We’ve arrived at the playoffs. Please take a moment to read the safety card in the pocket located on the back of the seat in front of you. We could be in for a wild ride.
Beyond the Bengals, Chiefs, Bills, Eagles, 49ers and Cowboys, this year’s playoff class is a bunch of potent but incomplete teams who, on the right day, could completely and totally upend the playoffs or quietly whimper away to their offseason program. Could Justin Herbert get hot and completely tear up three defenses in a row? Absolutely. Could Trevor Lawrence and Doug Pederson do the same? I have little doubt, especially if Travis Etienne gets loose. Could Brock Purdy win a Super Bowl? Hell, yes, he could. Could Geno Smith? Why not? In that way, we have a great opportunity to be truly and wholly surprised like we were last year when the Bengals refused to lose and battled their way to the last leg of the tournament.
While we never really know what might happen, this year was so rife with schematic stalemating and mediocrity that one can only hope (and assume) that coaches have been saving some of their best hands for the playoffs. It was around this time two years ago that we realized the best way to stop Patrick Mahomes, for example, would be to stop blitzing him. What kind of edge could we see developed in the playoffs this year? Which coach, quarterback or coordinator is going to become legendary?
