Every week, it seemed like another quarterback went down. Every week, it felt like another team’s hopes were crushed by an injury to its most indispensable player.
So, in a season stained by the bevy of backup quarterbacks setting the sport back by decades, it should be no surprise that the eight teams still standing in the NFL playoffs largely kept their leaders upright.
None of the eight starting quarterbacks in this weekend’s Divisional round missed more than two games this season.
Each of them enters at a fascinating point in his career.
C.J. Stroud, after elevating a three-win Texans team to a division title, is in the midst of one of the greatest rookie seasons of all time and two wins from becoming the first rookie quarterback to start in a Super Bowl.
The Lions’ Jared Goff and the Bucs’ Baker Mayfield will face off for a spot in the NFC Championship after being written off by franchises that selected them with the No. 1 overall pick.
First-year starter Jordan Love, coming off a masterpiece in Dallas, could take the Packers to the NFC Championship quicker than Aaron Rodgers or Brett Favre did.
Brock Purdy can quiet the critics who label him a game manager for the Super Bowl favorite 49ers, demonstrating his status as “Mr. Irrelevant” no longer matters any more than Tom Brady’s selection at No. 199 did.
Patrick Mahomes can elevate his all-time legacy, looking to make the Chiefs the first repeat Super Bowl winner in two decades.
Still, no players have more at stake than Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen.
Following an offseason in which the Ravens explored trades for their franchise quarterback, Jackson led the team to the best regular season in the league. The 27-year-old is the heavy favorite to win his second MVP award. And no player with multiple MVPs in the Super Bowl era ever has failed to win a Super Bowl.
Jackson enters this postseason with one career playoff win. He enters with the memory of his top-seeded Ravens losing as a 10-point favorite against Tennessee four years ago, when Jackson committed three turnovers in a 28-12 loss. In four career playoff games, Jackson has a 55.9 completion percentage (vs. 64.5 in his career during the regular season), three passing touchdowns, five interceptions and five fumbles (two lost).
Another slow start could create flashbacks. In Jackson’s four postseason games, the Ravens have been outscored 26-0 in the first quarter with the quarterback throwing a combined two picks.
Jackson could survive another subpar performance, thanks to the league’s top-ranked defense.
Allen can’t expect similar support, following a Wild Card win over the Steelers that featured injuries to multiple Bills defensive starters.
Allen, also 27, may never have a better chance to send the Bills to their first Super Bowl in three decades. But first, he must slay the Chiefs, who have knocked Buffalo out of the postseason in two of the past three years. He must overcome the memories of back-to-back Divisional round losses, most recently featuring Allen throwing no touchdowns and an interception for the Super Bowl favorite in last season’s baffling 27-10 home loss to the Bengals.
Allen, who is 5-4 in the postseason with 20 touchdown passes and four interceptions, lit up the Chiefs for 329 yards and four touchdowns two years ago in Kansas City, but lost his chance at a Super Bowl in the span of 13 seconds and a coin toss.
This will be the sixth meeting between the Bills and Chiefs in the past four seasons. The Bills, who have won the past two, will be hosts for the first time — Mahomes plays his first road playoff game.
The Bills are riding a six-game win streak — beginning with a 20-17 win in Kansas City — but one that featured lackluster showings against the Chargers and Patriots, which followed a 6-6 start that revealed a less formidable and explosive roster than in recent seasons.
The title window may not remain open much longer for Buffalo, which entered Week 18 in danger of missing the postseason. The end may come quicker than they realize. After Jim Kelly and Bruce Smith led the Bills to four consecutive Super Bowl appearances, they missed the postseason the next year. Between 1994 and 2019, the franchise won one playoff game.
Next week, Jackson and Allen could face off in the AFC Championship — or become the face(s) of postseason failure.
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The Knicks will play more important games this season. But few will be as intriguing.
Just three weeks after RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley were traded to Toronto, the Knicks’ former first-round picks will return to Madison Square Garden with the Raptors on Saturday night (7:30 p.m., MSG).
While the Knicks — after Thursday night’s close-shave 113-109 win over the Wizards — have gone 8-2 since acquiring OG Anunoby in the trade, Barrett and Quickley quickly have become part of the Raptors’ foundation, especially after this week’s trade of Pascal Siakam.
