The NFC playoffs will be loaded from top to bottom
In a year of upheaval in the NFC playoff picture, Sunday night restored a bit of order. As it stands, the only 2016 NFC playoff team that would qualify for the postseason this year is the Seattle Seahawks — yes, the team that has represented the conference in the Super Bowl two out of the last four years.
Even with the impressive win over the Eagles, the Seahawks are only on the edge of the playoff picture. In the past, it was thought that Seattle’s path to the Super Bowl could only go through its home stadium, though this season so far the Seahawks are 4-2 both at home and on the road. That isn’t to suggest the Seahawks are ready to be road warriors, charging to the championship from the Wild Card round. It just suggests they might be a somewhat different team than years past. Without the services of Richard Sherman for the rest of the season and Kam Chancellor also sidelined, they’re going to have to be.
Philadelphia’s first setback since Week 2 was bound to be concerning, especially when fan and pundit reaction can swing wildly on a week-to-week basis if you’re talking about a team that doesn’t have recent success in the postseason. Flat performances happen, and the Eagles got the wrong end of a few questionable calls. That’s not terribly worrisome, especially since it was a road loss and the Eagles presumably won’t play many playoff games on the road. Where Sunday night becomes disconcerting is the examination of Doug Pederson making questionable decisions in a close game in a playoff environment. That’s not the kind of thing that inspires tons of confidence leading up to the postseason. Lucky for Pederson, if Philly comes through in January, no one will much care what happened in one regular-season game in early December.
It’s somewhat odd that Philly has gotten all the focus as the runaway favorite in the NFC given that now the Eagles are no longer in position to take the top seed with the Vikings holding a strength of schedule tiebreaker. The other two division leaders in the conference, the Rams and the Saints, are only a game back.
In part, it surely has something to do with expectation. Sure, Philly has already exceeded what most observers expected in 2017. That there was an improvement at all gibes with predictions. The Eagles were roundly thought to be a team on the rise before the season began. After all, they have a young quarterback who proved himself in 2016, and further progress was expected. The front office also got him a receiving corps compared to the hapless unit he had in his rookie season.
Contrast that with the Rams, Saints and Vikings. The Rams were coming off years of mediocrity under Jeff Fisher, as the longest head coach in the league. Jared Goff was horrendous as a rookie. Expectations were modest at best. The Saints have been in a similar boat the last few years and did little to address their problems in the offseason. Going in, 2017 seemed like a possible sendoff for Drew Brees more than anything. Not much more was expected of the Vikings, and when starter Sam Bradford went down early in the season, it was thought to be the beginning of a long season for Minnesota.
Case Keenum has thrived behind a much improved Minnesota offensive line. He's also been aided by perhaps the best receiver tandem in the league in Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs. Carson Wentz is a more talented quarterback who will be better in the long haul, though Keenum has enough help that it’s certainly possible for the Vikings to get the best of the Eagles in the playoffs. The Saints are guided by the best backfield 1-2 punch in the league in Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara. Oh, and they still have Drew Brees, who may be asked to do less this season but is still capable of excellence when called upon to provide it.
Now that the AFC is once again coming down to New England and Pittsburgh, as one-sided a rivalry as you’ll find in the NFL, hopes for an exciting offseason are pinned on the NFC. That’s perfectly fine. All six teams that end up qualifying for the playoffs should be legitimate contenders. It’s unlikely you’ll be able to say that of the other conference, when teams like the Titans, Jaguars and Chargers are shaping up to be in the mix.
With perennial contenders owning the spotlight in the AFC, the idea of parity sounds like a farce. In the NFC, it’s alive and well.
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