With the NFL season winding down, most years fans have a decent feeling as to their team’s status regarding contending and can generally stack that up against other sides around the league, with clear favourites emerging. At this point of the season though, I still don’t have that kind of for sure feeling about a group of teams I could say will be battling it out for conference championship games and, of course Super Bowl honours. With the league being seemingly quite wide open, there might be some room for potential dark horses to make some noise come playoff time, and we are going to identify those teams as we sit here entering Week 16 soon.
Now, with the table nicely set for this one, there is nothing else to do than dig into those dark horse franchises for this year’s Super Bowl.
Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jaguars are one of the teams who have seemingly benefited from an all-out rebuild of their front office and coaching staff, as they have roared to a 10-4 record to this point of the season. Their head coach, Liam Coen, has transformed their offensive unit with his modern ideas on the game and has, in recent weeks, unleashed Trevor Lawrence to the extent many thought he would be at Clemson.
The development of Lawrence was the most critical factor for this franchise, and if these past few weeks aren’t just a flash in the pan, but rather what Lawrence has turned into as a signal caller, the Jaguars should be in great stead looking forward. After back to back 200+ passing yard and 2+ touchdown performances, Lawrence exploded against the Jets for just shy of 400 total yards with six touchdowns and no interceptions. His performance led his side to a 48-20 win and added another very solid feather in the cap of the Clemson product.
Outside of Lawrence, at the trade deadline the Jaguars finally got him a reliable, savvy veteran wide receiver in Jakobi Meyers, who has seemingly unlocked the Jaguars with his ability to always be in the right place. While his numbers haven’t been ridiculous, the pressure he has taken off the likes of Lawrence and Bryan Thomas Jr. has been immense for the overall success of the unit in the absence of Travis Hunter.
Lastly, the Jaguars can be legitimate because their defence has been showing up and showing out for the majority of the season, providing the offence with a backbone during their teething period. Just looking at the analytics, the Jaguars are the sixth best team in regards to EPA per play, which is a critical metric in today’s NFL. While they aren’t filling up the box score from individual standpoints, the unit as a whole operates rather smoothly and could allow them to make some noise come playoff time.
Houston Texans
Normally, when you talk about teams launching a Super Bowl bid, it is because of the offence and the quarterback at the helm of that group. However, for DeMeco Ryans and the Texans, it starts with the men on the other side of the ball.
The Texans defence, to this point of the season, lead the league in most of the important metrics like EPA per play, yards allowed per game and many more, but the way they just flat out fly around the park is eerily similar to the Legion of Boom in my opinion. To begin with, they might have the best one-two punch off the edge, with Danielle Hunter and Will Anderson constantly destroying blockers and wreaking havoc in the backfield. Then, throw in their young and extremely athletic secondary to complement this group and you have a scary combination. That secondary is led by a top-three corner in Derek Stingley, who is backed up by budding stars like Jalen Pitre and Kamari Lassiter, who are certainly making their presence felt this season.
The thing about Super Bowl teams is you have to be complete on both sides of the ball, and while their offence is not high octane by any means, they are beginning to find their way. With C.J. Stroud back from his nasty concussion and playing some quality football against the Cardinals, going for 260 yards and three touchdowns, and finally linking back up with his No.1 wideout Nico Collins recently, there is reason for optimism.
Now, I am not sure they have everything they need in regards to their offensive line, run game and weapons outside of Collins to make a real run, but that is why they are being slept on. But who knows, if this defence keeps rolling, they may only need 20 points each game to win in the playoffs.
San Francisco 49ers
In what has been a season against the odds for San Francisco, they are somehow 10-4 after their Week 15 win against the Titans. What makes this season quite remarkable for San Fran has been the way they have navigated medium to long term injuries to key players.
Just to list some of the critical injuries they have sustained, they have spent time without Nick Bosa, Fred Warner, Brock Purdy, Ricky Pearsall, George Kittle, Christian McCaffrey, Mykel Williams and so many other starters that makes it absurd they have not only stayed afloat, but are already at 10 wins.
A lot of the success they have had can be attributed back to their coaching staff, obviously led by Kyle Shanahan, who remains one of the best offensive minds in the game while being able to make the most of what is available to him. What he has also done is add an elite defensive coordinator who is familiar with his system in former Jets head coach Robert Saleh. Together, they have formed quite the duo that has been able to consistently raise the floor level of the side.
Now, I would be remiss if I did not mention the players, because luckily for them most of their offensive talent has returned from injury. With the likes of Brock Purdy, George Kittle, Christian McCaffrey and the rest of their playmakers back, it has eased the burden on the coaching staff having to be perfect week in and week out.
The worry for them will be on the defensive side of the ball, as while Robert Saleh can scheme up a successful unit, he is still lacking his key force multipliers. With Nick Bosa and Fred Warner set to miss the rest of the season, they will need to ensure the unit as a whole is greater than the sum of its parts if they want to become an outside Super Bowl contender.