Post Trade Deadline Look at the NFC Pt.1

Trade Deadline:

Leading up to the NFL’s trade deadline, a handful of contending teams made moves to try and bulk up their rosters in preparation for a playoff run. Most of the notable acquisitions were made by NFC teams, such as the Seahawks acquiring Leonard Williams and the Eagles acquiring Kevin Byard. With the deadline now in the rearview mirror, I'd like to take a look at what the NFC playoff picture may look like. The current standings are as follows.

Division Leaders:

EAGLES: 7W - 1L - 0T - -GB

LIONS: 6W - 2L - 0T - -GB

SEAHAWKS: 5W - 2L - 0T - -GB

FALCONS: 4W - 4L - 0T - -GB

Wildcard teams:

COWBOYS: 5W - 2L - 0T - 1.5GB

49ERS: 5W - 3L - 0T - 0.5GB

VIKINGS: 4W - 4L - 0T - 2GB

Smelling blood in the water:

SAINTS: 4W - 4L - 0T - 0GB

BUCCANEERS: 3W - 4L - 0T - 0.5GB

RAMS: 3W - 5L - 0T - 1GB

I will break down each relevant team, some in more depth than others. After that I will list my predictions as of what the NFC playoffs picture will look like after week 18.

EAGLES:

The Philadelphia Eagles are coming off a Super Bowl appearance and are currently in the sole possession of the best record in the NFL. I really like the eagles roster and scheme. In their week 8 matchup against the Commanders they showed that not only is their quarterback sneak (AKA the “Tush-Push”) unstoppable, they can also run plays off of it. They took advantage of the Commanders anticipating the sneak and handed the ball off to D’Andre Swift for a 7-yard touchdown. In addition, on October 23rd, the Eagles traded for safety Kevin Byard from the Tennessee Titans. The addition of the multi-time All Pro will strengthen an already talented secondary and make it one of the best units in the league.

However, Philly’s next 6 games are all against top teams with 5 or more wins. Even though the Eagles are an incredible team it is hard to imagine them winning more than 3 or 4 of those games. The Eagles are the best team in the NFC but exclusively due to their strength of schedule I doubt they’ll finish the season as the top seed in the NFC.

LIONS:

I have been closely following the Detroit Lions ever since they hired Dan Campbell back in January of 2021. The Lions have been through a lot over the past few years, but I’m glad to announce that all of it is paying off, the 2023 lions are great! The Lions have won 14 out of their last 18 games, however they’re only 1W-2L this season against teams with winning records. For now that shouldn’t be a big concern since over the remainder of the season the Lions only play one more team with a winning record (as of November 1st). I expect the Lions to get hot and get themselves a wildcard round bye, however I don’t yet trust Jared Goff in the playoffs.

SEAHAWKS:

In 2022, led by Geno Smith’s breakout campaign, the Seattle Seahawks were one of the most overachieving teams in the NFL. Seattle has carried the success into 2023 and courtesy of the 49ers’ recent collapse are now atop the NFC West. On October 30th, as an attempt to ensure that unlike their 2022 season, their 2023 season won’t end with an early playoff exit, the Seahawks traded for defensive lineman Leonard Williams from the Giants. I personally love the move for their defense and unless the 49ers quickly figure things out, I have the Seahawks winning the NFC West.

FALCONS:

The NFC South is the oddest division in the NFL. It seems as if nobody wants to win it. The Falcons have an extremely talented roster, including young studs like rookie running back Bijan Robinson and star pass catchers Kyle Pitts and Drake London. Due to the lack of talent in the South all the Falcons have to do to claim a division title is not “actively” lose it. However that might be easier said than done, as their week 1 starting quarterback Desmond Ridder has a bit of a turnover issue. In just 8 games played this season, Ridder has thrown 6 interceptions and fumbled 7 times. During the Falcons’ week 8 matchup versus the Tennessee Titans Ridder was pulled from the game to go through concussion protocol and the Falcons elected to keep the backup quarterback in the game even after Ridder was cleared. The Falcons backup quarterback is Taylor Heinicke who doesn’t have as big of an upside or as much potential as Ridder, but definitely takes better care of the football. On November 1st,the Falcons announced that they will start Taylor Heinicke in their week 9 matchup against the Vikings. Rolling with Heinicke the rest of the season will almost guarantee the Falcons a division title and a wildcard round exit. Going back to Ridder will send the Falcons into the unknown.

COWBOYS:

The Dallas Cowboys have one of, if not the highest ceiling in the NFL. The Cowboys inconsistency and difficult remaining schedule do concern me. It is unlikely yet possible that the Cowboys will leapfrog the Eagles in the NFC East. Either way, they have a tendency to occasionally have random breakdown games (Week 3 loss to the Cardinals and week 5 loss to the 49ers), they’ll most likely experience one of those breakdowns in the playoffs and go out in embarrassing fashion. Just like every year.

49ERS:

If you would’ve asked me a month ago, I'd say that the 49ers will go 17W-0L and win the Super Bowl. Led by offensive mastermind, Kyle Shanahan, San Francisco has by far the most complete roster in the NFL and after their 42-10 routing of the Cowboys in week 5 I was convinced that Brock Purdy is the quarterback that will lead the 49ers to the promised land. However, the 49ers’ current 3-game losing streak is plenty cause for concern. Purdy has looked awful over the past 3 games, throwing 5 picks and only completing 62.5 percent of his passes (Purdy completed 72 percent of his passes in weeks 1 through 5). This might be the end of “Mr. Irrelevant”’s “Linsanity” run. The 49ers did make a great trade to acquire Chase Young, just a matter of hours before the deadline, but their defensive line was never the issue.

Back in August I wrote an article discussing a hunch that Sam Darnold can be a successful NFL quarterback in the right system. I backed up my hunch by showing the amount of praise Darnold received from the 49ers’ staff throughout the entire preseason process and showing the lack of success other quarterbacks had in the systems that Darnold has played in. He made me look good by playing well in the preseason, putting up a 100.82 passer rating on 33 passes. Darnold is a better pure thrower of the ball than Purdy and it’s time for the 49ers to give him a shot. The 49ers have week 9 bye before facing the Jacksonville Jaguars and if I was Kyle Shannahan I would use the extra time to get Darnold as many reps with the starting receivers to build their chemistry. If the Sam Darnold experiment works, I have the 49ers winning the Super Bowl.

Read “Post Deadline NFC Playoff Picture Pt.2” for continuation.