WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 19 , 2022. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ SU D3
Collins played well for Wash-
ington after he shifted to a hybrid
role with the majority of his snaps
in the box. He has said he likes the
role but still views himself as a
safety. The team could propose
revising his contract, but Collins
would have to be open to taking
less to stay.
l Ereck Flowers, left guard:
The veteran returned to Washing-
ton in a trade with Miami last
season and proved to be a valu-
able piece of its offensive line. But
he has one year left, and it comes
with a $10 million cap charge, a
high price when Washington also
needs many other pieces. If it
wanted to keep him but lower his
cap hit, he would have to take a
pay cut for 2022. But the team also
could extend him another year or
two to keep the left side of the line
intact.
l Montez Sweat, defensive
end: The deadline for his fifth-
year option is May 3. If Washing-
ton exercises the option, the pro-
jected salary of $10.5 million for
2023 is guaranteed immediately.
If it declines, Sweat will be a free
agent after this season.
Terry McLaurin, wide receiv-
er: He’s eligible for a new deal, but
rarely do teams re-sign draft picks
before the start of their fourth
season. McLaurin has developed
into a franchise cornerstone, and
Rivera has said, “Terry is some-
body that we most certainly do
want to make sure we get some-
thing worked out going forward.”
But the most plausible time
would be near the end of the 2022
season, just as Washington did
with Chase Roullier in 2020 and
Charles Leno Jr. this month.
[email protected]
[email protected]Professional Football
so faster next time. I’m almost
resigned to expecting an 18-game
regular season in about a decade.
I also wouldn’t be surprised if the
playoff field grew to 16 in my
lifetime. This is an age of
excessive entertainment
inventory, and in the pursuit of
all these television and streaming
dollars, it’s getting more difficult
for all leagues to make decisions
that respect the purity and
quality of a sport.
This past weekend should have
been a small reminder to the NFL
that it needs to be careful. After
the longest regular season in
history, it looked like a haggard,
overextended league. It was a
super time, all right. Super dull.
[email protected]For more by Je rry Brewer, visit
washingtonpost.com/brewer.plenty will ignore that. And
perhaps the divisional-round
slate will cure all.
The concern isn’t merely in
reaction to the present, however.
The league is married to this
money grab. There will be
seasons in which the No. 7 seeds
will be worse than the Steelers at
the end of the Ben Roethlisberger
era and the Eagles at the start of a
retooling.
If you thought the rare
division winner with a losing
record was an eyesore, wait until
you get that in addition to
frequent 8-9 wild-card teams.
There will be more blowouts, and
there will be more injuries
during these games that
shouldn’t be played.
There’s no going back, either. If
anything, the NFL will stretch
itself even more, and it might dointense interest and a constant
desire for more. And every so
often, when the league and its
players see an opportunity to
make more money, they stretch
the product a little, adding to the
season and postseason, feeding
the can’t-get-enough crowd and
figuring fan passion will make up
for any weakening of quality.
This season, the NFL added a
17th regular season game to go
with its bigger playoff field. And
more was less. More yawns, less
fervor. More apathy, less
momentum.
The anticipation will return as
this week progresses. Plenty will
convince themselves that this
past weekend was merely
indicative of how great the
remaining teams are. The regular
season didn’t offer substantial
evidence of this greatness, butlike a joke.
With 14 of the league’s
32 teams qualifying for the
postseason, the NFL still has a
difficult playoff standard. At just
12 teams, though, it was ideal.
While the expanded format
allows most franchises to remain
in contention deeper into the
regular season, it also inspires
false hope. The rewards of seizing
more attention and generating
more revenue do not outweigh
the risk of inviting fraudulent
teams to your most important
party.
The NFL thinks it is invincible
because our American football
obsession is so strong and the
physical nature of the game
dictates the demand for action
will exceed what the sport is
capable of producing. It’s the
perfect situation: short season,because, for the first time, the
negative effects of enhancing the
playoffs surfaced. You saw
Kansas City and Tampa Bay, both
No. 2 seeds that would have been
enjoying a bye in the old format,
facing No. 7 seeds whose play
showed they didn’t belong. Don’t
blame Pittsburgh (9-7-1) and
Philadelphia (9-8) for finding a
way to make it onto the stage. But
their performances didn’t
showcase anything about the
NFL except for its laughable
insistence on trying to present
mediocrity as compelling parity.
