The playoffs have arrived! This years playoff field is absolutely wide open, especially on the NFC side, but who is the best? Take a peek into the all-knowing crystal ball as Charles McDonald ranks all of the teams in the 2019 playoffs.
12. Philadelphia Eagles
This isnt a slight on the Eagles in general, theyre just so banged up its hard to see them go on a run. In addition to Pro Bowl guard Brandon Brooks recently having his season ended due to injury, DeSean Jackson, Ronald Darby, Alshon Jeffery, Malik Jackson and Darren Sproles have been put on injured reserve. Zach Ertz missed the season finale against the Giants with a rib injury and it seems like almost the entire team has been on the injury report at some point. At full strength, the Eagles can be one of the best teams in the league, but they arent anywhere close to full strength right now.
Maybe if Carson Wentz unleashes his inner Nick Foles the Eagles can go on a run. As things stand now, they shouldnt be a favorite to beat Seattle in the wild-card round. Eagles fans should be feeling optimistic about 2020, though. If Doug Pederson and Wentz were able to scrape together a playoff season, with some help from an underwhelming Cowboys team, then the goal for next season should be a Super Bowl run.
11. Houston Texans
Deshaun Watson and DeAndre Hopkins are excellent, but how good are the Texans as a whole? Their defense ranks last in yards per play (6.1), tied with the 2-14 Cincinnati Bengals. Getting J.J. Watt back will help, but this team hasnt been all that impressive to close the season.
Lets skip over the Week 17 game against Tennessee when all of their important players were sitting out. The Texans needed four interceptions by Jameis Winston, including one that went back for a touchdown to barely squeak by the Buccaneers, 23-20. Houston was blown out by the Broncos, 38-24, and got decimated by the Ravens, 41-7. They did manage to beat the Patriots, 28-22, but they also barely beat the Jacoby Brissett-led Indianapolis Colts, 20-17.
Houston certainly has the top-end talent to go on a playoff run, but the entirety of their team isnt playing well right now.
10. Tennessee Titans
Kneel before our one true king, Ryan Tannehill.
In all seriousness, where are you supposed to rank the Titans? They legitimately look like one of the better teams in the NFL right now. Tannehill is setting the league on fire, rookie wide receiver A.J. Brown has been unstoppable in recent weeks, and the defense is just good enough at forcing turnovers to make them interesting on that side of the ball.
Still, this is a team that finished 9-7 and barely snuck into the playoffs. Even though the Texans beat them when both teams played their starting units, the Titans are playing better football over the past month.
