These are strange times in the NFC playoffs. Aaron Rodgers isn’t here. The defending champs aren’t, either. The Seahawks are, but Russell Wilson isn’t. Win or lose, Seattle will emerge from the playoffs with the fifth overall pick in the draft. Tom Brady is a home underdog to a team coached by Mike McCarthy. Matthew Stafford would have had a better shot at the postseason if he’d stayed in Detroit. Things are so weird that we haven’t even mentioned the Giants.
Here’s another oddity about this postseason, one that extends to the AFC as well. All six wild-card games are rematches from the regular season. Three of them are intradivision games: Seahawks-49ers, Bengals-Ravens, Dolphins-Bills. We could have two more division games in Round 2. The Chiefs could face the Chargers, and the Eagles could face the Cowboys or Giants.
All of this is good news for the Eagles. Rarely does a No. 1 seed come with such a fortunate position. Just look at the AFC, where the top-seeded Chiefs have already lost to both of the teams they are most likely to face in the AFC championship and could need to face Justin Herbert and the Chargers in Round 1. In fact, all seven teams are quarterbacked by former No. 1 picks, including six who either have or will soon sign franchise-type contract extensions.
