NFL Playoffs 2011: Power Ranking the Top 15 Players Left in the Postseason
The NFL playoffs for 2011 are officially through the Divisionals and it's on to the Conference Championships.
We have ourselves some good matchups for next weekend. The Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears will add another chapter to their storied rivalry in the NFC Championship Game, and the New York Jets will try to knock off yet another AFC powerhouse when they take on the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Championship Game.
All four remaining teams are chock full of star players, and each of them will play their part before all is said and done. And we just don't think it would be right if we didn't dish out some kind words about the best of the best.
So if you'll permit us, we're going to count down the 15 best players who are still playing in the NFL playoffs.
15. Jay Cutler
1 of 15
My original intention was to leave Cutler off this list entirely. But when you have the kind of game he had against Seattle on Sunday, well, the man deserves some props.
Indeed, he racked up 274 yards and two touchdowns on just 15 completions in pretty nasty weather and also added two rushing touchdowns. And that throw he made to Greg Olsen in the first quarter was a thing of beauty.
Naturally, I have my concerns about Cutler against Green Bay, as he hasn't played well against them this year and is unpredictable enough as it is. But when he's on, he's tough to beat.
14. Rashard Mendenhall
2 of 15
Not surprisingly, Mendenhall had to fight tooth and nail for every single yard against the Ravens on Saturday. He ended up with 20 carries, but for just 46 yards, and also had a fumble that led to a Baltimore touchdown.
However, Mendenhall also scored two key touchdowns and you might argue that he is the key player on offense for the Steelers.
Mendenhall had a very good game against the Jets in their first meeting in Week 15, totaling 17 carries for 99 yards and a touchdown.
On balance, of the running backs that are still going in the playoffs, Mendenhall is the best.
13. Santonio Holmes
3 of 15
Santonio Holmes may have just just seven catches for 66 yards through two games in the playoffs, but he still represents the biggest receiving threat that the Jets have.
Against the Patriots on Sunday, Holmes showed he still has a flair for the dramatic, as his touchdown catch early in the fourth quarter was eerily similar to his game-winning catch in Super Bowl XLIII.
On balance, it was tough to pick out the single best player in the Jets' offense. But because LT and Shonn Greene split the carries, Braylon Edwards can be erratic, and Mark Sanchez is still unpredictable until further notice, the title goes to Holmes.
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12. Mike Wallace
4 of 15
Steelers' wide receiver Mike Wallace has the kind of break-away speed the Patriots probably could have used in their loss to the Jets, who easily put the clamps on seemingly every single one of Tom Brady's options down the field.
Wallace was relatively quiet against the Ravens in the Steelers comeback victory, notching just three catches for 20 yards. But against the Jets in Week 15, he had seven catches for 102 yards, and let us not forget he had more receptions of 20 or more yards (26) during the regular season than anyone else.
Put simply, he could be the most dangerous big play receiver in the NFL, and he could play a huge role against the Jets.
11. Charles Woodson
5 of 15
I honestly didn't think I would ever get an excuse to ask this question after he left Oakland, but...is Charles Woodson going to be a Hall of Famer?
Feel free to debate that amongst yourselves. For now, it should be noted he has more tackles in this postseason than any other player that will be taking the field for Conference Championship weekend. He has 12 of those and also had a sack against Atlanta.
Woodson obviously isn't as fast as he once was. But he's smart as a whip, and he anchors what is a very good secondary in Green Bay.
Good luck, Mr. Cutler.
10. Tramon Williams
6 of 15
If you had asked me to produce this list at the start of the playoffs, Charles Woodson probably would have been the only Green Bay defensive back I would have considered for the final cut.
But Tramon Williams has been incredible in two games, notching three interceptions, each of which came at a clutch moment.
So yes, I am very much on the Tramon Williams bandwagon at this point, and I don't mind admitting it either.
Of course, another reason I like Williams going forward is because he now gets to face a quarterback that has been known to throw the ball to the wrong team on occasion.
9. Julius Peppers
7 of 15
Was Julius Peppers a good signing for the Bears?
Well, he was a key part of a Chicago defense that went from allowing over 23 points a game in 2009 to allowing just under 18 a game in 2010, and he made the Pro Bowl. So yeah, I'd say he was a good signing.
But let's keep this simple. If you were to line up all the remaining defensive lineman in front of me, and told me to pick one, I wouldn't hesitate in picking Peppers.
I suspect I'm not alone in this regard.
