Eighteen NFL teams are still fighting for playoff spots with two weeks left in the regular season. Four teams have clinched spots, and 10 are eliminated.
Certain players will have a big impact on their team’s playoff hopes. These 10 players in particular need to keep doing what they’ve been doing and stay healthy to give their team a legitimate shot at a postseason berth.
Dolphins: Ndamukong Suh
Ndamukong Suh has never really been a flying-under-the-radar kind of player, but he might be doing just that in Miami.
Suh has kept his play fairly clean. He’s been penalized six times this season, but none of those penalties have been behavioral. He’s also helped the Dolphins compensate for a linebacking corps that already was a weak spot coming into the season and has been ravaged by injuries.
In the Dolphins’ 34-13 Week 14 win over the Jets, Kiko Alonso played 70 snaps. No other Dolphins linebacker played more than 24 snaps according to Pro Football Reference.
Suh and the defensive line have held the fort. Of the Dolphins’ 31 sacks, 26.5 have come from defensive linemen. Suh is third on the team with five sacks and leads the position group with 62 total tackles. He made three tackles for losses and recovered a fumble in the win over the Jets.
Vicious pic.twitter.com/KgXUZI4osx
— Marc Hochman (@MarcHochman) December 18, 2016
The Dolphins (8-6) will make the playoffs if they win their last two games. But they won’t be easy games to win. They go to Buffalo to face a team that is fighting for its playoff life and a coach who is fighting to save this job. Then they host the Patriots, although there’s a chance the Patriots rest some starters in Week 17.
On offense, the Dolphins are down to backup quarterback Matt Moore and opposing defenses are stacking the box against Jay Ajayi. Suh and the Dolphins’ defensive front will have to win games for them.
Steelers: Le’Veon Bell
The Steelers were supposed to score 30 points a game this season. Their offense was going to be the Greatest Show on Kentucky Bluegrass.
The last time the Steelers scored 30 points, they lost 35-30 to the Cowboys. Since then they’ve won five in a row and haven’t scored 30 points once during that stretch.
Le’Veon Bell has powered the Steelers’ winning streak with 713 rushing yards and five touchdowns. He ran for a franchise-record 236 yards in a Week 14 win at Buffalo.
Despite being suspended for the first three games of the season, Bell is third in the NFL with 1,146 rushing yards. Antonio Brown is second in the league with 96 receptions, but the Steelers don’t have a legitimate No. 2 receiver. If anything, Bell is Ben Roethlisberger’s second option. He’s second in the league among running backs with 72 receptions.
Le'Veon Bell surpassed Jerome Bettis for the most scrimmage yards in #Steelers history by a player in their 1st 4-yrs w/ the team on Sunday: pic.twitter.com/EWaqCqfuuG
— Dom Rinelli (@drinelli) December 19, 2016
Unlike everyone else on that list, Bell has yet to take part in a playoff game because of season-ending injuries in each of the last two years. If the Steelers (9-5) beat the Ravens at Heinz Field on Christmas Day, they win the AFC North and if they’re in a position to rest their starters in Week 17 at home against the Browns, Bell should be wearing sweats on the sideline.
Texans: Lamar Miller
Now that Brock Osweiler is benched, it will be up to Lamar Miller to give the Texans a return on their offseason offensive investments.
Miller already has done that. He’s run for 1,073 yards and is 27 yards away from a career high.
Tom Savage will remain the Texans’ starting quarterback Saturday when they host the eliminated Bengals. If the Texans win that game, the AFC South will likely come down to their Week 17 game at Tennessee.
Savage steadied the ship on Sunday and allowed the Texans to come back from a 13-0 deficit to beat the Jaguars 21-20 at home. But unless Savage is the Tom Brady-type of comet that comes around the NFL once every 15 years, he’s not going to carry the Texans. The offense will have to flow through Miller, who suffered an ankle injury against the Jaguars but according to the Houston Chronicle said he’ll play Saturday.
Expect the fifth-year running back to do all he can to get into the playoffs for the first time in his career.
Colts: Anthony Castonzo
Andrew Luck played behind the 35th offensive line combination of his career Sunday, according to NFL.com.
This one wasn’t the worst, because for the first time since Week 2 of last season, Luck wasn’t sacked. The Colts upset the Vikings 34-6 at Minnesota and still have a heartbeat in the playoff race.
One of the few constants among the moving parts of the Colts’ offensive line has been left tackle Anthony Castonzo. He and rookie center Ryan Kelly are the team’s only two offensive linemen to start all 14 games this season, and they received the team’s second- and third-highest grades, respectively, on offense according to Pro Football Focus.
The Colts (7-7) must win their final two games and get tons of help to make the playoffs. The first of those wins must come at Oakland Saturday. The second win should be a little easier at home against Jacksonville.
Castonzo will have to keep the likes of Khalil Mack away from Luck Saturday for the Colts to stay alive.
Broncos: Justin Forsett
The Broncos’ playoff hopes are fading fast. They’ve lost three of their last four and finish the season against the two teams above them in the AFC West.
They were held to their fewest points since 2011 Sunday when the fell 16-3 at home to the Patriots. Wide receivers Emmanuel Sanders and Demaryius Thomas are the Broncos’ most talented players on offense, but they’re useless if Trevor Siemian can’t get them the ball.
It’s starting to look like the only way the Broncos play beyond New Year’s Day is if Justin Forsett can recapture the magic of 2014, when he ran for 1,266 yards.
