1. Will Stafford, Rams feel the P-R-E-S-S-U-R-E?
Talk about pressure. Matthew Stafford won 12 games and a division title for the first time in his 13-year career. But failure for him and the Rams is anything short of winning Super Bowl LVI at SoFi Stadium, their $5 billion home venue, on Feb. 13. Rams owner Stan Kroenke and General Manager Les Snead have been hailed for months for their "all-in," cost-and-future-be-darned approach. The three biggest names to change teams the past year — Stafford, Von Miller and Odell Beckham Jr. — were acquired by Snead. It started with the offseason blockbuster trade that sent first-round picks in 2022 and 2023, a third-rounder in 2021 and former No. 1 overall pick Jared Goff to Detroit for the 33-year-old Stafford, the supposed savior with the 0-3 postseason record. Stafford started 7-1 with 22 touchdowns and four interceptions. He ended 5-4 with 19 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. He split with the Cardinals, the Rams' opponent Monday night. A second home loss to Arizona this season would be a decimating one-and-done for the franchise and Stafford. If that were to happen, the narrative on Stafford will change. It will go something like this: Ya know, Stafford threw four pick-sixes in 17 games and hasn't won a playoff game, while Goff threw four pick-sixes in five seasons with a Rams team he actually helped reach the Super Bowl.
2. Brady vs. Belichick, the collision course continues!
It's been 17 years since Tom Brady, Bill Belichick and the Patriots were the last team to successfully defend their Super Bowl title. Three more wins apiece this month and Belichick's Patriots, who returned to the playoffs this year with rookie Mac Jones at quarterback, will be trying to block Brady's Buccaneers from repeating in what would definitely be the most watched game in NFL history. Before Belichick and Brady came along, Tom Landry and Joe Montana held the records for most playoff wins by a coach and quarterback, respectively. The 44-year-old Brady, a seven-time Super Bowl champion, has 18 more playoff wins than Montana. The 69-year-old Belichick, a six-time Super Bowl champion, has 11 more playoff wins than Landry. To keep this dream Super Bowl matchup alive, Belichick will have to win as a four-point underdog at Buffalo. The Patriots were favored by 1 ½ points when they ran for 222 yards and threw the ball only three times in a 14-10 win at Buffalo on Dec. 26. The Bucs, meanwhile, have an easier route this week as an 8 ½-point favorite over an Eagles team they beat by six points in Philly as Brady completed 81% of his 42 passes.
3, Is the next Vikings coach in action this weekend?
The Vikings missed the playoffs in their first six seasons (1962-66). Then a steely-eyed man named Bud came south from Canada to change the laughingstock narrative for good. No, the Vikings haven't won a Super Bowl, but only three times in 55 years since 1967 have they gone more than two straight seasons without a playoff game: 1983-86, 2001-03 and 2005-07. Current ownership could be tapping one of the assistant coaches in Super Wild-Card Weekend as the guy who keeps that from happening a fourth time in 2022. Though the Vikings defense is broken, having allowed 400 or more points in back-to-back seasons for the first time in franchise history, the successor to the old-school, defensive-minded Mike Zimmer probably will hail from the cutting edge of the offensive side of the ball. As Vikings fans watch these games, keep an eye on four offensive coordinators: Kansas City's Eric Bieniemy, a former Vikings running backs coach who has learned from future Hall of Famer Andy Reid while helping the Chiefs win six straight division titles, two straight conference titles and a Super Bowl; New England's Josh McDaniels, Belichick's longtime assistant and possible preferred candidate should Patriots personnel consultant Eliot Wolf get the vacant general manager position; Buffalo's Brian Daboll, the 46-year-old whose resume includes eight years as an NFL offensive coordinator, 11 years as an NFL assistant under Belichick and three years as a college assistant under Nick Saban; Dallas' Kellen Moore, the 33-year-old whose balance and creativity have helped the Cowboys lead the league in points and yards; and Tampa Bay's Byron Leftwich, who won a ring and Brady's respect last year.
4. Can Reid, Chiefs host a fourth straight AFC title game?
Two teams have hosted a record three straight conference title games: The 2002-04 Eagles, coached by Andy Reid, and the 2018-20 Chiefs, coached by, yep, Andy Reid. The Chiefs this year fell to 3-4 when they lost to Tennessee 27-3. They went 9-1 after that, but that one loss caused the No. 1 seed and home-field advantage to go to the Titans. There's still hope, however. The 2018 Chiefs hosted the AFC title game as a No. 2 seed. Reid is the only coach to win 100 games with two teams. He holds the record for playoff wins for the Eagles (10) and Chiefs (seven). He leads Doug Pederson by six in Philly and Hank Stram by two in KC. Reid is fourth in playoff appearances behind Landry (18), Belichick (19) and Don Shula (19). A win over the Steelers on Sunday would give Reid an 18th playoff victory and move him into a tie for third place ahead of Joe Gibbs. Only two coaches have gone to three straight Super Bowls and won at least one of them. Shula went 2-1 with the Dolphins from 1971-73 while Belichick went 2-1 with the Patriots from 2016-18. Reid is 1-1 in the past two Super Bowls.
5, Bye-bye, Big Ben, but hello to the NextGen
Mac Jones, the 15th overall pick in 2021, was 5 years old when Ben Roethlisberger was the 11th overall pick of the 2004 draft. This weekend, they share the same AFC playoff field as road underdogs. While this will be the 39-year-old two-time champion Roethlisberger's final rodeo, Jones is one of five starting quarterbacks making his playoff debut. The others are Cincinnati's Joe Burrow, Arizona's Kyler Murray, Philadelphia's Jalen Hurts and the Raiders' Derek Carr. Six of the starting quarterbacks are under 27. Seven of them came from the last six drafts: Jones, Burrow, Hurts, Murray, Buffalo's Josh Allen, Kansas City's Patrick Mahomes and Dallas' Dak Prescott. And for those who maybe love the draft a little too much, here is the order in which this year's 14 quarterbacks were selected: 1st (tie), Burrow, Murray, Stafford (No. 1 overall); 4th, Allen (No. 7 overall); 5th, Ryan Tannehill (No. 8 overall); 6th, Mahomes (No. 10 overall); 7th, Roethlisberger (No. 11 overall); 8th, Jones (No. 15 overall); 9th, Aaron Rodgers (No. 24 overall); 10th, Carr (second round, No. 36); 11th, Hurts (second round, No. 53); 12th, Jimmy Garoppolo (second round, No. 62); 13th, Prescott (fourth round, No. 135); and 14th, Brady (sixth round, No. 199). Four of the quarterbacks (Brady, Tannehill, Stafford and Garoppolo) aren't with the teams that drafted them.
