Bengals QB Joe Burrow will oppose Rams QB Matthew Stafford in Super Bowl 56 in only the second pairing of quarterbacks taken No. 1 overall. (Associated Press)
Running backs have been bit players in the NFL postseason
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland.
Lessons learned from the NFL postseason games …
1. Through 12 postseason games, there was no individual 100-yard rushing game and 13 100-yard receiving games. The survivors to Super Bowl 56 – Bengals and Rams – produced three 100-yard receiving games apiece. This does not speak well to what the Browns are doing. They had three 100-yard receiving games all season -- two by Jarvis Landry, who may not return for the final year of his contract. The Browns are built to run the ball. They’ve reinvested new contracts in backs Kareem Hunt and Nick Chubb, and guards Joel Bitonio and Wyatt Teller. Their 485 rushing attempts ranked ninth in the league and their 5.1 rushing average tied for first with the Colts. Neither rushing leader made the playoffs. Either the Browns are going to be an outlier or they have a lot of catching up to do. (Pun intended.)
2. Yes, it’s a passing league. And that adage applies even more to the postseason than the regular season. Super Bowl quarterbacks Joe Burrow (108.3) and Matthew Stafford (102.9) ranked second and sixth, respectively, in passer rating. Six of the top 10 quarterbacks reached the postseason, and five of the top 10 running backs. But the running backs take a back seat behind receivers in the playoffs.
3. Three times during the playoffs Browns kicking legend Phil Dawson tweeted, “Everyone think kickers aren’t that important?” or variations of that theme. Four of the 12 games were decided on walk-off field goals. The Rams won the NFC Championship with a field goal with 1:46 to play. The Packers lost a divisional round game partly because a field goal try was blocked. The Chiefs lost the AFC Championship partly because coach Andy Reid eschewed a chip-shot field goal at the end of the first half and came up 1-yard short of a touchdown. The Bengals advanced to the Super Bowl by kicking 12 field goals and scoring five touchdowns. Forty of their 72 points (55.5 percent) have been scored by rookie kicker Evan McPherson. The Rams have scored 30 of 84 points (35.7 percent) by kicker Matt Gay. Clearly, kickers are important, especially in the postseason. In the regular season, Gay was second in field-goal percentage (32 of 34, .941). McPherson was only 20th (28 of 33. 848), but he’s been a perfect 12 of 12 in postseason. Three of his postseason field goals have been from 54, 52 and 52 yards. The Browns have a kicking problem. Not only do they not have a reliable kicker, their coach too often eschewed field goals for fourth-down gambles. The Browns ranked 28th in the league in fourth-down efficiency (12 of 29 conversions).
4. The Bengals were second in the NFL in fewest penalties (72) and first in fewest penalty yards (620). The Rams were third in fewest penalties (76) and second in fewest yards (637). The Browns were 26th in penalties (112) and 29th in penalty yards (1,035).
5. The Bengals were 2-14 in 2019, which earned them the No. 1 overall pick (Burrow) in the draft, and 4-11-1 in 2020. Burrow concluded his second season with a 12-13-1 record in regular-season games. He’s 3-0 in postseason. Stafford was 0-3 in the postseason in 12 years with the Detroit Lions, and is 3-0 with the Rams. Burrow and Stafford are only the second pair of No. 1 overall draft choices to oppose each other in a Super Bowl. The others were Peyton Manning v. Cam Newton in Super Bowl 50.
6. The Bengals lost the coin toss in overtime in the AFC Championship Game but played defense and intercepted Patrick Mahomes on his third pass of the Chiefs’ first possession. The Bengals went on and kicked a field goal to win, 30-27. That was only the second time in 12 overtime games in the playoffs that the team that lost the coin toss won the game. The Chiefs, of course, beat the Bills in the divisional round when Mahomes took possession in overtime and scored a touchdown without Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen getting a possession. So now we have two marquee examples of the overtime experience in the postseason to fuel an offseason debate about changing the overtime rules. My guess is the rules will be changed to guarantee each team one possession in the postseason.
