NFL roundtable: Which players will shape playoff picture most in final two weeks?
Two weeks remain on the NFL season, and the focus on the playoffs is intensifying.
While only four spots remain in the postseason field, there's still plenty of room for teams to alter the outlook for themselves and their competition. This stretch, of course, can often come down to signature performances by a few star players. And several teams will be depending on their leaders to deliver.
With that in mind, we asked editors and writers from Paste BN Sports and the Paste BN Network: Which player will most shape the NFL playoff picture in the final two weeks?
Their answers:
Nancy Armour
The battle between the Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers for the NFC West title is the best – and most cutthroat – playoff race these last two weeks. The winner likely gets a first-round bye, maybe even home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, while the runner-up can probably kiss its Super Bowl hopes goodbye. Despite probably being the NFC’s second-best team, the eventual wild-card team will have to spend the entire postseason on the road, and nobody has won three road playoff games since the Green Bay Packers in 2010.
None of this is new to Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson. He’s taken Seattle to the playoffs in all but one of his eight seasons, winning the Super Bowl title in 2013 and getting back the next year. (That the Seahawks didn’t win a second title is on Pete Carroll, not Wilson.) Wilson knows what’s at stake in these next two games, and won’t be daunted by any of it.
For Garoppolo, however, it’s a new experience. At least as a starter. He saw mostly mop-up duty behind Tom Brady in New England, and has taken all of two snaps in the postseason. While he’s played better as the season has gone on and looked more confident, it’s still a question how he’s going to handle the increased pressure.
Garoppolo was terrific in what was a playoff-like atmosphere in Baltimore three weeks ago. But what about when the Niners have to win the regular-season finale in Seattle, where they haven’t won since 2011? Or when Aaron Donald is bearing down on him this week as the Rams fight for their playoff lives?
The 49ers defense has been clutch all season, allowing Garoppolo room to grow. But it’s on him now, and how he responds will decide how much longer San Francisco will be playing.
Jarrett Bell
Aaron Rodgers. One instinct suggests teetering between Russell Wilson and Jimmy Garoppolo for this distinction, with the Seahawks and 49ers headed for a winner-take-all-of-the-NFC-West-crown showdown in Week 17. And if Ezekiel Elliott has another big gig in Philly on Sunday, or if Carson Wentz finds a groove against Dallas, the mark on the playoff picture would be significant. But I’m going to end this discussion with the typically dangerous A-Rod.
The difference between the second seed and the third seed in the playoffs is immense. That week off in January and a divisional-round home game – especially this season, with the competition so thick in the NFC – is such a tremendous advantage that I don’t think the Packers (11-3) could get to the Super Bowl without it. And with home being Lambeau Field and the frozen tundra (where the Packers are 7-1 this season), the wintry elements would add another layer of benefit.
But first, to earn that bye-week bonus, Rodgers has to lead Green Bay to two victories on the road, beginning on Monday night against the only NFL team that is perfect at home this season. The Vikings (10-4, 6-0 in Minneapolis) can clinch a playoff berth with a win against Green Bay, but the Packers can clinch the NFC North with a victory and move a step closer to securing a bye. In Week 17, the Packers are at Detroit. So, Rodgers has a few factors in his favor: Detroit. Dalvin Cook, iffy with a shoulder injury. Kirk Cousins, in prime time.
Rodgers has grumbled something about the Packers getting a short shrift on the national attention meter this season. Well, they might have fueled a bit more buzz if they didn’t get blown out in San Francisco and didn’t lay an egg in L.A. Now comes a chance to raise awareness by winning out in these back-to-back road games. If the Packers, and by extension Rodgers, blow it, they’ll pay for it in the middle of January. With a bye week and divisional playoff game at home, I’d like Rodgers’ chances to at least advance to the NFC title game. But first things first.
Nate Davis
Keep your eye on rookie Pro Bowl DE Nick Bosa of the 49ers. He’ll line up against a suspect Rams O-line this weekend in a contest the Niners need to keep their hopes for a No. 1 seed alive while the reigning NFC champs attempt to keep their postseason hopes on life support. In Week 17, Bosa will seek to contain Russell Wilson in Seattle, a matchup that may very well determine home-field advantage in the conference.
Jori Epstein
Ezekiel Elliott is the key to the Cowboys defending their NFC East title. All Dallas needs is a win at Philadelphia this week to ensure JerryWorld is hosting a playoff game in January. Certainly, quarterback Dak Prescott (he’s likely to play despite a shoulder injury) and a shaky Cowboys defense will factor into the game’s results. But Elliott has been the difference maker every time he’s played the Eagles. The Cowboys have won all five games with Elliott. He’s notched at least 141 yards from scrimmage each time. And though Prescott has progressed this season to show he can make tough throws, the Cowboys defense hasn’t shown the ability to complement a pass game. The defense needs rest, and it needs the Cowboys to control the clock like Dallas did in last week’s Rams against Philadelphia, where they had more than 12 minutes more with the ball than Los Angeles did. That’s been the story, too, of Cowboys-Eagles matchups: Dallas has held the ball longer in every game the last three seasons, including for more than 45 minutes in the last showdown at Lincoln Financial Field. Do it again, and the NFC East has a repeat champion for the first time in 15 years.
Tom Schad
Tennessee Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill. The Titans' play in these last two weeks could ostensibly impact the playoff fates of three teams, in addition to their own: The Steelers and Texans in the AFC, and the Saints' playoff seeding in the NFC. And no single player can impact the Titans' level of play more than Tannehill, who is 6-2 as a starter this season.
Tannehill hasn't generally been the kind of guy to throw for 400 yards and four scores, and Tennessee doesn't really need him to do that in these next two games. (Though, obviously, it wouldn't hurt.) Really, the former Dolphin just needs to do what he did in recent wins over the Chiefs, Colts and Jaguars -- throw for 250-ish yards, a few touchdowns and, most importantly, no picks. Do that and he'll give the Titans a chance to win -- and possibly shake up the playoff picture in the process.
Tyler Dragon, Cincinnati Enquirer
Carson Wentz was a front-runner to win league MVP when he suffered a season-ending left knee injury during Week 14 in 2017. The Philadelphia Eagles quarterback hasn’t been able to reach his pre-knee-injury level since. In order for the Eagles to win the NFC East and secure a playoff spot, Wentz has to play like a top-10 quarterback. That starts this weekend when he faces fellow draftmate Dak Prescott, who’s outplayed him this season, in a game with huge playoff implications.
The Eagles control their own destiny – two wins and they’re in. Wentz has to be the driving force behind those victories.
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