By this time of year, we've seen 17 regular-season games from every NFL team, and we feel like we have a pretty good handle on each team's identity, strengths and weaknesses. Well, I'm here to tell you why you're wrong about all 14 teams in the NFL playoff field.
No matter how big the sample size gets, some stubborn "facts" about these teams sometimes persist -- even when they aren't actually true. If a team develops a reputation, it can stick, even as evidence sneakily piles up in the background to dispute those claims. We're here just in time to explain why things everyone believes to be true about each playoff team might actually be false.
Here are our annual playoff mythbusters, with a big assist from ESPN researcher Paul "Hembo" Hembekides and the ESPN Research team. We picked out one thing most believe about each of the 14 playoff teams and debunked it. Hopefully you enjoy and learn something along the way. Let's start with the NFC, and teams are ordered by seeding.
Jump to a team:
BAL | BUF | DEN | DET | GB | HOU | KC
LAC | LAR | MIN | PHI | PIT | TB | WSH
NFC
1. Detroit Lions
Myth: Quarterback Jared Goff is great only because of the great players around him.
It's easy to see why someone would think this. Just look at what's available to Goff every time he drops back. Amon-Ra St. Brown is one of the most reliable receivers in the league, catching 115 passes for 1,263 yards this season. Jameson Williams is a big-play threat with rare downfield speed and has developed into a big part of the offense. Tight end Sam LaPorta is as good as it gets at the position, especially as a red zone target. And if he wants to hand it off, he might have the best running back tandem in the league with Jahmyr Gibbs (who led the league with 20 scrimmage touchdowns) and David Montgomery (currently out with a knee injury).
All of this behind what might be the league's best offensive line? Easy to see why Goff is thriving, right?
