Harrison gives Patriots edge
Smith-Schuster, Watt have Steelers looking strong
1. Patriots (1): Espionage aside, it sure looks like they got a good playoff deal by picking up daisy fresh LB James Harrison for little more than a song.
2. Steelers (2): They haven’t gotten quite the pub of the Saints tandem, but JuJu Smith-Schuster and T.J. Watt look like rookies who will be future stars.
3. Vikings (3): So QB Sam Bradford is returning to practice? We forget, did Mike Zimmer ever commit to Case Keenum as his starter the rest of the way?
4. Rams (4): It’s been 39 years since they last hosted a playoff game in L.A. Coliseum. Hopefully Saturday goes better than their 28-0 loss to Dallas in 1979.
5. Saints (5): How better to encapsulate offensive balance they’ve achieved? New Orleans finished with 23 TDs through the air and 23 on the ground.
6. Chiefs (10): Alex Smith has to be the playoffs’ sentimental favorite. Let’s hope he gets to be a bridge to nowhere in
2018 (Jets? Cardinals? Redskins?).
7. Panthers (6): They’ve managed as many as 200 passing yards only twice in the last 10 games. Might not be explosive enough to make a deep playoff run.
8. Jaguars (8): League’s No. 1 ground attack had five players rush for at least
200 yards, including QB Blake Bortles checking in with a surprising 322.
9. Falcons (11): Offense’s struggles relative to 2016 are well-documented. But could defense spark a surge? Atlanta allowed 17.9 ppg in season’s second half.
10. Chargers (13): Shame their kicking woes — Bolts were 20 of 30 on FGs — basically cost a playoff spot for a team that would’ve been a tough matchup.
11. Eagles (7): The offense scored 16 points in the regular season’s final nine quarters. That projects to a TD per game. You have your playoff marching orders, defense.
12. Titans (14): A major reason this team has disappointed (despite its playoff entry)? They’ve turned the ball over at least once in 13 consecutive games.
13. Seahawks (12): TE Jimmy Graham’s a free agent. Pete Carroll and DE Michael Bennett are feeding rumors of a defensive shake-up. Seattle might look vastly different in 2018.
14. Bills (16): Got to be thrilled for veterans such as DT Kyle Williams and C Eric Wood who have soldiered with such distinction so long for this franchise.
15. Cowboys (15): Why the talk of a pay cut for Dez Bryant? Consider: He’s averaged fewer than 54 receiving yards per game over the last three seasons.
16. Ravens (9): What a damn shame that longtime defensive coordinator Dean Pees’ career concludes with such a heartbreaking, season-killing play.
17. Lions (17): Was a chronic inability to run the ball Jim Caldwell’s fault? Barry Sanders ain’t walking through that door, so GM Bob Quinn must help the next coach.
18. 49ers (19): It’s not quite Brady-esque, but Jimmy Garoppolo led San Francisco to a 6-10 record, the best in NFL history for a team that started 0-9.
19. Redskins (18): Case for Kirk Cousins — he’s had three consecutive 4,000yard seasons (81 TDs, 97.5 passer rating) since 2015. Case against — he’s 24-23-1 in that span.
20. Cardinals (22): Replacing retiring coach Bruce Arians won’t be easy. But more daunting could be the fact they’ve fallen behind the rest of the division at the QB position.
21. Raiders (20): Was there any area where they didn’t underachieve? Tough deal for Jack Del Rio, but he’s right: It’s a “results-based business.”
22. Buccaneers (23): Hard to sugarcoat a very disappointing season. But Bucs never quit. Their last five games (four losses) were all decided by one score.
23. Bengals (26): They’ve never won a playoff game in 15 seasons under Marvin Lewis. But they’re great spoilers, scuttling the Lions and Ravens in the final two weeks.
24. Packers (21): News of GM Ted Thompson’s transition makes it worth wondering if the team will take more free agent chances as Aaron Rodgers’ window narrows.
25. Dolphins (24): Few teams did less with more, and loss of discipline in Sunday’s defeat wasn’t pretty. Ryan Tannehill won’t be an instant Band-Aid to Miami’s woes.
26. Bears (25): No team was less effective passing the ball in 2017. Time to get Mitchell Trubisky better tutelage and better guys to throw to.
27. Broncos (27): Ugly, ugly year in Denver. But congrats to RB C.J. Anderson, one of NFL’s good guys, on notching his first 1,000-yard campaign.
28. Jets (28): Welp. Give them credit for not prematurely playing QB Christian Hackenberg. Don’t want to rush the guy. Let’s give him 1,000 days in the league first.
29. Colts (29): No quarterback in the NFL was sacked more than Jacoby Brissett, who went down 52 times. Andrew Luck must be dying to return to this lineup.
30. Texans (30): We’d wager Bill O’Brien is a huge fan of the “next man up” trope. Probably no team is primed for a bigger turnaround in 2018 than Houston.
31. Giants (31): Their 260 rushing yards Sunday, when O-line got a kick in pants from GM Dave Gettleman, was more than triple their average entering the game.
32. Browns (32): It literally doesn’t seem like it can get any worse. A twoyear stretch going 1-31? Should be a great NFL Films documentary one day.