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The divisional round of the playoffs is arguably the best weekend of football on the NFL calendar. The league has reached the final eight teams remaining with the winners advancing to the conference championship game — and Super Bowl LVIII is on the horizon.
Typically these divisional round matchups are some of the best football games of the year. The AFC playoffs are the perfect example with the upstart Houston Texans heading north to face the top-seeded Baltimore Ravens and Patrick Mahomes playing a true road playoff game for the first time against the Buffalo Bills.
The NFC will either have the Tampa Bay Buccaneers or Detroit Lions in the NFC Championship, as Detroit looks to win more playoff games this year than the franchise has combined since 1957. Another upstart team in the Green Bay Packers gets its biggest test of the year against the San Francisco 49ers.
Of course the quarterbacks are going to get all the attention, but here are the under-the-radar players who can make an impact on the outcome of these games.
The emergence of C.J. Stroud this season as put the Texans on notice. Collins is the main beneficiary of Stroud’s incredible play, becoming a No. 1 wide receiver in Year 1 with the franchise quarterback. He had a breakout season with 80 catches for 1,297 yards and eight touchdowns (16.2 yards per catch) — after having just 927 yards and three touchdowns combined in his first two seasons.
A deep-ball threat, Collins had 25 catches for 20-plus yards — a franchise record for 20-plus yard catches in a season. Quarterbacks have a 129.5 passer rating targeting Collins this year, showcasing the impact Collins has when the ball comes his way. He’s the player the Ravens have to stop this weekend.
Even though Mark Andrews is questionable against the Texans, the Ravens can afford to be patient thanks to the presence of Likely. Since Andrews went down in Week 12, Likely…
Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/2024-nfl-divisional-round-under-the-radar-players-ravens-isaiah-likely-texans-nico-collins-primed-to-shine/
Author : Jeff Kerr
Publish date : 2024-01-19 21:17:06
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