NFC playoffs could salvage an otherwise ugly campaign
It was another distressing Sunday in an National Football League season whose disturbance and cruelty has managed consistently to overshadow thrills and fun. The big headline was the feared loss of Carson Wentz to a torn anterior cruciate ligament for the remainder of the season. The lasting, unshakable image was Tom Savage lying prone, his hands vibrating in an involuntary fashion, before somehow re-entering the game minutes later. Elsewhere, a Seattle Seahawks player attempted to climb into the stands in Jacksonville to fight a fan who had thrown a drink at him.
Underneath another serving of misery, hope for a more enjoyable future pulsed. While injuries and controversies have dominated the season, the NFL still may be partially redeemed by a showcase hinted at Sunday. The rain clouds over the season may be able to ruin anything, but right now the NFC playoffs appear to be as can’tmiss as can’t-miss could be. Barring a letdown, they are going to be great.
Sunday provided VikingsPanthers and Eagles-Rams, an early taste of the NFC’s playoff field. Both games, Wentz’s injury notwithstanding, were awesome. Cam Newton overcame a late interception with a 62-yard run that set up Carolina’s game-winning touchdown. Adam Thielen caught six passes for 106 yards and a weaving, clutch touchdown. The Eagles and Rams see-sawed for four quarters, pushing passes downfield and landing haymakers until Chris Long’s strip-sack of Jared Goff tilted it in the Eagles’ favour.
Every NFC playoff game has a chance to resemble those contests. The field, regardless of which teams make it, will be a combination of surprising contenders, established stars and rising powers. There is no combination of NFC contenders that would make for even one unappealing playoff game, with the possible exception of the 7-6 Lions — who provided an opening-weekend dud last January — sneaking in.
If the playoffs started next week, three of the NFC quarterbacks on opening weekend would be former MVPs, including the past two, and the fourth would be last year’s No. 1 overall pick. The high-flying Rams (Jared Goff) would host the defending NFC champion Falcons (Matt Ryan), and Drew Brees’s Saints would host Newton’s Panthers.
The winners would play the Eagles and Vikings, teams with double-digits wins, ferocious defences and tenuous quarterback situations, in very different ways. Can Nick Foles provide a suitable replacement for Wentz? Will Case Keenum continue his out-of-nowhere brilliance and hold off Teddy Bridgewater?
Should those teams fall back, Seattle currently would be the next team up, with scintillating Russell Wilson trying to keep a teetering Seahawks reign alive. Also lurking are the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys, both 7-6, who are trying to make lateseason charges with the returns of Aaron Rodgers and Ezekiel Elliott looming.
Story lines would tumble out of every conceivable matchup. Can the Falcons make another run in defence of their AFC title? Will Sean McVay’s offensive sorcery translate in the playoffs? Could Rodgers scare the daylights out of a top seed? (If the Packers can win out behind the presumed return of Rodgers next week, they have a 93 per cent chance to make the playoffs, per the New York Times playoff odds calculator.) The Eagles will be pursuing the franchise’s first Super Bowl title and first appearance in more than a decade. The Vikings will be vying to be the first team to play the Super Bowl at its home stadium.
Further injury, as this season has so harshly reminded, could still spoil the NFC playoffs. For now, they are the league’s best hope to salvage an unpleasant year.