NFL Playoffs Have a Different Look This Year

The 2017 NFL regular season has come to a close with the defending Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots tied for the best record in the AFC with the Pittsburgh Steelers at 13-3. On the other side of the league, the Minnesota Vikings are tied with the Philadelphia Eagles for the top spot in the NFC with 13-3 records as well.

It was an interesting NFL regular season. There were countless season ending injuries from NFL stars such as Odell Beckham Jr. of the Giants, Deshaun Watson of the Texans, J.J. Watt of the Texans, Carson Wentz of the Eagles, and others.

With top players going down, many teams’ hopes of going to the playoffs were destroyed which gave other teams opportunities of going to the playoffs that maybe don’t get the chance too often.

The Jacksonville Jaguars are a team that barely ever makes the playoffs, but with the help of their outstanding defense they made the playoffs and got a first round win over the Buffalo Bills 10-3.

Despite the win being so low scoring and ugly, Jaguars defensive end Calais Campbell was impressed with his teams effort.

“A win is a win,” Campbell told The Washington Post. “We earned the right to be here. When talent works hard, we’re definitely tough to beat.

The Jaguars aren’t the only team in the playoffs that aren’t normally in. The Buffalo Bills, the team the Jaguars beat, made the playoffs for the first time since 1993. The Los Angeles Rams and Tennessee Titans have been bottom dwelling teams for years and both made it.

The Titans were able to get a first round win in comeback fashion against the Kansas City Chiefs 22-21.

However, the Rams fell to defending Super Bowl Runner Up Atlanta Falcons 26-13. The Falcons held the lead all four quarters to the Rams. The Rams were no match for Matt Ryan, Julio Jones, and Devonta Freeman in the second half from the Falcons.

Ryan hooked up with Jones in the second half for a touchdown, and Freeman chipped in a few first down runs to keep drives going for the Falcons, which would eventually end up in scores for the Falcons.

Some Greendale High School students are also surprised with the previously bottom teams rising up to make the postseason.

Freshman Max Steele thinks the Titans will be the biggest surprise, but believes that the Steelers will be the team to beat.

“The Titans have so much unseen talent,” Steele said. “Young Marcus Mariota really proved himself in the comeback win over the Chiefs. Nobody compares to the Steelers, though. Their offense is so deadly with their offensive line and talented receivers like Antonio Brown and JuJu Smith Schuster. They also have a very talented running back and quarterback.”

With so much talent coming from teams like the Steelers at the top of the league, it’s for sure going to be difficult for other teams to knock them down. But the Titans, due to their eye opening comeback win against the Chiefs, look like they could be a team to possibly do that.

With so many new faces in the playoffs, some GHS students were surprised at other teams making the playoffs besides the Titans. Sophomore Samuel Muth was surprised the Bills made it in and thought the Panthers would win the Super Bowl. However, both teams lost first round.

The Panthers, who lost to the Saints, struggled to stop the Saints offense the entire game. The Saints had the lead 24-12 heading into the fourth quarter, and the Panthers would outscore the Saints 14-7 in the final quarter but were unable to win. The final score was 31-26 in the Saints favor.

“I thought the Panthers would win,” Muth said. “But I was surprised to see the Bills in the playoffs. They made it though because of their offense, they have good players like Tyrod Taylor and LeSean McCoy making plays each game.”

Each team in the playoffs is in for a reason. Across each team there are tons of playmakers on both sides of the ball which help them achieve so much in the regular season. But still some playoff teams are hurt from season ending injuries like the Eagles who lost their starting quarterback Carson Wentz, who was also a runner for MVP when he got injured. It will be exciting to see what teams like the Titans continue to do as well as the Jaguars because they’re not usually in the playoffs.