The 2023 NFL regular season has concluded and the journey to the Super Bowl continues this weekend with six wild-card games split between Saturday, Sunday and Monday night. No team is entering postseason play totally healthy but, who has the most fatal flaws?
Here is the most pressing need for every team in the NFL playoffs:
AFC
Bills: Defensive tackle
Outside of Baltimore, there may not be a team playing better than Buffalo right now. They have some momentum entering the playoffs and no one will want to play them. One cause for concern is the middle of the defense. Defensive tackle Jordan Phillips and linebacker Matt Milano are on the injured reserve. They are left with a young linebacker core and a defensive line that has been gashed in the run game for years.
Browns: Offensive tackle
The Browns have suffered debilitating injuries to offensive tackles Jack Conklin, Dawand Jones and Jedrick Wills. In 13 games with at least one of those three linemen, Cleveland has averaged 124.7 rushing yards per game. In the five games since, they averaged 79.2. They have been able to overcome those losses but there is no hope of those players coming back for a postseason run so James Hudson and Geron Christian will have to get the job done the rest of the way.
Chiefs: Offensive tackle
The Chiefs’ offensive tackle additions of Donovan Smith and Jawaan Taylor have been underwhelming. They have allowed 80 combined pressures, according to TruMedia. There are 28 NFL players with at least 36 pressures allowed, and the Chiefs’ tackles are two of them.
Wide receiver play has been lackluster as well. Kansas City’s 34 drops are the third most in the league. Patrick Mahomes can not trust his skill talent to run the right routes or complete a catch.
Starting center Connor Williams was lost for the season. Liam Eichenberg has been able to step into any role asked of him, but the team also signed…
Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/every-nfl-playoff-teams-biggest-need-how-dolphins-replace-edge-rushers-bradley-chubb-andrew-van-ginkel/
Author : Josh Edwards
Publish date : 2024-01-12 16:55:10
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