Back in his native Canada, Barrett has excelled as a more focal part of the offense. Through 10 games, Barrett is averaging 20.2 points on 54.7 percent shooting from the field — he is a career 42.6 percent shooter — while posting what would be a career-high number in rebounds (6.9) and assists (3.6). On Wednesday, Barrett put up 26 points (on 14 shots) and eight rebounds in a win against the Heat; he added 17 points and six assists in Thursday’s loss to the Bulls.
Quickley, who made 27 starts in parts of four seasons in New York, has started every game since joining the Raptors. The impending free agent has unsurprisingly taken advantage of increased opportunities, averaging 31.4 minutes per game — he averaged 24.0 with the Knicks this season — with 18.0 points, 5.2 assists, 4.8 rebounds and 1.1 turnovers while shooting 45.2 percent on 3-pointers. In the win over Miami, Quickley had 17 points, nine assists and eight rebounds.
Thus far, both teams look like winners. Come Saturday, the perception will change.
Crashing Tide
No empire is eternal.
Not the Roman. Not the British. Not the Soviet.
Maybe not even Alabama.
For most of the past 15 years, the Crimson Tide have been the envy of college football, collecting six national championships and nine SEC titles, along with eight playoff berths since 2014.
But with the sudden retirement announcement from Nick Saban, the future of the most powerful brand in college football is in doubt.
As of Thursday, Alabama has seen 28 players enter the transfer portal (19 already had committed to other schools) and several highly rated recruits decommit from the Crimson Tide.
The list of potential departees includes five-star freshman left tackle Kadyn Proctor and star safety Caleb Downs — the first freshman in at least 53 years to lead Alabama in tackles — as well as second-leading rusher Roydell Williams and wide receiver Isaiah Bond, who led Alabama in receptions.
New head coach Kalen DeBoer can get the most out of any roster. He’s done it at Washington and Fresno State and Sioux Falls, compiling a combined record of 104-12 as a head coach. But as an untested recruiter with no ties to the Deep South, his rosters may look nothing like Saban’s.
That could spell the end of Alabama as a perennial national title contender in an increasingly competitive SEC, which will soon welcome Texas and Oklahoma to a league in which Georgia has become the team to beat.
Before Saban’s arrival, Alabama had one winning season in the previous four years. In the 23 years between Bear Bryant and Saban, the Crimson Tide won one national championship.
The loss of an all-time legend regularly spells doom for a successor, saddled with unrealistic expectations, a short leash and dampened enthusiasm.
USC has registered one top-five finish since Pete Carroll left 14 years ago. Nebraska, in the midst of seven straight losing seasons, hasn’t had a top-five finish without Tom Osborne’s players. Florida, which won the national championship in 2006 and 2008, hasn’t had a top-five finish since Urban Meyer resigned in 2010. Notre Dame didn’t finish in the top five in the first 17 years following Lou Holtz’s departure. In Georgia’s first seven years without Vince Dooley, the Bulldogs finished unranked five times.
Some programs seamlessly transition to the next era. Lincoln Riley picked up where Bob Stoops left off at Oklahoma. Ryan Day has kept Ohio State a title contender in the aftermath of Meyer’s resignation.
Currently, Alabama holds the fourth-best odds (+1000) to win the national title next season. If that holds — or drops — it would mark the first time in 15 years that the Crimson Tide aren’t a top-three preseason favorite.
What we’re reading 👀
⚾ Brian Cashman explained how he worked to squash a beef with Marcus Stroman before the Yankees signed him as a free agent. Stroman thinks the fit in The Bronx is great: “I’m not someone who shies away from the limelight,” he said during Thursday’s introduction.
🏒 The Rangers went bust in Las Vegas, flopping in a 5-1 loss to the defending Stanley Cup champion Golden Knights. Of note: The Rangers allowed three goals off the rush.
⚾ How the heck is Gary Sheffield tracking ahead of Alex Rodriguez in Hall of Fame balloting? The Post’s Jon Heyman has questions.
🏒 Kyle MacLean is preparing for his NHL debut with the Islanders with his father, John, the longtime Devil, behind the bench as an assistant coach.
🏈 It’s getting serious between Bill Belichick and the Falcons.
🏈 Odell Beckham still regrets the “distraction” of the infamous Giants boat trip, not the outing itself.
🎾 One-time American phenom Amanda Anisimova is back, surging into the fourth round of the Australian Open.
⚾ Jim Palmer says he was conned out of $1 million by a fake British hair stylist. Hate when that happens.
