With full crowds back in the stands and the threat of a positive test looming far less heavy, the NFL just about returned to its normal self this season and delivered one of the most exciting seasons we've seen in recent memory. An offseason swap of Matthew Stafford and Jared Goff felt big at the time, but few could've predicted exactly how much it would mean. The Rams went all in and built up a well-rounded roster built for a deep playoff run, and a Super Bowl was the end result. They edged out Joe Burrow and the upstart Bengals on a late Cooper Kupp touchdown catch in a really competitive 23-20 victory, with Kupp capping off his magnificent year with Super Bowl MVP honors. Kupp's explosion was one of the stories of this season, a historically good campaign in the NFL's first triple crown wide receiving season since 2005. Los Angeles' road to a title wasn't an easy one, as after rolling past Arizona in the Wild Card round each of their final three games would be just three-point victories, slipping past Tom Brady and the reigning champion Bucs in a Divisional Round classic and edging the Niners in comeback fashion before squeaking by the Bengals with all the marbles on the line. And speaking of that Divisional Round, man, where do we start. In maybe the best weekend of playoff football we have ever witnessed, all four games came down to the final seconds in four separate incredible games. The Bengals started it off knocking out the AFC's top-seeded Titans on a last-second field goal, and the 49ers delivered a stunner on the road in a snowy Lambeau Field, taking out the No. 1 seeded Packers on a game-winning field goal of their in one of the big playoff upsets we've seen in some time. The Rams went up big on the Bucs, 27-3 to be exact, before Brady and co. stormed back to tie it at 27, but a bomb to Cooper Kupp set up a game-winning field goal and a gutsy win road win for the Rams. And to cap it off, the Chiefs and the Bills played maybe the best of them all, exchanging blow after blow and reaching OT after Kansas City's iconic 13-second drive to get into field goal range, and they'd win it in the extra session on a Travis Kelce touchdown on the opening drive. It was Joe Burrow's moment in the AFC Title Game, however, as they overcame an early 21-3 deficit to stun the Chiefs at Arrowhead, winning in overtime on a game-winning field goal and sending Burrow to the Super Bowl in his first full year as a starter. Burrow already looks like one of the league's very best QBs, and his pairing with Ja'Marr Chase is going to give defenses nightmares for so many years to come. Aaron Rodgers moved into second in league history with his fourth MVP and second in a row, but his Packers fell victim to another devastating playoff loss that will inevitably leave Rodgers' future there in limbo once again. Rumors regarding Brady's retirement began to circulate just days before their first and only playoff game, but all the 44-year-old now in year 22 did was finish second in MVP voting with what was very possibly one of the three best regular seasons he's ever had. He's moving in the pocket better than he has in a decade and just threw the most passing yards he ever has, leading the league in passing yards and TD passes as he continues to defy any definition of Father Time that may have ever been conceived. Father Time did catch a few bodies, though, as Ben Roethlisberger called it a career after 18 seasons, as did the GOAT tight end Rob Gronkowski. And it nearly caught Brady too, as he announced his retirement on January 29th before unretiring less than two months after on March 13th, not your average retirement saga but enough to ensure at least one more year of Tom Brady. Big Ben wasn't close to his sharpest, but his Steelers slipped into the postseason with a Week 18 OT win over Baltimore, with an injury to Lamar Jackson dooming Baltimore down the stretch in a collapse from 8-3 to missing the postseason. It was T.J. Watt that helped keep Pittsburgh afloat despite their lackluster offense, taking another massive step forward and tying the NFL record with 22.5 sacks en route to his first DPOY. Pittsburgh-Baltimore wasn't the only wild Week 18 finish - it was actually one of the best regular season finales we've ever seen. The Chargers-Raiders SNF bout with a playoff spot on the line reached OT after Justin Herbert hit Mike Williams on the final play of regulation to tie the game, but the Raiders would win it with a game-winner as time expired in OT. A tie was the one result that would send both to the playoffs and eliminate Pittsburgh, but Brandon Staley was coaching for a win and it backfired. An inexplicable Colts loss to the 2-14 Jaguars ended their playoff hopes, while the 49ers overcame a 17-point deficit over the Rams to sneak into the postseason with overtime win of their own. Jacksonville still landed the No. 1 pick, while second went to the Lions, who started off 0-10-1 before winning their first game on a last-second touchdown as the clock ran out against the Vikings. Russell Wilson's time in Seattle ran out, as after a highly disappointing campaign he was traded to Denver, likely signaling a rebuild for the Seahawks after nearly a decade as one of the class franchises of the NFC. As the NFL eased its way back from the pandemic, we were treated with a really exciting regular season and an even better postseason. 9 of the 13 postseason games were within one possession including the final seven With Rodgers and Brady the top two MVP finishers, a sense of order felt restored, even as so much of both of their futures remain up in the air. And the Rams, with Matthew Stafford, Cooper Kupp, and Aaron Donald leading the way, powered through the postseason to win it all on their home field, embracing the all-in mentality, spending big, and reaping the rewards as Super Bowl champions.
