The Players Who Will Shape the NFL Playoff Race
The Players Who Will Shape the NFL Playoff Race
Several Breakout Stars Could Wind Up Powering Their Team's Charge to the Postseason.
The NFL Playoff race is heading up, and teams are leaning on emerging stars to deliver in high-pressure moments.
From defensive stalwarts to explosive playmakers on offense, be it savvy veterans on new teams or rookies bursting onto the scene and making immediate impacts, these players are stepping up when their teams need them the most.
Here’s a look at several players across the NFL who figure to play starring roles in their team’s chase for a playoff berth down the stretch run of this season.
Chase Brown, RB, Cincinnati Bengals
The Cincinnati Bengals’ offense is suddenly firing on all cylinders, again.
Joe Burrow has passed for 679 yards and nine touchdowns with just one interception across the past two games. Meanwhile, Ja’Marr Chase continues to add zeroes to the end of his forthcoming contract extension by adding 307 yards and three touchdowns over that same stretch.
However, perhaps the most vital weapon to the Bengals mounting a postseason charge is running back Chase Brown.
Brown’s dominance in the ground game gives the Bengals the chance to dictate to opponents, wear defenses down late, and the 24-year-old continues to emerge as a big-play threat in an offense that is built around them. Brown has already rattled off 14 explosive runs of 10 yards or more, while averaging 2.93 yards after contact per carry, underscoring how difficult he is to drag down when he gets going at a full head of steam.
As the weather grows colder, the games become more meaningful, and the Bengals are looking to break a game open on the ground or salt out a victory in the fourth quarter, Brown’s equally adept at accomplishing both missions.
Chop Robinson, EDGE, Miami Dolphins
Miami survived in Los Angeles which keeps the Dolphins’ flickering playoff aspirations on life support.
Chop Robinson was a big part of the Dolphins’ win over the Rams, with two tackles and one sack while applying relentless pressure on quarterback Matthew Stafford.
Over the past three weeks, Robinson has posted 12 quarterback pressures and the explosiveness that jumped off his film at Penn State is starting to translate into a consistently disruptive pass-rush presence.
Robinson is seemingly adding to his repertoire of pass-rush moves as he’s become more comfortable with the speed of the NFL game, as well. At 3-7, the Dolphins will need a strong finish to make a charge at the postseason, and that is going to start with a pass rush that imposes its will against the likes of Jordan Love, C.J. Stroud, and Brock Purdy down the stretch.
Marshon Lattimore, CB, Washington Commanders
Commanders general manager Adam Peters recognizes the talent on Washington’s roster and understands the importance of maximizing the potential of an electrifying quarterback like Jayden Daniels while he’s still on his rookie deal. That’s why it’s no surprise that Marshon Lattimore ended up in the nation’s capital just before the NFL trade deadline.
If Washington is going to steal a victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Thursday night and eventually stake its claim to the NFC East championship, dominant secondary play could wind up being vital.
Lattimore has been a black hole for opposing quarterbacks, who posted a meager 74.4 passer rating when throwing his way this season in New Orleans. Shipped from the dregs of a quasi-rebuild to the throes of an NFC East race could bring out the best in Lattimore, who serves as a worthy counterpunch to the likes of A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, CeeDee Lamb, Drake London, and Darnell Mooney that Washington is going to need to get through on their road to a possible postseason berth and playoff run.
Budda Baker, S, Arizona Cardinals
Don’t look now, but the Arizona Cardinals are leading the NFC West, with a victory over the San Francisco 49ers already tucked away for safe keeping, and head coach Jonathan Gannon’s defense is really starting to show its teeth.
A centerpiece of the Cardinals’ defensive renaissance has been All-Pro safety Budda Baker, who is in the midst of one of the most productive seasons of his career.
Baker already has 100 tackles with one sack so far this season, as Pro Football Focus lists the 28-year-old as the No. 11 rated safety in the league.
