Three games remain in the 2016 NFL season.
The Packers visit the Falcons in the NFC championship game Sunday and the Steelers visit the Patriots in the AFC championship game.
Super Bowl LI will be played Feb. 5 in Houston.
After that will be three months of draft talk, and many people won’t know what they’re talking about.
Players who turn out to be busts will be talked about like someone already ought to be chiseling away at their bust for Canton. Players who turn out to be key contributors or even stars won’t be talked about at all.
These players fell into the latter category, and they all have a chance to get to Super Bowl LI.
No. 10: Geronimo Allison
Geronimo Allison might get goosebumps Sunday, because he’s returning to the place where he played his first NFL game.
Not that reminiscing about his debut requires a long memory. It came in Week 8 at Atlanta. The rookie caught a touchdown pass in the Packers’ 33-32 loss.
Allison’s biggest contribution came in Week 16 and Week 17 when Randall Cobb was out. Allison caught four passes for 66 yards in a 38-25 win over the visiting Vikings and he caught four passes for 91 yards and a touchdown in a 31-24 win at Detroit that clinched the NFC North.
Allison is questionable Sunday with a hamstring injury. Davante Adams and Jordy Nelson also are questionable. This is the NFC championship. It’s hard to imagine Allison not being out there trying to find the end zone like he did in his debut.
No. 9: Lane Taylor
The Packers made a bold decision to cut three-time Pro Bowl guard Josh Sitton at the start of the season.
Thanks to Lane Taylor, that decision doesn’t seem so terrible now.
In his fourth season since going undrafted in 2013, Taylor started every game this year on an offensive line ranked No. 5 in the NFL according to Pro Football Focus.
One player getting hot for the Packers at the right time: left guard Lane Taylor. Didn't allow a pressure, good run blocking.
— Nathan Jahnke (@PFF_NateJahnke) January 16, 2017
Taylor soaked up about as much spotlight as a left guard can on Aaron Rodgers’ 36-yard pass to Jared Cook that set up the Packers’ game-winning field goal in their 34-31 divisional-round win at Dallas.
With Rodgers rolling to his left, Taylor was out in space and looking for something to do. He blocked Tyrone Crawford just before Rodgers let the pass fly and broke the Cowboys’ hearts.
No. 8: Brian Poole
Brian Poole gained a ton of notoriety in the Falcons’ 36-20 divisional-round win over the Seahawks by flattening Russell Wilson and denying him a first down early in the fourth quarter.
Casual fans might have asked “Who’s that guy?” but that play probably didn’t surprise the Falcons. The rookie safety has broken up 10 passes, recovered two fumbles and added a sack and an interception this season. That interception terminated the Panthers’ first possession in a Week 16 game at Carolina. The Falcons already had a 7-0 lead, and converted the turnover into a field goal and a 10-0 lead. They went on to win 33-16.
The Falcons have to find a way to cool off red-hot Aaron Rodgers on Sunday, but Rodgers better be careful when he tucks the ball away and runs with it. Just ask Wilson.
No. 7: Eli Rogers
Eli Rogers has made some big catches for the Steelers during their late-season surge and playoff run.
He caught a 24-yard touchdown pass, the Steelers’ first touchdown of the game, midway through the fourth quarter to give his team a 24-20 lead at Cincinnati. The Steelers won by that score and Rogers caught five passes for 75 yards in that Week 15 game.
The following week, Rogers caught four passes for 84 yards, including a leaping 20-yard grab that put the Steelers in the red zone on their game-winning drive against the Ravens. The Steelers clinched the AFC North with that 31-27 win.
In the Steelers’ 18-16 divisional-round win over the Chiefs, Rogers caught five passes for 27 yards. The last of those receptions was a five-yard gain that brought the ball to the Steelers’ 12-yard line with just over two minutes left. That set up third-and-3 and Antonio Brown’s game-clinching catch.
The Steelers signed Rogers as an undrafted free agent after the 2015 draft. He looked like he had a shot to make the team before suffering a season-ending knee injury. He earned a roster spot this year and with 48 catches was third on the team behind Antonio Brown and Le’Veon Bell. Rogers also tied for second on the team with three receiving touchowns.
Rogers will have to keep up the good work Sunday and make those key catches in the slot. The Steelers will need to tap every resource to beat Tom Brady at Gillette Stadium for the first time.
No. 6: Chris Hogan
Chris Hogan is enjoying his first taste of the playoffs after spending the first four years of his career in Buffalo.
Hogan caught 38 passes during the regular season for the Patriots, second on the team among wide receivers. He averaged 17.9 yards per reception, tied with DeSean Jackson for first among receivers with at least 38 catches. The longest reception of his career came in the Patriots’ 30-23 win over the visiting Ravens in Week 14. The Ravens had just pulled to within 23-20 with 6:35 left in the game, and on the first play of the next drive Hogan caught a pass from Tom Brady on a post pattern to restore the Patriots’ two-score lead.