A year ago, this new 14-team
playoff setup worked out better
than expected. The No. 2 vs. No. 7
game in the AFC was decided by
a field goal. In the NFC, the result
was a tolerable 12-point margin.
But this time, the extra games
made the opening round seemLopsided results happen, of
course. Kyler Murray isn’t the
first young quarterback to fall
apart in his playoff debut (though
few of his caliber have played as
poorly as he did Monday night).
Bill Belichick was probably due
for a big-game beatdown. If this
were the old 12-team playoff
bracket, those games — the Los
Angeles Rams’ 34-11 victory over
Arizona and Buffalo’s 47-17
pounding of New England —
simply would have represented
the disappointing half of a four-
game first round in which the
other two games held intrigue
into the fourth quarter. But why
have two duds when you can
oversaturate the field and double
the boredom?
The weekend felt like a slog
BREWER FROM D1
JERRY BREWER
Early playo≠ results show bigger doesn’t necessarily mean better, even for NFL
smoked them, 38-20, in early
October. The real test will come
Sunday at Kansas City, which
dominated the Steelers in a 4 2-21
victory this past Sunday and may
have found a new dimension with
versatile running back Jerick
McKinnon.
The Philadelphia Eagles have
a decision to make with Jalen
Hurts. Even as Hurts guided the
Eagles to a surprise playoff spot
and a 7 -2 mark in their final nine
games, questions persisted. The
Eagles thrived mostly against a
collection of motley opponents
and subpar quarterbacks. Coach
Nick Sirianni built an offense
around Hurts that relied on
power running, leading to
worries about what the Eagles
would look like against an
opponent they need to pass
against to beat.
A pa rtial answer arrived
Sunday, and it wasn’t pretty. The
Tampa Bay Buccaneers shut
down the Eagles in a 31-15
stomping, holding them to 12
yards on their first three
possessions and without a point
until the fourth quarter. Hurts
threw two interceptions and early
on missed wide receiver Quez
Watkins running wide open down
the middle for what could have
been a touchdown.
“We’re all going to say for
today's game he didn't play his
best game,” Sirianni said. “But
you don't take the body of work
that he had for 15 weeks and say
you put everything on this game. I
feel really good with what we
have in place at the QB position.”
The Eagles did not beat a
playoff team all season. General
Manager Howie Roseman is
willing to explore any potential
upgrade and is especially restless
at quarterback. Hurts proved his
leadership and is known to have a
capacity for improvement. But his
performance Sunday showed the
Eagles have a decision to make.
[email protected]The 49ers will head to Green
Bay after surviving a slew of self-
inflicted mistakes in the fourth
quarter of their 23-17 win over the
Dallas Cowboys, including the
kind of interception every 49ers
fan fears from Jimmy Garoppolo.
But they dominated the Cowboys
for three quarters with the high-
end talent that makes them a
stealth Super Bowl contender.
Deebo Samuel made one
crucial play after the next,
whether deployed as a wide
receiver or running back. Tight
end George Kittle was barely a
factor aside from being a d ecoy,
but he can dominate any game.
The 49ers’ defensive line
decimated the Cowboys, and if he
recovers from the concussion that
sidelined him for the second half,
Nick Bosa is essentially
unblockable. Despite flirting with
another devastating blown lead,
Kyle Shanahan remains a
symphonic play-caller.
Lambeau Field and Rodgers
carry a certain mystique. But the
49ers can win.
Josh Allen is a b ad man. In
their 47-17 demolition of the
Patriots, the Bills stretched the
limits of how dominant an NFL
offense can be. They scored a
touchdown on all of their
possessions before the final
kneeldowns. The Patriots’
defense served as a literal speed
bump — t he Bills would have
scored faster against air but
gained the same number of yards.
The Bills faced six third downs
(converting them all) and scored
seven touchdowns.
The reason is Allen. He plays
like the football version of James
Harden: He has every move, is too
strong to defend and can
distribute the ball or keep it
himself. Add it up, and he is an
offense unto himself. He makes
the Bills a threat to beat anybody.
