performance, of course, raised even more questions, such as who will start in the playoffs, Manning or Osweiler. Coach Gary Kubiak wasn’t ready to tackle that one after the game.’
Game changing performance? If C.J. Anderson and Emmanuel Sanders don’t lose fumbles, the Broncos probably have victory secured early on and if Manning plays, it’s in garbage time. What other quarterback could be 5-9 with no touchdowns and be called a game changer?
It’s an irrelevant question because it is Peyton Manning, and it is, of course, going to create a controversy.
The problem with the Broncos is that Osweiler has been inconsistent and Manning didn’t play well when he was starting earlier in the season. Even if that can be dismissed as injury related, Manning is old, immobile and could very easily get hobbled again with just one hit.
They have the No. 1 seed and Denver is traditionally a tough place to play. Still, to be a truly dangerous team, you need to have a more settled quarterback situation. They’re intriguing and as the top seed, need to be respected, but the Broncos are not overwhelmingly dangerous.
4. Seattle Seahawks
Much like the Steelers, the Seattle Seahawks create quite the contrast with how they fit into the definitions of dangerous.
On the one hand, they just demolished a very good Arizona Cardinals team, in Arizona. Russell Wilson has been playing out of his mind for most of the second half of the season, and while his Week 16 game against the Rams was a dud, the quarterback seems to have bounced back.
The problem is that the Seahawks have won only one road playoff game in the 21st century. They’ve reached three Super Bowls, but never as anything other than the No. 1 seed in the NFC. As the sixth seed, they’ll have to win in Minnesota, then Carolina, and probably Arizona again.
It’s a doable task, but a very tall mountain to climb. In a one-game scenario, Seattle is second to none, but the overall task is a very tall order. As such, they’re the fourth most dangerous team heading into the NFL playoffs.
3. New England Patriots
Ladies and gentlemen, have a look at the most important play of the New England Patriots season.
Without that, the Patriots are playing this weekend, incredibly vulnerable, and not that dangerous. They’d also probably be playing the Steelers on Wild Card weekend and would be in a lot of trouble.
With it, they get a bye to rest a hobbled Tom Brady, Danny Amendola, and Rob Gronkowski, Julian Edelman, and basically the rest of the injury riddled team.
The bye week has potential to do wonders for a beaten up New England team. They have a stable quarterback situation and won’t face the Steelers or Broncos until at least the AFC Championship Game. Things could be a lot better in New England, but they’re still the most dangerous AFC team heading into the NFL playoffs.
2. Arizona Cardinals
Sunday’s loss to the Seahawks was bad, but it was not the end of the world for the Arizona Cardinals.
They still have a good quarterback in Carson Palmer. Larry Fitzgerald, John Brown, and Michael Floyd combined for over 3,000 receiving yards, and David Johnson is an absolute beast out of the backfield.
On the defensive side of the ball, Tyrann Mathieu is a bad loss, but Arizona still has a cavalcade of playmakers like Rashad Johnson, Patrick Peterson, Tony Jefferson, Justin Bethel, and Deone Bucannon.
Bruce Arians has two weeks to figure out what went wrong against the Seahawks. Really, it was just a bad game, which happens to every team at some point. When it happens against a good team like Seattle, the results are ugly. The Cardinals are a complete team and the most dangerous squad heading into the NFL playoffs.
Well, almost the most dangerous squad.
1. Carolina Panthers
Carolina’s Luke Kuechly, Josh Norman-led defense is championship caliber. They haven’t lost at Bank of America Stadium since Week 11 of 2014. Counting the postseason, that’s an 11-game home winning streak, which is quite convenient for a team that has home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
Cam Newton is not only the MVP of the league, but he’s doing things that only Hall of Fame quarterbacks have done. That is, when he isn’t doing things that nobody has done.
Given a choice, nobody would want to play Carolina, and they have a great shot at getting to and winning the Super Bowl.
Heading into the NFL playoffs, no team is more dangerous than the Panthers.