Hogan has caught at least four passes in five of the last seven games, including his four-catch, 95-yard performance in the Patriots’ 34-16 playoff win over the Texans last week. He’s questionable for Sunday’s game with a thigh injury. If he can play, he’ll continue to be instrumental in the Patriots’ effort to reach the Super Bowl without Rob Gronkowski for the first time since Gronkowski’s career began.
No. 5: Ramon Foster
After Ben Roethlisberger was sacked a career-high 50 times in 2009, the Steelers went to work building their offensive line with high draft picks. They drafted center Maurkice Pouncey in the first round of the 2010 draft, right tackle Marcus Gilbert in the second round of the 2011 draft and right guard David DeCastro in the first round of the 2012 draft.
Ramon Foster was there before any of them, joining the Steelers as an undrafted free agent in 2009. He’s started at least 14 games every year since 2011 and this year has been a key cog in an offensive line that allowed Roethlisberger to be sacked a career-low 17 times in the regular season and twice in two playoff games.
Through 13 weeks this season, Pro Football Focus ranked Foster the NFL’s 24th-best offensive lineman and apparently that ranking held up for the rest of the season.
Top-graded OGs in the NFL
1. Marshal Yanda, Ravens, 92.0
2. Ramon Foster, Steelers, 88.8
3. Zack Martin, Cowboys, 88.3 pic.twitter.com/i4XkjwawlA— PFF (@PFF) January 19, 2017
No. 4: Taylor Gabriel
If you’re 5’8″, 176 pounds, go undrafted, then get cut by the Browns after two seasons your NFL career is probably over.
Except that Taylor Gabriel scored more touchdowns that Julio Jones this season.
The wide receiver caught six touchdown passes among his 35 receptions and ran for a touchdown. He averaged 16.5 yards per reception, eighth in the NFL among players with at least 25 catches.
Gabriel caught four passes for 71 yards in the Falcons’ 36-20 win over the Seahawks in the divisional round. Three of those catches were part of scoring drives, including an 18-yarder in a nine-play, 99-yard drive that led to a touchdown and a 19-10 Falcons lead just before halftime. The Falcons were in control from that point.
If Gabriel gets to hold the Lombardi Trophy, Hue Jackson might get a Christmas card from him every year.
No. 3: Malcolm Butler
Malcolm Butler was a rookie from Division II West Alabama who played in sub packages in 2014, and he picked a good spot to make his first career interception.
The cornerback picked off Russell Wilson in the end zone with 20 seconds left in Super Bowl XLIX, burning the Seahawks for not putting the ball in Marshawn Lynch’s hands and preserving the Patriots’ 28-24 victory.
Butler wasn’t about to become some bit player known only for one moment of Super Bowl glory. He became a Pro Bowler in 2015, intercepting two passes and breaking up 15. This season, he picked off four passes and broke up 16 in the regular season.
He has some work to do against the Steelers on Sunday.
In case you're wondering, @AntonioBrown has 15 catches for 230 yards and a TD in two games when Pats CB Malcolm Butler has shadowed him.
— Gerry Dulac (@gerrydulac) January 19, 2017
Considering the Patriots’ history, one would think there’s some kind of adjustment being made this week.
No. 2: LeGarrette Blount
LeGarrette Blount went undrafted in 2o10 after being suspended for eight games of his senior season at Oregon for punching a Boise State player after a game.
The running back’s seven-year career has been bookended by 1,000-yard rushing seasons. Blount ran for 1,007 yards in his rookie season with the Buccaneers and turned in his second 1,000-yard season by rushing for 1,161 this year while leading the NFL with 18 rushing touchdowns.
Blount ran for a season-high 127 yards and scored two touchdowns against the Steelers, his former team, in a 27-16 win at Pittsburgh in Week 7. Blount was with the Patriots in 2013, then the Steelers signed him to be Le’Veon Bell’s backup the next season. Blount sulked when he didn’t get any carries in a game in which Bell ran for 204 yards. The Steelers released Blount for that and the Patriots took him back.
Blount’s role has been reduced in recent weeks with the return of Dion Lewis. He ran the ball 14 times for 51 yards in the regular-season finale at Miami and eight times for 31 yards in the Patriots’ 34-16 divisional-round win over the Texans.
It wouldn’t be surprising if the Patriots have a play or two drawn up for Blount on Sunday considering the acrimonious way he left Pittsburgh.
No. 1: James Harrison
Not only was James Harrison not drafted, he was cut three times and didn’t win a starting job until he was 29.
Harrison owns the Steelers’ franchise record with 79.5 sacks. All but four of them have come since he turned 29. Harrison is still playing at 38, but he’s not just hanging around in a ceremonial role. He led the Steelers with five sacks this season and has 2.5 so far this postseason.
Harrison, Ben Roethlisberger and long snapper Greg Warren are the only Steelers on the current roster who were part of the 2005 and 2008 championship teams. Harrison had 16 sacks in 2008 and was named the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year. Long before Malcolm Butler entered the NFL, Harrison had a memorable Super Bowl interception of his own when he returned one 99 yards for a touchdown in the Steelers’ 27-23 win over the Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII.
The Steelers aren’t expecting that on Sunday, but without a contribution from Harrison the Steelers have little chance of upsetting the Patriots.
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