The Bills constructed their
offseason with the singular aim of
overcoming the Chiefs. Theygoing back to college, only with
more victories and no major
injury as a rookie. Still, he must
make a leap that cannot be
presumed.
It is easy to overreact in the
moment. The one immutable law
of the recent NFL is not to bet
against Belichick. Now, though,
the odds are not in his favor.
The Green Bay Packers have
their hands full. The Packers
have won 41 games the past three
years and advanced to the NFC
championship game the past two
seasons. They have Aaron
Rodgers, a quarterback on the
cusp of winning his second
consecutive MVP award. They are
getting back Jaire Alexander, one
of the best cornerbacks in the
NFL. And it could all implode at
the hands of perhaps the hottest
team in the NFL.blowout loss at Buffalo and the
quarterback performances
elsewhere, brought the
realization he may never go
again.
Belichick will turn 70 in April.
For the remainder of his career,
he will have to go through Patrick
Mahomes, Josh Allen and Joe
Burrow to win the AFC. Justin
Herbert could join that elite
group. Lamar Jackson, despite an
injury-plagued down year, could
be considered part of it, too.
Belichick is facing what other
AFC franchises did for years
when they looked at Tom Brady
and Peyton Manning. It will
require an elite quarterback to
contend in the AFC. Do the
Patriots have one in Mac Jones?
The possibility shouldn’t be
dismissed. Jones has had a
trajectory similar to BurrowStafford played efficiently,
completing 13 of 17 passes for
202 yards and two touchdowns,
never once putting the ball in
danger after a spate of turnovers
late in the regular season. His
challenge will change this
weekend against the Tampa Bay
Buccaneers. Their defense will
provide more resistance against
the run. Tom Brady will put up
points rather than melting. For
the Rams to advance, Stafford
will have to make big throws and
avoid big mistakes. This is the
game he wanted — and the game
the Rams altered their franchise
to acquire him for.
Bill Belichick probably has
been to his last Super Bowl.
Belichick has defined modern
football and been to more Super
Bowls than any other coach. This
weekend, with the Patriots’On Saturday and
Sunday night,
Josh Allen and
Patrick Mahomes
amassed points at
obscene rates. The
Buffalo Bills
scored 47 points against the New
England Patriots. As if in
response, the Kansas City Chiefs
hung 42 on the Pittsburgh
Steelers. The Bills and Chiefs met
in the AFC championship game
last season. They will play one
round earlier this year, but make
no mistake: The marquee game of
the AFC playoffs will happen next
weekend.
Only eight teams remain, and
this is what to know.
Matthew Stafford has won a
playoff game. And now it ’s time
to see whether he can win a
capital-P Playoff game. The Los
Angeles Rams destroyed the
Arizona Cardinals, 34-11, as the
quarterback they acquired for a
haul of draft capital captured the
first postseason win of his 13-year
career.
The Rams looked dangerous
Monday night, with Odell
Beckham showing more
explosion than at any point since
his early Giants seasons, running
back Cam Akers making a
staggering return from a t raining
camp Achilles’ tear and a fast
defense not hampered by injuries
in the secondary. The Rams’
many stars, from Cooper Kupp to
Von Miller, played like stars.
That said, their opponent did
not ask much from them. The
Cardinals closed the season 4-7
after a 7-0 start. Coach Kliff
Kingsbury, developing an earned
reputation for late-season fades,
had little offensive plan and fewer
adjustments. Quarterback Kyler
Murray panicked often, refused
to take easy yards on scrambles
and flopped in his playoff debut,
including an atrocious pick-six
underhand fling from his own
end zone.
Postseason revelations: Bills’ Allen is armed and dangerous; Sta≠ord takes big step
On
the NFL
ADAM
KILGORE
HARRY HOW/GETTY IMAGES
The Rams’ Matt Stafford won his first playoff game Monday. Can he win another against Tampa Bay?for Stafford — in part because
Rivera balked at trading multiple
early-round picks and a veteran
player. This year, Rivera said he
would be more willing to give up
valuable assets, though Mayhew
added that the team will remain
“selectively aggressive.”
Veteran quarterbacks who
could be on the move include
Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers, Seat-
tle’s Russell Wilson, Houston’s
Deshaun Watson, Las Vegas’s Der-
ek Carr and Atlanta’s Matt Ryan.