Best Games
1. Bills 36, Chiefs 42 OT - Divisional Round
You're not going to find many games better than this one, a clash of the titans with everything on the line delivering some of the wildest last few minutes a football game can possess. Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen wouldn't stop making big-time plays, and Buffalo grabbed the momentum late as Allen hit Gabe Davis for a 4th and 13 touchdown to make it 29-26 Bills with 1:54 to go. A 64-yard Tyreek Hill TD gave the Chiefs the lead right back, but Buffalo seemed to have the last laugh on another Gabe Davis score with just 13 seconds left to put the Bills ahead 36-33. Even in a game that felt like the team with the ball last was winning the game, 13 seconds to get in field goal range just didn't feel plausible. Mahomes had other ideas, hitting Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce on back-to-back plays to set up Harrison Butker's game-tying field goal as time expired, and the Chiefs would march down the field on the first possession of overtime and hit Kelce again for the game-winning touchdown. It was a legacy game for both quarterbacks, with eight touchdowns between them and countless plays that probably should've won their team the game, making for an all-time great playoff game in a battle that should produce plenty more in the AFC going forward.
2. Rams 30, Buccaneers 27 - Divisional Round
Yeah, the top two games of this season came from the same day, and it was the only two games of the day in a Divisional Round Sunday we won't soon forget. The Rams were playing lights-out against the reigning champion Buccaneers, exploding to a 27-3 lead by the early 3rd quarter and holding onto a three-touchdown lead into the final seconds of the quarter. But we had a feeling Brady and co. weren't going down without a fight, as they stormed back with 24 unanswered points to tie the game, with the Rams falling apart down the stretch and a critical fumble with 2:32 to go setting Tampa Bay up for the game-tying score. With everything going wrong for the Rams they had one last chance to avoid OT, and Matthew Stafford hit Cooper Kupp for back-to-back huge plays, highlighted by a 44-yard bomb that set the Rams up to win it as time expired on a Matt Gay field goal. It was nothing short of a gutsy win for Los Angeles, averting disaster and golding on to take out the reigning champs, probably the most impressive victory in their eventual Super Bowl run and at the time easily the biggest win of Matthew Stafford's career.
3. Chargers 32, Raiders 35 OT - Week 18
In the final game of the 2021-22 regular season, the Chargers and Raiders went to battle on Sunday Night Football with the winner going to the postseason. Vegas looked in control with a 29-14 lead with under five to go, but a pair of Chargers touchdowns, including a Mike Williams TD catch on the final play of the game, saved Los Angeles' season and sent the game to OT in thrilling fashion. There was one catch, though, - if the teams tied, both got in, eliminating the Steelers. It wasn't the craziest thing for the teams to form some unspoken agreement to run out the clock and ensure safety for both of them, and there was a point where it seemed it might be headed that way with the clock winding down in the final two minutes and no sense of urgency from the Raiders to keep moving the ball. But Brandon Staley used a timeout with the Raiders just outside field goal range, and Vegas would move into position to kick a game-winner, which Daniel Carlson drilled as time in OT expired to send the Raiders to the playoffs and eliminate the Chargers at the last possible moment. You couldn't have asked for any more out of the regular season finale, producing one of the games of the year and a plethora of big plays with the final spot in the postseason on the line.
4. Bengals 27, Chiefs 24 OT - AFC Championship
The Bengals weren't given much of a shot in this one, a surprise to have even reached this point led by second-year man Joe Burrow looking to play spoiler at Arrowhead to a third straight Chiefs Super Bowl trip. And when they fell behind 21-3 in the 2nd quarter, it really didn't seem like their time. But the Bengals wouldn't go away, taking some momentum into the second half with a huge goal-line stand at the end of the first, and their defense turned a corner down the stretch while the offense began to found its groove. Cincinnati came all the way back and even took the lead late before Harrison Butker sent the game to overtime as regulation expired, but Von Bell's huge interception of Patrick Mahomes on the first possession of OT set the Bengals up for a game-winning field goal, which McPherson would drill for a second straight week and send the Bengals to the Super Bowl. It was an incredible moment for Cincinnati and this young star-studded offense, making their mark far earlier than expected and handing Kansas City their first AFC postseason loss in three years, reaching their first Super Bowl in 33 years in the process.
