Cardinals, Packers and Buccaneers all have cases to be called the NFC's best team
There is no shortage of quality in the NFC this season.
Three of the four division leaders — the Arizona Cardinals (10-2), Green Bay Packers (9-3) and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (9-3) — have won 75% or more of their respective games, with a combined point differential of a whopping 267 points.
With Week 13 just about in the books, the Cards, Pack and Bucs are the toast of the NFC — and perhaps the league, given the murkiness of the AFC.
Sure, there are the likes of the NFC East-leading Dallas Cowboys (8-4) and star-studded Los Angeles Rams (8-4) in the mix, but the buzz is squarely on the top trio at the moment.
Let's take a look at these contenders and see what the hype is really all about.
Arizona Cardinals
Health might be the only real weakness for this Cardinals team. Fortunately, quarterback Kyler Murray and wideout DeAndre Hopkins returned from their respective injuries over the weekend and didn't look too worse for wear.
After missing more than a month, Arizona's two offensive superstars returned In a 33-22 win against the Chicago Bears. Murray was out with a knee injury, while a balky hamstring kept Hopkins on the shelf for a total of three games.
Interestingly, the Cardinals didn't really skip a beat despite the month-long absences of Murray and Hopkins.
Veteran backup QB Colt McCoy helped guide Arizona to a 2-1 record during that stretch, which included two road wins against a pair of division rivals in the San Francisco 49ers and the Seattle Seahawks.
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Michael Vick explains why Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals were so impressive against the Bears in their Week 13 victory.
Running back James Conner has also been a revelation for the Cardinals. The 26-year-old is tied for second in the league with 12 rushing touchdowns despite having just three starts so far this season, taking over the job in Week 10 after Chase Edmonds went down with an injury.
And there is that word again — injury. If Arizona can keep its stars out of the training room, it's tough to poke holes in their credentials. Otherwise, with a top-four ranking in both points scored (28.6) and points allowed (18.7), the Cardinals are as well-rounded as they come.
Green Bay Packers
The Aaron Rodgers-led Packers are the most recent team to hand the Murray-led Cardinals a loss, which came back in Week 8 in Arizona. Rodgers missed Green Bay's next game while in COVID-19 protocols, which the Packers lost, but the reigning MVP has been the quarterback of record for all nine of the team's wins.
Rodgers has leaned heavily on the banged-up Davante Adams on the outside, who leads the team with 80 catches for 1,083 yards. That yardage total eclipses the total of 907 yards that Green Bay's other primary receivers — Allen Lazard (223 yards), Marquez Valdes-Scantling (309 yards) and Randall Cobb (375 yards) — have mustered combined.
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Emmanuel Acho liked was he saw when the Packers last played in Week 12.
But even if the Packers could be considered a bit over-reliant on Adams, they have another ace up their sleeves: the defense. Green Bay's defense ranks fifth in the league with 20.2 points allowed. It's forced 19 turnovers, tied for ninth-most in the league, and has eight games where it has at least two takeaways.
With Rodgers nursing a toe injury, the Week 13 bye for the Packers came at an opportune moment. Currently holding the No. 2 seed due to a better conference win percentage than the Buccaneers, a slip by the Cardinals could open the door for Rodgers & Co. to make the road to the Super Bowl in the NFC go through Lambeau Field.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
It has been mentioned ad nauseam, but the ageless Tom Brady is at it again. With 12 games under his belt this season, the 44-year-old is tops in the league in completions (347), attempts (508), yards (3,771) and touchdowns (34). A big reason for that success is a dominant offensive line, which FOX Sports NFL analyst Geoff Schwartz named one of the best in the league a week ago.
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Is Tom Brady this year's MVP? Skip Bayless explains why he thinks the Buccaneers QB should win the award.
While Brady is doing his normal Brady things in the league's top-ranked scoring offense with 31.4 points, he is also getting a boost from a run game that keeps opposing defenses honest. With nine total TDs and 1,067 yards from scrimmage already, Leonard Fournette is posting his best season as a Buccaneer. And when he's healthy, tight end Rob Gronkowski is reliable as they come and has a seemingly telepathic connection with Brady.
The questions for the Buccaneers center more on what is going on off the field, rather than on it. Sure, there are some defensive uncertainties, but the looming distraction of Antonio Brown's status has come to hog some headlines. The lightning-rod wide receiver was suspended, along with two other Buccaneers players, for misrepresenting his COVID-19 vaccination status.
As Skip Bayless of "Undisputed" put it on Monday, the Buccaneers would be better off eliminating the distraction altogether and cutting the wideout.
"If I were Bruce Arians, I would now go to management, I would go to ownership and say: 'I believe we need to do this for the sake of the team.' … Would it not send a strong message to the locker room if they just sent A.B. home?"
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Skip Bayless weighs in on whether the Bucs should cut AB.
So, there you have it. A trio of NFC teams with as good of a shot as any to plant a flag in the playoffs, but only one can be the NFC representative in the Super Bowl.
Or, perhaps another team works its way into the mix! With five more weeks of games to determine the field, a lot can change between now and then.
For now, though, the Cardinals, Packers and Buccaneers are in prime position to make it all happen.