Forsett, whose face is next to the word “journeyman” in the dictionary, has played for the Ravens, Lions and Broncos this season. In two games with Denver, he’s run for 54 yards on 16 carries. He ran for 19 yards on his first two carries Sunday, but it was a tease.
The Broncos (8-6) are at Kansas City on Christmas and host the Raiders in Week 17. As brutal as that schedule is, the Raiders are 29th in the league with 4.6 yards allowed per carry and the Chiefs are tied for 22nd with 4.4 yards allowed per carry. If Forsett can get some traction he could jump-start the Broncos offense.
Giants: Paul Perkins
The Giants can clinch a playoff spot with a win Thursday night in Philadelphia. They’re the antithesis of all these teams that need to win out and get help to make the playoffs. The Giants (10-4) could lose at Philadelphia and Washington and still make the playoffs.
It would take an epic collapse for the Giants’ playoff drought to reach six years, but one liability that could trigger such a catastrophe is their 30th-ranked run game.
Thanks to rookie Paul Perkins, the Giants didn’t look like they had the league’s third-worst rushing attack in Sunday’s 17-6 win over the Lions. The fifth-round draft pick ran for a career-high 56 yards on 11 carries.
The Paul Perkins signature dead leg. Nasty pic.twitter.com/NrMfRBPWKv
— Mike Renner (@mikerenner_) December 18, 2016
Rashad Jennings leads the Giants with 497 rushing yards, but Perkins has gained 168 of his 286 yards in the last four games. He hasn’t made anywhere near the impact that Odell Beckham Jr. did in his rookie season, but Perkins could be the missing ingredient that helps get Beckham to his first playoff game.
Packers: Ty Montgomery
Ty Montgomery came into the NFL as a receiver, but the Packers have plenty of those.
Jordy Nelson has 82 receptions, 12 for touchdowns. Davante Adams has 65 receptions, nine for touchdowns. Even tight end Jared Cook tied his season high with six receptions in Sunday’s 30-27 win over the Bears.
Running back is where the Packers needed help. Eddie Lacy is out for the season. James Starks has averaged 2.3 yards per carry. Don Jackson and Christine Michael weren’t the answer.
Thanks to Montgomery, the Packers have addressed that problem by tapping their surplus at wide receiver.
Montgomery ran for 162 yards on 16 carries with two touchdowns Sunday. He’s averaging 6.5 yards per carry for the season and the touchdowns are starting to come. Both of his TDs Sunday came inside the 5-yard line.
McCarthy on @TyMontgomery2: Did a good job being patient, breaking tackles & getting to the next level…He's a big back. He's a beast.
— Green Bay Packers (@packers) December 18, 2016
If the Packers (8-6) beat the Vikings at home Saturday and win at Detroit in Week 17, they’ll win the NFC North. They’ll need a balanced offense to do that and Montgomery provides the missing piece.
Vikings: Adrian Peterson
The Vikings are last in the league in rushing yards per game (70.6) and rushing yards per carry (3.0). They’ve lost seven of nine since starting the season 5-0.
Adrian Peterson returned Sunday from a torn meniscus he suffered in Week 2 and ran for just 22 yards on six carries as the Colts pounded the Vikings 34-6. It’s unclear if Peterson can get his feet wet quickly enough to rescue the Vikings’ offense, but he’s their only hope.
The Vikings (7-7) have to win at Green Bay Saturday to keep their flickering playoff hopes alive. If Peterson doesn’t show some life, they can forget about the playoffs.
Falcons: Vic Beasley
Vic Beasley, the eighth overall pick of the 2015 NFL draft, leads the NFL with 14.5 sacks. No other Falcon has five sacks.
Beasley’s ability to get to the quarterback is the best thing about a Falcons defense that’s ranked 25th overall and 30th against the pass. He’s had five sacks in the last three games. The Falcons (9-5) have won the last two, but they haven’t exactly faced the most dangerous quarterbacks. They beat Jared Goff and the Rams in Week 14 and Colin Kaepernick and the 49ers on Sunday.
If the Falcons win their two remaining games, they’ll win the NFC South. Even if they split those games they’re in good shape to make the playoffs. Those games are at Carolina Saturday and home against the Saints in Week 17.
Beasley will need to get his hands on Cam Newton and Drew Brees to give the Falcons a chance to take care of business and make the playoffs.
Buccaneers: Keith Tandy
The Buccaneers fell to the No. 7 position in the NFC after Sunday night’s 26-20 loss at Dallas, but remain in the thick of the playoff picture.
They can take a big step toward the playoffs with a win Saturday at New Orleans, but the defense will have to contain Drew Brees on the Superdome fast track.
Safety Keith Tandy intercepted Brees to close out the Bucs’ 16-11 win at Tampa Bay in Week 14. Tandy also intercepted Philip Rivers to clinch a 28-21 win over the Chargers at San Diego in Week 13. Those were the last two wins in a five-game streak that vaulted the Buccaneers into playoff contention.
Tandy also broke up four passes in those games as he replaced an injured Chris Conte. Even though Conte returned, Tandy got the start and made a career-high 14 total tackles Sunday night in Dallas.
Top-graded @TBBuccaneers tonight
TE Cameron Brate 87.1
CB Brent Grimes 83.4
S Keith Tandy 83.4
G Kevin Pamphile 81.6#TBvsDAL pic.twitter.com/tpXPMuoCC2— PFF (@PFF) December 19, 2016
Jameis Winston, the top overall pick in the 2015 draft, leads the offense and is a vocal leader for the entire team. But Tandy, a sixth-round pick in 2012, has made a difference on defense.
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