Fifty-one most important people left in NFL playoffs

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Fifty-one most important people left in NFL playoffs Published: Jan 19, 2017 at 03:01 AM Around The NFL Podcast Co-Host We're down to the final four teams left kicking and screaming. With the rest of the league mired in a long winter's dirt nap, who still matters? Who still has the might to alter David Schlemko Jersey the course of this campaign? Here's my list of the 51 most important people left in this NFL season: 51) , fullback: This is the kind of player that used to get John Madden dangerously hot and bothered. More than just an easy fan favorite, Ripkowski -- the league's third-best fullback, per Pro Football Focus -- has turned into a memory. 50) , safety: No defense this season has done a better job against the deep ball than Pittsburgh. Mitchell and fellow safety have surged down the stretch, with Mitchell going out of his way to leave a lasting impre sion on anyone in his path. 49) , safety: Atlanta's defense doesn't get (or deserve) much love, but with this hard-hitting rookie on the field. The allow a 61.6 QBR and 4.2 yards per carry with Neal in the lineup. Without him, those figures stretch to a 74.4 QBR and 5.0 yards per tote. 48) Carl Cheffers, NFL official: "Who in God's name is Carl Cheffers?" you ask. : He's the man reportedly , marking his first appearance in the big game. Everyone is happy for Cheffers, , who know him as the fellow who flagged tackle for a game-crushing holding call against the . 47) Facebook Live: Every Championship Week needs an acce sible/juicy controversy. his coach and quarterback talking like a pair of riled-up sailors in Pittsburgh's locker room. It's a scenario ripe for overly serious hot takes, but nobody will care what Brown zapped out to 1 million-plus viewers if he fries the . 46) , linebacker: When I mentioned this a signment to my fellow Around the NFL writers, Gregg Rosenthal said only this: "No. 46: ." Your wish is granted, sir. 45) Ernie Adams, secret weapon: Operating in the deep shadows, New England's special-projects maven serves as Bill Belichick's right-hand man and a mysterious season-to-season X-factor. He was also in Dallas the day Kennedy was shot and spent 14 untraceable years in Cuba, Nicaragua and the outer provinces of Beirut. 44) Joe Buck, Troy Aikman and Erin Andrews, FOX broadcast crew: No announcing cadre has a bigger a signment in 2017. Handling LI, Buck and Aikman will appear in millions of households worldwide. Something tells me they're up to the task. 43) Todd Haley, offensive coordinator: With his against his former employer in Kansas City out of the way, Haley is busy preparing the most important game plan he'll author all season. Another workhorse day for -- or does Haley unleash in the biggest spot po sible? 42) Dante Scarnecchia, offensive line coach: As we mentioned in the Patriots- preview, Scarnecchia could With 350-pound behemoths at his disposal instead, Belichick's longtime aide knows what Sunday boils down to: protecting Tommy at all costs. 41) , linebacker: The haven't exactly mi sed , but Hightower -- a second-team All-Pro -- finished with the third-highest pa s-rushing grade among players at his position, per Pro Football Focus. He leads a stout run defense tasked with maintaining gap integrity against -- something no team has mastered since before . 40) and , pa s rushers: Yes, I know. Two people. Not one. Both had better wreak havoc , though, if this up-and-down defense plans to keep the from dropping a meaty 40-burger on the Pack. 39) , wideout: He's not a guy you feed play after play. If you're , you wait for the perfect moment to unfurl a golden deep streak to the lightning-quick Gabriel. When it works -- and that's often -- it usually doubles as a knife to the heart of Atlanta's doomed opponent. 38) , safety: A quinte sential Belichick player, McCourty goes about his busine s without much fanfare. Bringing unmatched consistency to the safety position after years at cornerback, the 29-year-old McCourty also understands how to answer questions the way his grumpy coach would. Asked this week what a lo s to Pittsburgh would mean, McCourty told scribes: He's not wrong. 37) , wideout: With -- and certainly not at full power -- it goes without saying that Adams must eliminate the late-season drops, shake off last week's ankle tweak (easier said than done) and produce one of the better performances of his career against the high-flying . 36) , tight end: The hoped to pummel teams with the combo of Bennett and , but now it's up to Bennett to cro s the 40-yard barrier for just the second time since Week 10. 35) , receiver-turned-running back: His transition to the backfield should be viewed as a succe s. When Montgomery is touched within 1 yard of the line of scrimmage, he averages 4.5 yards per carry, tops among all runners, . With Green Bay able to spread him out in motion all over the field, Montgomery has emerged as a versatile ingredient in the Green Bay offense. 34) , cornerback for much of , Gunter must shake off against of the . Having given up (or both) in four games this season, Gunter is far from shutdown material. 33) , guard: It's pretty simple: He's an unsung hero anchoring one of the finest lines in football. Joe Pavelski Jersey 32) , running back: The emergence of takes some of the weight off Blount, but the workhorse totaled his second-highest carry total all year (24) against the . Don't be stunned if the use him in volume to counter the Pittsburgh blitz. 31) , pa s rusher: Getting to is akin to , but Beasley -- the NFL's regular-season sack leader with 15.5 -- must put Atlanta's front seven on his shoulders this weekend. Letting Rodgers roam free is a death sentence. 