1. Change the coach, make the playoffs
A record five teams made the playoffs the year they changed head coaches. Granted, one of them — Tampa Bay's Todd Bowles — slipped five games backward but still won the NFC South at 8-9. And Miami's Mike McDaniel also made the postseason while posting the same record (9-8) that got Brian Flores fired last year. The Vikings' Kevin O'Connell and the Giants' Brian Daboll are the fourth rookie head coaches since 1970 to meet in the playoffs. Each posted five-win improvements, O'Connell going 13-4 and Daboll 9-7-1 for the Giants' first playoff berth in six years. The 14-man field ranges in age from Seattle's 70-year-old Pete Carroll, who won nine games with Geno Smith and is the most overlooked coach of the year candidate in years, to the 37-year-old O'Connell. The second-oldest playoff coach, 64-year-old Andy Reid, still has the best offensive mind known to man and is overlooked annually for coach of the year. And Jacksonville's 54-year-old Doug Pederson, the other new hire to make the playoffs this year, can become the first coach to win a playoff game the year after his team posted the league's worst record. (Following Urban Meyer really helps one's pursuit of that record).
2. It's the takeaways, stupid!
It's a quarterback's league and offense rules and blah, blah, blah. It's also kind of important to take the ball away from all those quarterbacks, y'know? Ten of the top 12 teams in takeaways made the playoffs. Dallas has resurrected defensive coordinator Dan Quinn's head coaching aspirations after leading the league in takeaways in each of the past two seasons. The Cowboys, who had 33 this year, hadn't led the league in takeaways since 1971. San Francisco, whose DC, DeMeco Ryans, could be a head coach before this time next month, ranked second with 30 takeaways while Philadelphia, Jacksonville and Buffalo tied for fourth with 27 apiece. The Vikings have 25, tied for eighth, and are 8-0 when they get multiple takeaways. The Giants are 25th with 19. The outlier is Miami, which ranks next to last in takeaways (14) and 28th in differential (minus-7). Tampa Bay and Kansas City each have 20 takeaways, and they are minus-2 and minus-3 in differential, respectively. Of course, it does help having Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes and, in the Bucs' case, the NFC South.
3. It's the threat of a running game that's needed
Pooh-pooh the need to run the ball if you like, Mr. and Ms. Millennial. But even the best quarterbacks need a running game. Mahomes might not have lost Super Bowl LV 31-9 if K.C.'s running attack hadn't consisted mostly of Mahomes running for his life. No, this Gen-Xer isn't saying bring back Woody Hayes. Just execute well enough to present a consistent threat of running the ball. In other words, produce something better than what Purple Nation has witnessed any time Dalvin Cook runs up the middle on third-and-1 this season. Buffalo's 5.19-yard average per rush ranks second in the league and comes in quite handy alongside Josh Allen. The Bucs' 3.39 average ranks last and has been an anchor around Tom Brady's neck through a career-high nine losses. The Giants' running game ranks fourth in yards per game (148.2) and fifth in yards per carry (4.84). That, along with only 16 giveaways — second-best in the league — are major reasons the Giants are coming back to U.S. Bank Stadium three weeks after losing on a 61-yard walk-off field goal. The Giants averaged 6.0 yards per carry in that game and, barring turnovers, could control the rematch against a Vikings team that ranks 26th in yards per carry (4.11).
4. Who's hot, who's not, and does it matter?
A record five teams enter the playoffs with winning streaks of five or more games. The 49ers lead the way with 10 while the Bengals (eight), Bills (seven), Jaguars (five) and Chiefs (five) follow. Does it matter, though? It certainly doesn't hurt but put your Bountygate Bitterness hats on and go back to the end of the 2009 season. The Saints started 13-0, lost two straight and then rested their starters in a third straight loss before flipping a switch, beating the tar out of Brett Favre (illegally, of course) and winning the Super Bowl. Ten years ago, the Ravens lost four of their last five and won the Super Bowl. Of the last 10 Super Bowl winners, the only ones to enter the postseason with winning streaks of five or more were the 2019 Chiefs (six) and the 2016 Patriots (seven).
5. Don't like your team? Just wait a year
Baltimore, Jacksonville, Miami, Seattle, the Giants, Chargers and Vikings returned to the postseason after missing the playoffs a year ago. It's the third straight year that seven teams have done that. Seven. It's also the 33rd consecutive year that at least four teams have done it. With Jacksonville and the Vikings winning their divisions, the NFL also can crow about how 19 of the last 20 seasons have had at least two division winners that missed the playoffs the year before. The two No. 1 seeds this year — Kansas City and Philadelphia — have made the playoffs eight and two straight years, respectively. The top seed is a treat, no doubt. However, the last four Super Bowls have been won by the Nos. 4 (Rams), 5 (Bucs), 2 (Chiefs) and 2 (Patriots) seeds. The last No. 1 seed to win the Super Bowl was the 2017 Eagles, a 13-win team that you may recall blasted a 13-win No. 2-seeded Vikings team en route to winning the Super Bowl at U.S. Bank Stadium.
