8 players who will swing the NFL divisional round
Eight teams remain in the NFL playoff bracket as the divisional round begins. The following players span every position group on the field and will help determine which squads advance this weekend.
Jaguars at Chiefs
Travis Etienne, JAX running back: Trevor Lawrence's torrid finish to the wild-card win over the Chargers overshadowed Etienne's productive evening. While Lawrence took a while to heat up, flinging four interceptions before he fired four touchdown passes, Etienne was a bright spot in the first half and gained 121 total yards from scrimmage to help power Jacksonville's legendary comeback.
Etienne converted four first downs on the Jaguars' various second-half scoring drives. Feeding him the ball diverted pressure from Lawrence and opened space for the quarterback's downfield strikes. Facing fourth-and-1 on the final series, Etienne bounced outside and rushed for 25 yards to tee up Riley Patterson's decisive field goal. The NFL's ninth-leading rusher in 2022 was influential in his playoff debut.
The Chiefs gave up more than 100 rushing yards in two of their three losses this season and in seven of the 10 one-possession games they played. Establishing the run could help Jacksonville move the chains and keep the score close while Lawrence tries to go shot for shot with Patrick Mahomes.
Trent McDuffie, KC cornerback: Lawrence made Asante Samuel Jr. look elite in the first half of the Chargers matchup. The Los Angeles cornerback was the first player to intercept three balls and defend six passes in a playoff game, per Stathead. No one had recorded those numbers in the regular season since 2001.
By PFF's player grades, Samuel was the NFL's 13th-best cover corner this year. He ranked one spot ahead of McDuffie, the first-round rookie who missed close to two months with a hamstring injury. Healthy since November, McDuffie allowed a season-high six catches for 59 yards when Kansas City beat Jacksonville in Week 10, though only three went for first downs.
Jacksonville's top receivers, Christian Kirk and Zay Jones, combined to catch 11 passes for 131 yards and two touchdowns in the second half of the wild-card game. They burned L.A.'s coverage all over the field. The Chiefs will count on McDuffie to clamp down on one of them and, perhaps, nab his first career pick.
Giants at Eagles
Kayvon Thibodeaux, NYG edge rusher: The No. 5 draft choice in 2022 stumbled to start his rookie season. Thibodeaux recorded a scant three QB hits through his first eight appearances. Then he landed five QB hits against the Cowboys on Thanksgiving, powering a late-year glow-up for himself and New York's pass rushers.
Thibodeaux was named the NFC's top defensive player in Week 15, when he scored on his own strip-sack and racked up 12 tackles against the Commanders in prime time. His rise coincided with edge rusher Azeez Ojulari's breakout, complemented nose tackle Dexter Lawrence's All-Pro campaign, and helped boost the Giants to 13th in the NFL in sacks, up from 21st around the midseason mark.
The Giants sacked Jalen Hurts seven times over a pair of losses to Philadelphia. The quarterback's shoulder sprain continued to affect him in the regular-season finale, but Thibodeaux was a healthy scratch in that game. He'll only faze Hurts if he can circumvent the Eagles' offensive line, which earned PFF's top collective pass-blocking grade.
T.J. Edwards, PHI linebacker: Philly's defensive linchpin was a member of our midseason All-Riser team, which celebrated his ascent to stardom as a fourth-year pro.
Edwards remained excellent all season. The No. 3 linebacker in PFF's player grades finished second in the NFL in tackles with 125. About 40% of them were stops, defined as a tackle that caps an ineffective offensive play. Edwards broke up more passes (seven) than every linebacker except Buffalo's Tremaine Edmunds and allowed the lowest reception rate for the position when targeted (65.7% with no touchdowns conceded), per PFF.
Edwards, who played 94% of Eagles defensive snaps in 2022, didn't leave the field in Week 18 despite facing the Giants' backups. Emergent dual threat Daniel Jones will test the scope of his abilities on Saturday. The rest Edwards enjoyed during Super Wild Card Weekend could be restorative: His best performance in coverage this season (89.1 PFF grade) came in a blowout win over the Steelers right after the Eagles' bye week.
