My Power Rankings for all 8 teams remaining in the playoffs
By Steve Risser
1. Chiefs- Even though the Chiefs have not been that impressive in the 2nd half of the season, they are the defending Super Bowl Champs and still had the league’s best record at 14–2. They obviously have one of the best offenses in the league lead by Patrick Mahomes and if it wasn’t for the year Aaron Rodgers is having, he would be the MVP.He also has 2 great skill guys with Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce. The two things that concern me about this team is their defense and their inconsistency running the football. But with Chris Jones and Tyrann Mathieu, their defense is good enough for them to win it all in 2021 and their lack of a running game can be covered up because of how great Patrick Mahomes is.
2. Saints- Right now, the Saints have the best roster in football and they’re more heathy than they have been all year with Brees and Thomas both heathy at the same time. In the regular season, they only played 3 games together. I know their offense was not great against the Bears, but it doesn’t have to be because their defense has played really well in the 2nd half. This defense has solid players on every level. On the defensive line, Cameron Jordon is still one of the best edge rushers in football. Trey Hendrickson had a great year with 13.5 sacks and linebacker Demario Davis is one of the best in the league. In the secondary, Marshon Lattimore has had a ton of success against Mike Evans in his career and that’s great sign going into this week’s playoff game with the Bucs. The Saints don’t have any holes on their roster, but Drews Brees inability to push the ball down the field is the one thing that will hold the Saints back. If the Saints are not in Tampa on February 7th, that will probably be the reason why.
3. Packers- Aaron Rodgers is the MVP this year and that is why I have the Packers at 3. He also has one of the best wide receivers in the league in Davante Adams and Aaron Jones is a solid running back. There are 2 things that concern me about the Packers. One is that they won’t have their all pro left tackle David Bakhtiari. He’s done for the year with a torn ACL. The other is they have trouble stopping the run. I know they were 13th in the league in run defense, but a big reason for that is they were ahead in a ton of games which forced teams to pass the ball. In all 3 games they lost this year, they gave up over 140 yards on the ground and no one will ever forget what Niners did to them on the ground in last year’s NFC title game.
4. Ravens- The Ravens are one of the hottest teams in football right now, winning 6 in a row. A big reason for that has been the play of Lamar Jackson. He has 16 Total TD’s and 4 Int’s during the winning streak. Also, the defense has played really well in their last 4 games. They have not allowed more than 14 points in a game. There are two things that are going to hold the Ravens back from being a championship team. One is their O-line in pass protection. They lost Ronnie Stanley in the middle of the season and last week. Even though some were coverage sacks, they did give up 5 sacks to a Titans defense that was one of the worst in the league at getting to the QB. The 2nd thing is they don’t have a number 1 receiver and that was the biggest reason why it took almost 3 years for Lamar Jackson to come back from 2 scores down in a game. Marquise Brown is a really good number 2, but not a number 1.
5. Bucs- Even though I have the Bucs at 5, I do think they can win it all. The issue is they’re probably going to have to beat 2 great teams on the road, the Saints and the Packers, just to get to the Super Bowl. There are 3 reasons why I think the Bucs can win it all. One is pretty obvious; they got the greatest to ever do it in Tom Brady and at 43, he’s still playing at a high level, which is remarkable. Another reason is they have great receivers in Evans and Brady. They are starting to get on the same page because Evans has over 100 Yards receiving in 3 of his last 4 games. Chris Godwin is really good and Antonio Brown has a TD reception in his last 4 games. The last reason is they have one of the best front 7’s in football and they should get Devin White back for their playoff game this week. What is going to hold the Bucs back is their inconstant running game and their secondary that gave up over 300 Yards Passing to Taylor Heinicke last week.
6. Bills- Don’t get me wrong- Josh Allen is definitely a top 5 QB in this league and in my opinion, he is top 3 in the league and an MVP candidate. Him and Stephon Diggs alone give the Bills a chance to win it all. But the biggest reason why I have the Bills at 6 is their inability to run the ball or stop the run. It’s been showing up all season and it also showed up in last week’s playoff game. During the season, the Bills were 17th in the league in stopping the run and 20th in league in running the ball. In the playoff game last week against the Colts, they gave up 163 yards on the ground and Devin Singletary and Zack Moss ran for 42 Yards Combine. Moss will not play in this week’s game against the Ravens.
7. Rams- If the Rams were heathy, I would probably give them more of a chance but the problem is they’re not Jared Goff and Aaron Donald are not 100 percent. They do have the formula to stay in the game with the Packers, though Cam Akers had a big week running the ball and could very easily have another against the Packers. The issue is Goff hasn’t played well of late, he didn’t play well against the Jets and Seahawks before he had the thump injury and he struggled last week against the Seahawks in the playoff game. The Rams have the best defense in the league but a huge reason for that is Aaron Donald and with him not being 100 percent, it’s going to be tough to beat Aaron Rodgers.
8. Browns- Yes, the Browns had a huge win last week winning their first playoff game in over a quarter century, but the problem is they have to go on the road and play the best team in football. Just like the Rams, I think the Browns have the formula to stay in the game against the Chiefs by running the ball with Chubb and Hunt, but I just don’t think Baker Mayfield is good enough to keep up with Patrick Mahomes and that’s why out of the 8 teams, I have the Browns being the team that has the worst chance of winning the super bowl.