Four times this season, the Cardinals have held opponents to fewer than 17 points, and the formula will likely continue to be dominating on defense while putting Kyler Murray, Marvin Harrison Jr., Dan Conner and the offense in positions to thrive. If the Cardinals are going to cling to their lead over the 49ers in the NFC West and make the postseason, Baker’s consistent dominance on the back-end could prove critical.
Ricky Pearsall, WR, San Francisco 49ers
San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan, through both culture and scheme, seems to run an assembly line of prolific wide receivers, with rookie Ricky Pearsall already emerging as the latest standout off the production line.
After making his triumphant return from recovering from a gunshot wound suffered this preseason, Pearsall has improved each week in each of his first three career starts, including a four-catch for 63 yards and one touchdown effort in Sunday’s victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
So far, despite a small sample size, 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy is posting a prolific 122.1 passer rating when targeting Pearsall, who is averaging four yards after the catch per reception underscoring his fit in Shanahan’s offense.
With Brandon Aiyuk sidelined for the remainder of the season, expect Pearsall to continue to take on an outsized role in the 49ers’ offense while climbing Purdy’s target hierarchy. With 11 catches for 132 yards and one touchdown already, Pearsall could play a vital role in the 49ers overtaking the Arizona Cardinals in the unfamiliar role as the hunter in the NFC West race.
Mike Williams, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers since time immemorial been built on the foundation of a dominant, swarming, and opportunistic defense buttressed by a ground-and-pound running game. However, since Mike Tomlin made the move to Russell Wilson at quarterback, Pittsburgh has suddenly morphed into one of the league’s most explosive and prolific offenses.
Pittsburgh is averaging 30.7 points per game since handing the reins of the offense over to Wilson. Meanwhile, Williams underscored his value in his Steelers debut when he pulled down a diving contested catch in the end zone, from Wilson, for the game-winning 32-yard touchdown in Washington on Sunday against the Commanders.
Expect the Steelers to continue infusing Williams into the offense. His presence not only forces safeties to respect the vertical passing game, creating opportunities for tight end Pat Freiermuth to operate underneath and running back Najee Harris to thrive amid a career year, but also gives Williams the potential to be explosive in his own right while bringing out the best in fellow big-play threat George Pickens on the perimeter.
PODCAST
Quinyon Mitchell, CB, Philadelphia Eagles
The Eagles’ defense is in the midst of one of the more impressive and dominant stretches of football across the league this season, fresh off holding the Cowboys below 50 net passing yards, the second time that Philadelphia has accomplished that feat this season.
A critical key to coordinator Vic Fangio and the Eagles’ turnaround on defense has been the emergence of playmaking first-round cornerback Quinyon Mitchell, who continues to strengthen his Defensive Rookie of The Year candidacy with each passing game.
Mitchell has posted 31 total tackles, but more impressively, has held opposing quarterbacks to a meager 80.7 passer rating when throwing his direction. The No. 22 overall pick in this spring’s draft might be the best player in the Eagles’ secondary, and Philadelphia will be tested down the stretch with games against the likes of Terry McLaurin, Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua, George Pickens and Mike Williams, CeeDee Lamb, which will make his performance critical to their chances of winning the NFC East.
I think, with apologies to Mr. Tanier, we are going to have to put Justin Herbert on this list. Yes his yards are down, but his efficiency is way up. And he’s been on a heater as of late. While this was (and still is) to be a rebuild year for the Chargers, Harbaugh is continuing to work his magic. Minter’s defensive schemes are bending but not breaking and the Chargers are poised to make a run. They face a gauntlet of tough games over the next 4 weeks. But going 2-2, even 1-3, leaves them with 4 very winnable games to close out the season and 11 wins should give them a real shot to make the playoffs in the very mid (outside of KC, BUF, BAL, and PIT) AFC. But even in this run heavy scheme it will come down to Herbert and how far he can take this team.