5. Cowboys 35, Patriots 29 OT - Week 5
Another wild one that gave us a fantastic last few minutes, these two storied franchises delivered one of the best games of the 2021-22 season. A Cowboys missed field goal gave New England possession late with a 21-20 lead, but a Trevon Diggs pick-six turned the game upside down and gave Dallas the lead right back. On the very next play Mac Jones hit Kendrick Bourne for a 75-yard touchdown to give the Patriots the lead right back, and the Cowboys worked their way into field goal range and sent the game to overtime with a kick in the last few seconds. Dallas forced a punt on the first possession of OT, and CeeDee Lamb caught the game-winning touchdown to win it for the Cowboys in a terrific back-and-forth affair in only the 14th ever meeting between the two.
Player Rankings
1. Cooper Kupp (WR - Rams)
It was a true dream season that Cooper Kupp put together in 2021-22, just about the perfect year for a wide receiver for a guy with only one 1,000-yard season to his name to that point. Kupp completed the triple crown of receiving with the league lead in receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns, the first to achieve that since 2005 and only the fourth player since the NFL-AFL merger. His marks in receiving and receiving yards were each the second-most ever and if his regular season brilliance wasn't enough, he delivered a dominant postseason as well, averaging 9.3 receptions for 119.5 yards over his four playoff games and being named Super Bowl LVI MVP cap off his truly incredible campaign. It was one of the great wide receiving seasons the league has ever seen, with all these incredible feats coming in his first season alongside Matthew Stafford in a duo that nobody could've imagined would grow this dominant.
2. Aaron Donald (DE - Rams)
Donald did his thing yet again here in 2021-22, and added the only accolade he was still chasing with a Super Bowl title that he played such a massive role in Los Angeles pulling off. No pass-rusher has to fight off blockers more than Donald, and he still totaled 84 tackles, 19 tackles for loss, 12.5 sacks and 64 pressures, also forcing four fumbles and making the play that sealed the Rams' Super Bowl LVI victory disrupting Joe Burrow's final 4th down pass that would fall incomplete. He finished third in DPOY voting and was named an All-Pro for a seventh straight season, though it took some serious convincing to keep Donald from going out on top this offseason, with the Rams luring him back for the all-time great to keep his legendary career going as he now works into his 30s.
3. T.J. Watt (EDGE - Steelers)
We knew T.J. was trending towards a season like he had here in 2021-22, but what he did this season was one of those you really had to see to believe. In only 15 games, Watt tied the NFL's all-time sack record with 22.5, also leading the league with 21 tackles for losses, forcing five fumbles, recovering three, and even scoring a touchdown in Pittsburgh's lone postseason game. He's the first player to lead the league in sacks in back-to-back years since 1988, and he's now totaled double-digit sacks in four straight years, finally earning his first Defensive Player of the Year honor after his historically good statistical season. As the Steelers approach a new era with Ben Roethlisberger gone, Watt is the face of this franchise and a top-two defensive player in football.
4. Aaron Rodgers (QB - Packers)
Another year, another MVP for Aaron Rodgers, who tore it up again leading the Packers to another 1-seed in the NFC, capturing his second consecutive Most Valuable Player award and fourth in his career. Rodgers threw two picks and struggled mightily in Green Bay's season opener, but he was nothing short of incredible from that point on, tossing 37 TDs and 2 INTs the rest of the way with the highest QBR and passer rating in football in another fantastic season now at 38 years old. The consistency was off the charts for Rodgers, even with a COVID issue costing him a week, playing intelligent football the entire way, avoiding mistakes, and looking like the league's very best quarterback for a second straight season here in year 17.
5. Tom Brady (QB - Buccaneers)
As much as I would've liked to give this spot to Trent Williams, whose 2021-22 season earned the highest grade PFF has ever given out, I just couldn't justify leaving Brady off after he made the list a year ago and put up far better numbers this time around in his age-44 season. Last season Brady looked like a rejuvenated self down the stretch and took that to a whole new level this season, suddenly as agile as he's been in a decade, able to throw the ball downfield as good as he ever has, and somehow able to take on as big a workload as he ever has in his 22nd season in the National Football League. Brady led football in passing yards, touchdowns, and took the least sacks in football, and his 5,316 passing yards were the most he's ever thrown en route to a runner-up finish in MVP voting. It's obviously incredible what Brady continues to do it at his age, and the fact that so much of his game looked more youthful this season that many years past just fully transcends what logic and words can explain.
Best Performances
1. Joe Burrow, Week 15 - 37/46, 525 YDS, 4 TDs in crucial win over Ravens
This was easily the best quarterback performance of the 2021-22 season, and I'm going as far as calling it the best overall performance any player put together this season . Burrow was incredible, finishing 37/46 for 525 YDS, and 4 TDs, in a key divisional win over the Ravens, with his 525 passing yards good for fourth in NFL history and the most in franchise history. Even with a big lead Burrow kept letting it fly, throwing touchdowns to Tee Higgins, Tyler Boyd, and Joe Mixon with both Higgins and Ja'Marr Chase totaling 125+ yards through the air. The Ravens' depleted secondary simply had no chance in this one, as this was peak Joe Burrow and a scary realization to defenses nationwide exactly what the rising superstar is capable of.