If the team chooses to target
the draft as a means of acquiring a
quarterback, it could find itself in
a tough spot. The draft lacks a
clear-cut No. 1 quarterback pros-
pect, according to many analysts,
but if Washington does identify
one it wants to take, it might not
be able to sit back at the 11th pick
and risk another team selecting
him first.
Trading up within the first
round could be just as costly as
trading for a veteran. Last year,
one month before the draft, San
Francisco traded the No. 12 pick
and first-rounders in 2022 and
2023 to Miami for the third selec-
tion.
Mississippi’s Matt Corral, Pitts-
burgh’s Kenny Pickett, North
Carolina’s Sam Howell, Cincinna-
ti’s Desmond Ridder and Liberty’s
Malik Willis are considered the
five best quarterbacks in this
year’s class.Other positional needs
l Middle linebacker: Washing-Notable free agents
l Unrestricted: RG Brandon
Scherff, QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, RB
J.D. McKissic, LB Jon Bostic, S
Bobby McCain, OT Cornelius Lu-
cas, WR Adam Humphries, WR
Cam Sims, WR DeAndre Carter,
DT Tim Settle, CB Danny John-
son, CB Darryl Roberts, C Tyler
Larsen, TE Ricky Seals-Jones, ST
Troy Apke, LB David Mayo, LB
Jared Norris, CB Torry McTyer, RB
Jonathan Williams, DE Nate Or-
chard
l Restricted: QB Kyle Allen, QB
Garrett Gilbert, K Joey Slye
l Exclusive rights: C K eith Is-
mael, K Brian Johnson, DL Daniel
Wise, DL Bunmi Rotimi
Draft capital
Washington has the 11th pick
in the first round and all of its own
picks except for its fifth-rounder
— which it traded to Philadelphia
last year for sixth- and seventh-
rounders. The team used those to
select long snapper Camaron
Cheeseman and defensive end
William Bradley-King.
Quarterback search
While Rivera insisted that the
team is leaving all options on the
table to find a franchise quarter-
back, it seems likeliest Washing-
ton would find one via trade or
the draft.
If it trades for a veteran, the
price figures to be high. Last Janu-
ary, the Rams outbid Washington
WASHINGTON FROM D1
QB is Washington’s biggest —
but not only — o≠season need
guard: Washington franchise-
tagged Scherff for two consecu-
tive seasons, inflating his salary to
more than $18 million in 2021.
Keeping him on a third tag would
put him into quarterback range
($21.6 million), a wholly unfeasi-
ble number for a guard. Signing
him to a new contract will be
costly, too, considering he has
averaged $16.5 million the past
two years.
l Landon Collins, safety: Col-
lins has three years remaining on
his deal with cap charges of
$16.2 million, $17.2 million and
$15.2 million. But his salary isn’t
guaranteed, so if Washington
were to cut him, it would save
$6.6 million in cap space this year.in the season. The draft might be
Washington’s best option.
l Wide receiver: Washington
is hopeful Curtis Samuel returns
fully healthy to complement Terry
McLaurin next season, and the
team has had early discussions
with DeAndre Carter’s agent
about a new deal. But it needs
more depth. Humphries and Sims
are free agents, and Dyami Brown
was a non-factor his rookie sea-
son.
l Safety: McCain will be a free
agent if the team doesn’t re-sign
him, and Landon Collins’s future
is uncertain.Veteran contracts to monitor
l Brandon Scherff, rightton thought it solved this problem
when it drafted Jamin Davis in
the first round last year. But Davis
struggled to adapt to the “Mike”
position as a rookie, and Rivera
said after the season that he’s
better suited to play outside,
alo ng with Cole Holcomb. Bostic
is poised to hit free agency, and
other veteran options on the open
market are slim.
l Guard: Scherff could be on
the move unless he and Washing-
ton can agree on a long-term
contract, and filling his spot
wouldn’t be easy. Wes Schweitzer
showed promise in filling in for
him for four games last season,
but Rivera didn’t crown him a
potential starter when asked lateJOHN MCDONNELL/THE WASHINGTON POST
Veteran guard Brandon Scher ff could be on the move unless he can agree to a long-term contract.