12. Washington Commanders
Jayden Daniels has been operating the Kliff Kingsbury offense at such a high level all year. The Commanders have a variety of guys – young and old – making plays for that offense and they ran the ball pretty darn well against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday night. Of course, whenever they run the ball really well, it’s a testament to the running abilities of Jayden Daniels, who passed Robert Griffin III for most rushing yards by a rookie in league history vs. Atlanta.
Daniels has all but locked up NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year at this point. The question now becomes what the Commanders can do with this newfound life for their franchise.
They have everything ahead of them with an opportunity to play some spoiler in the NFL playoffs as the 7th seed, possibly the 6th seed depending on what happens with Green Bay this coming week.
You can’t help but be intrigued with this Commanders team, especially with the way they’ve played against both the Eagles and Falcons in the last couple of weeks. They have the look of a dangerous team with so many explosive offenses in the NFC this season.
11. Los Angeles Chargers
What does Jim Harbaugh do? He completely changes the culture of every program he touches. From San Diego to Stanford, from San Francisco to Michigan, and now in Los Angeles. The Harbaugh effect is real and the Chargers took care of business on Saturday afternoon against the New England Patriots to secure, at a minimum, one of the top six playoff spots in the AFC Wild Card race.
The Chargers will now await the final results of what transpires between now and the end of the season to determine where they will be headed in the Wild Card round, but it feels like a road trip to Baltimore will be in their near future.
The Chargers have done a great job of adjusting and adapting quickly to the way Harbaugh likes to manage games and the culture he builds. They have been tough defensively all year long and if that continues into the postseason, they are going to be a tough out in the Wild Card round for Baltimore.