8. Greg Jennings
8 of 15
Aaron Rodgers has all sorts of options every time he drops back to throw the ball. But as the team's leading receiver and Rodgers' clear go-to guy, Jennings takes the cake as Green Bay's biggest receiving threat.
It actually strikes me as a little funny that I felt the need to rationalize his inclusion on this list. After all, he did finish fourth in the NFL in receiving yards and is coming off a 100-yard effort against Atlanta, so he's not exactly chopped liver.
Oh well. He's the Bears problem now.
7. Brian Urlacher
9 of 15
Is it fair to call Brian Urlacher's 2010 season a comeback?
Considering he missed all of 2009 with a dislocated wrist, I'd say so. It helped that he made the Pro Bowl for the first time since 2006. And he's been beastly lately, as he was named the NFC Defensive Player of the Month for December.
He was busy against Seattle, racking up seven tackles in a game that saw the Seahawks all but abandon the run. As much as they would probably like to, the Packers should know as well as I do they're not going to be able to run against the Bears. And Urlacher is one of the key reasons why this is so.
6. Darrelle Revis
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Is it a coincidence the two primary receivers of the Jets last two opponents (Reggie Wayne and Deion Branch) had a combined six catches for 60 yards?
Nope, it's not a coincidence at all. It's Revis Island.
Leading up to Sunday's matchup, Rex Ryan advised the Patriots and Tom Brady to avoid Revis altogether. If, like me, you watched Brady futilely look down the field in search of an open target, it was apparent that Revis didn't give them much of a choice.
Revis will have his hands full with Mike Wallace and Hines Ward, but one suspects he'll be up to the task.
5. James Harrison
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I've never met James Harrison, and I highly doubt that we'll ever cross paths. Nevertheless, I'm frightened of him. Very frightened.
After watching what Harrison did to Joe Flacco and the rest of the Ravens offense, the Jets should be too. Harrison had a total of seven tackles against Baltimore, and he also sacked Flacco three times.
It just seems that, win or lose, Harrison always tends to leave his mark on any given game. It's a good bet he will do just that against the Jets.
4. Clay Matthews
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Matthews had himself a pretty good sophomore season in 2010, as he was selected for his his second consecutive Pro Bowl and was also named Sporting News' Defensive Player of the Year.
On Saturday night against the top-seeded Falcons, Matthews was once again right in the middle of things. The Packers sacked Matt Ryan five times, and Matthews picked up two of those. He also added four total tackles, and was his typical beastly self.
The Bears have done a pretty good job of handling Matthews is their two matchups so far, as they have limited him to just five tackles and a single sack.
That being said, of all the linebackers still playing, Matthews is the best.
3. Ben Roethlisberger
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Big Ben wasn't exactly brilliant against the Ravens on Saturday, but he was pretty darn good, finishing the day with 226 yards passing and two touchdowns.
True enough, his fumble in the first quarter did lead to a Baltimore touchdown, but it was kind of on a freak play. So I daresay we can forgive him for that.
Regardless, what makes Big Ben dangerous (and earns him a high placing on this list) is his experience. He's won each of the last two AFC Championship Games he's played in, which were then followed up by two Super Bowl victories.
In other words, this is not his first rodeo. And you can bet he's not going to go down without a fight.
2. Troy Polamalu
14 of 15
Harrison is very good, but Troy Polamalu is the straw that stirs the drink for the Steel Curtain.
It often times seems like Polamalu is making it up as he goes along. Indeed, he very rarely stays in one place before the ball is snapped, and you just never know where he's going to be at any given moment while the play is in action.
What we do know for sure is he will inevitably find his way to the ball by the end of the play. And more often than not, he's making a play on it.
There's a reason Polamalu has been selected to the Pro Bowl in six of the last seven seasons, and it's because few defensive players impact a game as consistently as he does.
Call it a hunch, but this is probably going to be the case against the Jets.
1. Aaron Rodgers
15 of 15
Of the four quarterbacks still standing, none of them is more important to his team than Aaron Rodgers is to the Green Bay Packers. Luckily for them, Rodgers is playing at a whole other level right now.
Let's see, in two games so far, Rodgers has completed nearly 78 percent of his passes, thrown for 546 yards and six touchdowns, and has compiled a ridiculous quarterback rating of 134.5.
In the parlance of our times, that is stupid good.
If the Bears aren't able to come up with a plan for stopping Rodgers, they're doomed.
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