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| (13-3) |
I hate to say it, but I can't buy on the Eagles. Without Wentz, the Eagles are a wild card team at best, which actually is saying something considering how good the NFC was this year. The Eagles still have a good selection of weapons in the armory, including an excellent run game brought on by Nelson Agholor and Jay Ajayi, a solid defense and a competent QB in Nick Foles...but the absence of Wentz will be as noticeable as the absence of Ferris Bueller. "Wentz? Wentz!?" If this team was in the AFC, I would certainly be giving them more credit at this point, but this is the NFC. With stiff competition from just about every other team in the hunt for the NFC crown, I'm afraid this Eagle is gonna head back to the nest early this year. Christ, I feel bad for them...
#2. Minnesota Vikings
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| (13-3) |
Skol Vikings! Who would've thought a 13-3 football team would be made up of second stringers like Case Keenum, Latavius Murray and Jerrick McKinnon? This is the type of team everyone should fear in the postseason: a team with something to prove. Their offense can strike in many ways, from Case's gunslinging pass game, to the powerful run game of Murray, to the careful running style of McKinnon. Two excellent tight ends in Kyle Rudolph and David Morgan and the superglue hands of Stephon Diggs and Adam Thielen round out this longship of a Viking offense. As for the defense, it doesn't just merely compliment the offense; it's the Vikings best weapon. Sometimes, the greatest sword is the shield, and this Vikings defense has been the equivalent of Fimbulvetr for some of the NFL's best offenses. The icing on the cake? Simple, their homefield advantage. With how forgettable I expect the Eagles to be in the coming weeks, the Vikings should maintain a homefield advantage all the way to the Super Bowl, and will likely be the first team to play at home for the Super Bowl. If that's not a motivator to win the NFC crown, I don't know what is. Brace yourselves, folks: these Vikings are looking to pillage and crush your city's hopes.
#3. L.A Rams
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| (11-5) |
Something wicked this way comes. After over ten years of being the NFL's laughingstock, the Rams have shrugged off the egg whites to be one of the best offensive threats in the league. Jared Goff has emerged from the cobwebs of a tumultuous rookie season as one of the league's best gunslingers. Todd Gurley III is a stud, knocking defenders around like a bull in Sevilla, Spain. Cooper Kupp and Sammy Watkins are corner threats, and the Ram's historically solid defense finally gets to see postseason glory. This is a team that flattened the 12th man in Seattle and made Sacksonville look like their 2016 selves. The Rams have the most intimidating logo in the NFL: it's about time they backed it up.
#4. New Orleans Saints
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| (11-5) |
When the Saints come marching in, you DON'T want to be in that number. One of the biggest surprises in the NFL this year, this team overcame a slow start to become what I consider to be the third best all-around team in the league (behind the Steelers and Vikings). A young offense, led by running backs Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram and a talented receiving core in Michael Thomas and Tedd Ginn Jr., is rounded off perfectly by the wily veteran QB Drew Brees, who looks to lead his Saints back to the promised land for only the second time ever. An equally young defense, led by pickoff king Marshon Lattimore, puts even the best offensive coordinators in the hot seat. Don't be fooled by that 11-5 record (and that fluke loss to the Buccaneers); this team is dangerous.
#5. Carolina Panthers
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| (11-5) |
THIS is a wild card team that earned their spot in the postseason. You paying attention, #5 seed Titans?? The Panthers are masters at controlling the pace of a football game. Their defense is smash mouth, and their offense is loaded with weapons young and old. Ron Rivera is an offensive visionary, always finding ways to frustrate the NFL's best defenses, even besting the Vikings and Patriots. Where this team falls short to the NFC's division champions, however, is consistency. On good days, Cam Newton is a double-headed dragon who can run the ball just as well as he can throw it. On bad days, he looks like a whiny teenager with a football helmet on. The Panthers beat the Patriots, the Packers with Aaron Rodgers, and the Vikings. Great, but they also lost to the Bears and barely beat the Jets and Bills. Once again, if this was an AFC team, they'd be surefire Lombardi contenders...but in the NFC, they're just another tough team in the hunt.
#6. Atlanta Falcons
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| (10-6) |
You know the NFC is tough when the former NFC champs are the sixth seed. The Falcons offense isn't nearly as explosive as it was last year, but don't sleep on these birds. The defense has molted their poor 2016 performance to rank 8th in points allowed. The offense isn't exactly a pushover either. Matt Ryan is still a solid threat in the pocket, and trying to guess where Devonta Freeman is gonna run is like trying to guess what NFC team is gonna make the Super Bowl this year. Unfortunately, this team is plagued by the NFC's incarnate of Andy Reid in Dan Quin, who choked away multiple leads this season. Look for this team to start strong, only to get stomped flat in the final quarter of play.
AND YOUR NFC CHAMPIONS....
The Vikings
I know, I know, y'all are gonna think I'm a fanboy. Make no mistake, this was a tough choice. The NFC is absolutely loaded; even the teams that barely missed the playoffs like the Cowboys and Seahawks were dangerous this year. These teams are truly the cream of the crop in the NFL, and I'd say the team that wins the NFC title is gonna take the whole damn thing. That team will be the Vikings. The Saints and Rams are great all-around teams led by their stellar offenses, sure, but the Vikings have an equally stellar defense to match it, in addition to a great offense of their own. The Panthers and Falcons won't make it that far against such stiff competition, and neither will the #1 seed Eagles without Carson Wentz. If I can fanboy for a second...SKOL!
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