2. Jonathan Taylor, Week 11 - 204 total yards, 5 TDs in blowout win over Bills
What a performance this was for Jonathan Taylor, just an unstoppable force welcoming the workload in the most impressive showing of his great young career. An offense with 106 passing yards putting up 41 points likely means something special out of the running back, and Taylor ran for 185 yards and 4 touchdowns, adding another 19 yards and one more score through the air on a day in which he accounted for 204 of Indianapolis' 370 total yards. He carried the rock 32 times at a rate of 5.8 yards/carry, already finding the end zone five times through three quarters who put the game well out of reach in easily the best game the Colts would play the entire season. As he did all year Taylor embraced his heavy usage and more than made the most of it in this one, becoming just the fifth player to ever total 200+ scrimmage yards and 5+ touchdowns in the Super Bowl era.
3. Chandler Jones, Week 1 - 5 sacks, 4 tackles for loss, 2 forced fumbles in win over Titans
There was no stopping Chandler Jones in the 2021 season opener, setting the tone in Arizona's statement road win and posting the most sacks any player would have all season in the very first game of the year. Jones had five sacks and six tackles, four for loss, with all six hitting the quarterback and forcing two fumbles in the process, both of which recovered by the defense. No defensive player filled the stat sheet more than Jones in this one, earning him NFC Defensive Player of the Week honors as he accumulated 46 total sack yards, setting the Titans back nearly half the length of the field with all of the havoc he wreaked.
4. Ja'Marr Chase, Week 17 - 11 RECs, 226 YDS, 3 TDs to clinch AFC North vs. Chiefs
Now Chase had already been in the midst of one of the great rookie seasons we've ever seen, but he hit a whole new gear in this huge matchup with Kansas City, totaling 11 catches for 226 yards and 3 touchdowns in the Bengals' biggest win in years, knocking off the Chiefs to secure their first AFC North title since 2015. Chase hauled in a 72-yard bomb of a touchdown to get the Bengals on the board after falling behind early, and he caught another one in the 2nd quarter to help keep Cincinnati afloat with the Chiefs' offense unable to be stopped early on. Chase was far from done, catching a 69-yard TD just less than two minutes into the second half, and on the Bengals' final drive with the game tied at 31, he had a pair of 30+ yard catches that helped put Cincinnati into field goal range and win it in the final seconds. This marked the most receiving yards a rookie has ever had in a single game and the most of any player this season, just an unstoppable display of greatness in the banner performance of his OROY campaign.
5. Derrick Henry, Week 2 - 237 total yards, 3 TDs, huge late scores in OT win over Seahawks
It was one of those days for Henry, another vintage performance where no amount of attention was going to come close to limiting his production. You would't have guessed it early on, as Henry went into the halftime locker room with just 35 rushing yards and Tennessee trailing 24-9, but he found the end zone of the first drive of the second half to put the Titans right back in the game. The Seahawks held firm for a while though, hoding into a two-touchdown lead heading into the 4th, but a 60-yard Henry TD run brought them back in it again. Needing a touchdown on their final drive Henry took matters into his own hands, working his way down the field both on the ground and through the air and sending the game to OT with a game-tying score with just 29 seconds to go. And four Henry carries on their second possession of overtime was all they needed, setting up the game-winning field goal with Henry putting the offense on his back in a gutsy road win in a very hostile environment. He finished with 182 rushing yards and 3 TDs on 35 carries, good for 5.2 yards/carry, and added 6 RECs for 55 YDS to complete his fantastic showing.
Best Moment - Chiefs' 13-second drive to force OT, beat Bills in Divisional Round
There were moments in this Divisional Round classic where both teams seemed down and out, but none more than the Chiefs getting the ball at their own 25 with 13 seconds on the clock trailing by a field goal. Even for an offense with Patrick Mahomes, Tyreek Hill, and Travis Kelce it seemed too improbable a task, as the Chiefs would have to have a flawless next two plays just to have any chance at getting in range for the game-tying field goal. First, Mahomes hit Tyreek Hill about five yards past the line of scrimmage, and he'd run another 15 with only five seconds coming off the clock. The next play was the big one, needing probably 15 more just for the luxury of attempting a really long field goal, but Mahomes found Travis Kelce in stride all the way down to the Bills' 31-yard line on a 25-yard connection, miraculously getting Kansas City into very makable field goal range with just 3 seconds to go. And Butker would drill it, and after winning the coin toss in overtime, the rest was history as the Chiefs won the instant classic and can eternally point to that 13-second drive as one of the greatest playoff moments a team has ever pulled off.
