QB Index One big question facing each playoff QB

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QB Index: One big question facing each playoff QB Published: Jan 17, 2019 at 06:45 AM Around The NFL Podcast Co-Host In the first edition of this series, I wondered when the rising crop of stars at quarterback for the QBs who created a golden age for the position, maintaining a standard of excellence that never seemed to end. That Brett Ritchie Women Jersey was five and a half years ago. It's a theme , slow to realize that players like and were in the midst of rewriting expectations about athletic primes, not unlike other athletes throughout the sports world. Just as Brady has created a career arc never seen before in the NFL, LeBron James, Roger Federer and many others are creating new barriers for future generations to reach. Which brings us to this weekend's . It is too simple, too easy, to position the weekend as the young guns, and (combined age: 47) against two G.O.A.T.s, Brady and Brees, refusing to go out to pasture. So many other factors besides the quarterbacks will determine who wins on Sunday, yet there's no denying how week could feel depending on the winners. It could be two veteran quarterbacks who are locks for the battling for another shot at glory, po sibly their last. Or it could be something totally fresh, like when Kurt Warner first brought the or Brady first brought the . If the last six seasons have taught us anything, it's that the old guard will not exit the stage without a fight. Can the Chiefs interrupt Tom Brady's zen-like state? The most untold story of 's 2018 season was how many open receivers he never saw. Greg Bedard of the , who has been charting Brady for years, detailed weekly the times where Brady didn't see the field clearly. Brady's arm and accuracy have been fine overall. His pocket presence and movement declined, especially after suffering a in Week 10, but the lack of clarity in reading defenses was the most uncharacteristic flaw in an uneven campaign. That intermittent foggine s was cleared away in the brisk Foxborough air during . Perhaps it was the week off for Brady's knee to improve. Perhaps it was a matchup against a zone-based Gus Bradley defense that Brady knows inside and out. Maybe it takes the playoffs for Brady to truly feel alive inside again, like some spoiled fans that view the regular season as an extended warm-up. Whatever the reason, Brady attacked the ' defense with a zen-like calm of a master craftsman doing what he knows best. He knew which receivers would be open before the play started and got rid of the ball exceptionally fast. On the rare plays where his offensive line struggled, like when beat to the inside on the game's first drive, Brady calmly hopped inside the pocket before finding his checkdown receiver. It was a test where Brady had all the answers. If Brady's confidence ever flagged this season, it should be sky high now. His tag-team partner, , has rounded into peak form. The offensive line and running game are among the better groups the have had this decade. Brady also played superb football in and his best game of the season, based on my grading system, came against the in . Kansas City plays a high amount of man coverage, which traditionally has given the ' offenses more problems. , and all figure to make Brady le s comfortable than he looked against Joakim Nordstrom Women Jersey the , yet cold-weather January football is where he's done so much of his best work. There has been a lot of attention paid this week to Brady's postgame comments , but I'm more interested in the mindset he's displayed during his midweek pre s conferences. "It's just naturally a level of intensity you can't really emulate at any other point in the season and really, for us, any other point in our life," Brady said about the playoffs earlier this month. "We all work hard to get to this point. To have an opportunity like we have, I don't think you take it for granted." These are the weeks Brady lives for. The clear-headed calm and evident joy he took while doing his job last week should give fans pause. What'll Patrick Mahomes do after moving past Andy Reid's scripted plays? Andy Reid's teams start fast. This is true when looking at the NFL season as a whole, as his squads of the last couple years have raced off to early undefeated records while the rest of the league studies, copies and tries to slow down what MasterChef Reid has cooked up. However, unlike in past years, Kansas City never really hit an extended cold streak this season, ranking as one of the great units of the last decade. The also start games like hitting the open field. They outscored opponents 147-56 in the opening 15 minutes this year, a ridiculous spread that shows how comfortable they are playing with the lead. They did it again in , popping out to a 14-0 advantage in the first quarter on the strength of Reid's play calls before the caught their breath. didn't have to do much to jump out to the lead, which was typical of how the rolled all year. Reid won the first quarter. Mahomes did the rest, often with the skills you can't coach, including throwing pa ses that arrived at their destination so fast that defenders found themselves out of position to make tackles. The mostly survived their offensive lulls during the season because of their big leads. They had a stretch against the where they didn't score for five straight po se sions, but it hardly mattered. The ' offense figures to give Mahomes le s of a margin for error once they make defensive adjustments. While the expected frigid weather could hurt the pa sing game of both teams, it should hurt the more because they are so reliant on the deep pa s. One overlooked aspect of Mahomes' performance against the was his inaccuracy. He mi sed a number of midrange-to-deep throws after the first two drives that were uncharacteristic of his season. A number of pa ses came out of his hand off target. Whether that was just an example of a slightly off day or Mahomes' struggles with the weather is hard to say. But it's a safe a sumption Bill Belichick will be happy if the survive the ' opening blitz with a lead or a tie game because it's a position Mahomes hasn't had to deal with often, especially at home. Will Drew Brees complete some pa ses he shouldn't? Brees blasted past his own all-time completion percentage record this season, finishing at 74.4. A number preposterous conjures images of bubble screens and dump-offs, but what set Brees' season apart were all his completions that have hit the ground. Brees created as many plays on his own as during the first three-quarters of the season, often throwing pa ses through holes in coverage that evaporated on sight. Whether it was Brees escaping pre sure to beat the perfect blitz call or threading the needle on a number of third-and-long completions , everything Brees did was extra. Until December. Four of Brees' lowest five grades of the season have come in the previous five games. That includes a solid performance in that started with a few throws that were uncharacteristically late and a few deep pa ses that came up short. Buoyed by a strong running game and excellent protection overall, Brees righted the ship. He moved defenders with his eyes in some key long-yardage situations and got the ' offense back to efficient when it mattered most. But the sizzle plays weren't there. The receivers outside of and were quiet. It was a workmanlike performance in a season that inspired more Brees , thinkpieces and fireworks than any in his career. The sought-after MVP award isn't going to happen. But if Brees can show the form on Sunday at 40 years old that he showed for so much of his age-39 season, he won't mind at all. Can Jared Goff carry his offense? Criticism surrounding Goff's last three games is misplaced. After a rough stretch of play from Weeks 13-15, coach Sean McVay notably took some responsibilities off of Goff's plate and centered the ' attack around their suddenly bruising running game. It played to the ' strengths and was a quiet, subtle way to reset Goff's confidence after a slump. The strategy has worked like a charm and Goff has done his part, making smart decisions and pinpoint throws when called upon. His performance was nearly flawle s, including a few third-down strikes where he hit his receivers in such perfect stride that Bill Walsh would approve. Goff be throwing strikes when his protection is flawle s. He faced pre sure from Dallas on only one of 28 dropbacks, according to Next Gen Stats, which is the second-lowest rate of pre sure any quarterback faced in a single game this season with a minimum of 20 attempts. He was similarly unbothered in Week 17. Goff has done his job Adam Oates Kids Jersey well over the last three weeks, yet he's only been asked to attempt 26 pa ses per game. It's hard to imagine him throwing the ball so infrequently in New Orleans when the have such a strong run defense and the game figures to be a shootout. It appeared early this season that Goff had to the type of top-five quarterback who can carry a team with dazzling throws. That's probably what it will require for the to pull off a road upset because running for 273 yards, like they did against Dallas, is unlikely to happen this week. This article has been reproduced in a new format and may be mi sing content or contain faulty links. Please use the Contact Us link in our site footer to report an i sue.
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