Bengals at Bills
Hakeem Adeniji, CIN offensive tackle: Decimated by injury, the Bengals' O-line thrust three backups into starting roles in recent weeks. One of them is Adeniji, who was responsible for three sacks as the right guard in last year's Super Bowl defeat and was demoted to the bench when Cincinnati revamped the line in the offseason.
Adeniji allowed three pressures and a sack in the wild-card round as La'el Collins' replacement at right tackle. After Collins tore his ACL on Christmas Eve, right guard Alex Cappa (ankle) and left tackle Jonah Williams (dislocated kneecap) went down in back-to-back games against the Ravens and are out week to week. Those were big blows to a line that was finally safeguarding Joe Burrow (29 sacks in the first half of the season, 12 in the second half).
Burrow doesn't flinch when the pocket collapses. He ranked second behind Josh Allen in passer rating this season on dropbacks where he faced pressure, per PFF. Obviously, the Bengals would prefer to keep him upright. They need Adeniji to repel Bills edge rusher Gregory Rousseau when the second-year budding star lines up across from him.
Josh Allen, BUF quarterback: No QB booms and busts like Allen, which makes him riveting to watch. He led the NFL in approximate value, Pro Football Reference's catchall performance metric, for the second straight year. But he also committed the most turnovers in the league (19) and gave away the ball three times in the wild-card round.
Allen's gunslinging ultimately buried the Dolphins last weekend. He completed a season-high seven big-time throws, defined by PFF as a downfield toss that's perfectly placed. Yet his carelessness allowed Miami to storm back from 17 points down, forcing Buffalo to rally to beat a pedestrian opponent. Dolphins passer Skylar Thompson was the only wild-card starter who added fewer expected points per play, according to Ben Baldwin's database.
Allen is much better than that. Mahomes was the only QB who threw and ran for more touchdowns in 2022. The Bills put up 30 or more points in eight games, equaling the league high. Still, Allen could stand to be more judicious against the Bengals, whose defense ranked sixth in points against and eighth in takeaways after finishing 17th in both categories last season.
Cowboys at 49ers
Michael Gallup, DAL wide receiver: The Cowboys' pass attack runs through CeeDee Lamb, the All-Pro who ranked fifth in catches and sixth in receiving yardage this season. But a secondary playmaker occasionally steps up. Gallup and tight end Dalton Schultz combined to snag 12 passes for 141 yards and three touchdowns in the wild-card round, clicking with Dak Prescott as Dallas routed the Buccaneers.
San Francisco's defense is mightier than Tampa Bay's. The 49ers allowed the fewest points against (16.3 per game), snatched a league-high 20 interceptions, and ranked fourth in DVOA against opposing No. 1 receivers, per Football Outsiders. But the Niners were 18th in DVOA when defending No. 2 wideouts and 30th in DVOA against the opponent's remaining receivers.
If they blanket Lamb, could Gallup have a big afternoon? The fifth-year pro returned in October from an ACL tear and only surpassed 50 receiving yards once in 2022. That said, Gallup overtook Noah Brown as Prescott's No. 2 wideout in the latter half of the season, and he made impressive downfield grabs against the Bucs shortly before Schultz and Lamb scored touchdowns.
George Kittle, SF tight end: San Francisco's wealth of playmaking talent is peerless. Four of Brock Purdy's receiving targets average more than 40 yards per game, the highest figure in the league. Brandon Aiyuk stretches the field, Deebo Samuel's 12 broken tackles led all NFL wideouts, and Christian McCaffrey doubles as a 1,000-yard rusher.
Purdy and Kittle forged a connection down the stretch. Seven of Kittle's 11 touchdown snags, the league's third-best total, came as Purdy helmed the offense in the final four weeks. No tight end generated a higher passer rating for his quarterbacks when targeted this season, per PFF. Throwing to Kittle is smart and fruitful, though the Seahawks limited him to two receptions for 37 yards in the wild-card round.
San Francisco edged Dallas in the playoffs last January even though Kittle only hauled in one pass. The 2022 Cowboys held tight ends to one paltry TD catch in the regular season (Cole Kmet for the Bears in Week 8). Will they stifle Kittle, will Purdy target his passes elsewhere, or will Kittle rebound to peak form and carry the Niners to their 12th straight win?
Nick Faris is a features writer at theScore.