30) Lady Gaga, halftime diva: She absolutely crushed the national anthem in 50, but some remain suspicious about Gaga's ability to pull off this year's halftime show. I'll save the definitive pop-culture analysis for someone else, but me? I dig her. She's floating around dive bars, belting out tunes and basically not giving an F what anyone thinks. I like the cut of her jib. 29) The ' backfield: and have combined for 171 scrimmage yards per game and 27 touchdowns on the year, both tops among running back duos. That means they're good. 28) , pa s rusher: Pure versatility. After mi sing most of his rookie season, New England's second-year quarterback-chaser in sacks (seven) and quarterback hits (12) and gives the team a player who can line up both inside and out. 27) Josh McDaniels, offensive coordinator: Nobody in the league does a better job of preparing game plans and seamle sly shapeshifting New England's attack from week to week. He'll be a head coach again before long -- and he'll be a good one. 26) , safety: He made the play of the week on defense , jumping the route to pick off a screen pa s. Far from luck, it was a quick decision that came from of the Dallas offense. Turnovers WILL determine Sunday's Packers- showdown, turning Hyde into an obvious X-factor. 25) , pa s rusher: With four sacks and a team-high 14 quarterback hits this season, Tuitt is one big reason the lead the NFL in sacks since Week 11. 24) , center: Atlanta's offensive line was a disaster for years. -- arguably the league's top free-agent signing last offseason -- to solidify the unit and help propel to a likely MVP award. After so many years of toiling for the , Mack finished the regular season as the league's third-best center, per PFF, while bolstering his reputation for being one of the toughest players around. 23) The Georgia Dome: No reason for this time around. The final game in the Georgia Dome is upon us, and fans are tasked with making life next to impo sible for . Big moment for an often-overlooked fan base. 22) , defensive tackle: Dominant in the Wild Card Round, Daniels is PFF's highest-rated interior lineman from any of the four remaining teams -- and Green Bay's great hope for stopping Atlanta on the ground. 21) , wideout: gets all the attention, but the star is actually second in the NFL in receiving yards per game (92.4) to Edelman (98.3) since Week 9. Coming off a monster eight-catch, 137-yard outing , Edelman has served as 's unrivaled security blanket since that point. 20) Keith Butler, defensive coordinator: One of the league's most underrated coordinators, Butler has turned Pittsburgh's defense into a roaming terror. Taking over for the legendary Dick LeBeau was no small order, but Butler has won over fans everywhere with his handiwork in 2016. 19) , tight end: It goes beyond his with the game on the line . With Cook in the lineup, is 10-2 with 31 touchdowns and just two picks. Without Cook, that ratio falls to 15:6 with a 2-4 win-lo s record. 18) Dan Quinn, coach: Quinn is 1-0 with the against and the after going 3-0 against Green Bay as defensive coordinator of the . If he pulls off another win, Quinn will become the first coach to reach the in his second season since Jim Harbaugh in 2012. 17) , left tackle: It's no surprise that our four remaining teams sport ultra-sturdy offensive lines. Bakhtiari leads a front five that's as good as any at protecting the team's multimillion-dollar investment under center. 16) , linebacker: With incredible closing speed and agility, Shazier has notched a pick in four straight games, tied for the longest such streak since the 1970 merger. 15) , running back: After Lewis last week with his three-touchdown explosion, fans want to see him do it again. fans, of course, have no tangible memory of human struggle. 14) Kyle Shanahan, offensive coordinator: Just like that, he's likely coaching his last game in Atlanta (and maybe his last with the Falcons). , Shanahan will depart after spinning pure magic this season. That won't be so easy to replicate with whomever San Francisco sticks under center. 13) , wideout: As someone who definitely overshares photos of my two kids on Facebook, I'm giving Brown a free pa s on . He can shut everyone up with a monster weekend on enemy soil. 12) (by way of Jordy Nelson), wideout: With Nelson looming as a long shot to play, Cobb must continue his January hot streak. Averaging more receiving yards per game in the playoffs than in the regular season by a margin of 40-plus, he's the key to Green Bay's air a sault. 11) , cornerback: He could have gone down in history as , a la Timmy Smith and David Tyree. Instead, Butler has morphed into a top-10 cover man with a career-high four picks and 17 pa ses defensed this season. 10) , pa s rusher: I'm simply not convinced he's human. 9) Mike McCarthy, coach: For a team that churns out winning seasons without interruption, it sure feels like McCarthy's been put through the ringer this season. Just once, I'd love to see him rip off his giant green coat and dance around the field like a giddy schoolgirl. Too much to ask with a win ? 8) , wideout: One reason to ? The Julio vs. Antonio matchup alone would make for a fascinating ride into the bizarre. 7) , quarterback: With another win, would join an elite group of signal-callers -- Joe Montana, Terry Bradshaw, and Troy Aikman -- to win three-plus world titles. If he stumbles, it's fair to wonder if and when the 34-year-old pa ser will make it back to the brink of another . 6) Mike Tomlin, coach: If he can squeeze Brent Burns Jersey two more victories out of this team, Tomlin has a chance to move into the exclusive club of coaches with two or more wins. I dig his style: He runs old-school, aggre sive training camps, dials up two-point conversions left and right and has been known to drop into Pittsburgh-area dive bars and buy a round of drinks for the entire place. A man of the people! 5) , quarterback: Brady should be higher on every list ever made. If he winds up winning his fifth Lombardi, he can print out this article, light it on fire and scatter it to the Ma sachusetts night. 4) , running back: Churning out perhaps of any player ever, Bell is the NFL's most enjoyable player to watch right now. For me, it's not even close. 3) , quarterback: Zooming toward an MVP nod, Ryan has a chance to completely re-engineer his legacy with a win in LI. With Shanahan on the move, it's fair to wonder if Ryan will ever reach these heights again. 2) Bill Belichick, coach: With a win over the , Belichick would pa s Don Shula for the most appearances by any head coach in NFL history. Either way, this is the best coach we've ever seen. By a country mile. 1) , quarterback: Superman at his peak, operating at a level beyond Earthlings. There's no better football player heading into Sunday's slate of mad showdowns. Sit back and drink it in, humans. This article has been reproduced in a new format and may be mi sing content or contain faulty links. 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