With the AFC and NFC champions crowned and the Super Bowl 50 matchup decided, we’re taking a look back at the conference-title games to evaluate whose stock is rising and whose is falling as the NFL season approaches its close.
There are plenty of players not featured here who could be placed into either of the categories below, but we chose to cap each at three. With so many on the rise and just as many, well, falling, a list like this one could go on forever.
With that said, here’s the NFL Playoff Stock Report.
Stock Rising
Luke Kuechly, LB
Kuechly’s been an absolute monster this post-season. From side-to-sideline, no Panthers defender has been as dominant as the 2013 defensive player of the year.
A stud in the eyes of football fanatics but an under-the-radar player to casual fans of the game, Kuechly (pronounced “KEEK-lee”) has exploded to superstardom with a pair of top-notch performances against the Seahawks and Cardinals. A man who’s been leading Carolina’s defence since the age of 21, the Boston College product leads the team in tackles this post-season and, with his fourth-quarter interception of Carson Palmer, became the first player in playoff history with a pick-six in back-to-back games.
Sure, the 24-year-old has been doing his thing for years in the Panthers defence, but now he’s broken out, and his stock’s never been higher.
Kawann Short, DT
While Kuechly’s been getting it done sideline-to-sideline this post-season, Short has been a human wrecking ball in the trenches, hammering six-foot-three, 315-lb. holes into opposing offensive lines.
After maybe the quietest 11-sack season in recent memory, Short has been at the heart of his defence’s dominance up front. The 2013 second-round pick was the catalyst of the plays that vaulted Carolina to a 14–0 lead in the blink of an eye against Seattle on divisional weekend, and played a crucial role in forcing Carson Palmer into six turnovers last Sunday.
The 26-year-old has four tackles, two sacks and five quarterback hits so far this post-season, but the stats don’t even begin to describe the disruption Short causes up the middle.
Peyton Manning, QB
Just over a month ago, Manning’s stock as a starting quarterback was at a career low, and many spoke of the future Hall of Famer never taking another snap under centre. Now? He’s headed to his fourth Super Bowl after playing better football over the last two weeks than he did over his first 10 games of the season.
The best part? A win over Carolina would be a storybook ending to what has been one of the best careers the NFL has ever seen. Hell, even some Panthers fans might have trouble begrudging the site of Manning holding the Lombardi Trophy aloft.
At 39, Manning is far from the quarterback he once was, but his stock is on the rise heading into Super Bowl 50, and his career could end with it at an all-time high.
Stock Falling
Carson Palmer, QB
After one the best regular seasons of his 12-year career, Palmer came crashing down hard in the playoffs. The 36-year-old threw six interceptions (and added a pair of fumbles) to just four touchdowns in the Cardinals’ two post-season games, completing just 59 percent of his passes (down from almost 64 in the regular season) with an average QB rating of 67.1 (down from 104.6).
Sure, we could attribute the dramatic drop to the fact Palmer injured a finger on his throwing hand in a Week 15 win over Philadelphia, or on the Cardinals’ run game completely drying up over the final weeks of their season, but that wouldn’t fully account for Palmer’s drop-off.
Palmer just wasn’t the same quarterback we saw for most of 2015: Many of his throws were way off, his decision-making was just plain brutal at times, and he was unable to protect the football. You can’t take away from what Palmer did in the regular season; he was spectacular. But his struggles in the playoffs are well-noted, and this post-season only reinforced that point.
Demaryius Thomas, WR
Seriously, where has No. 88 gone in these playoffs? One of the most dangerous weapons on the Broncos offence over the past few seasons, Thomas understandably had a down season with the uncertainty the team experienced at quarterback throughout much of the year. But his inability to factor into Denver’s attack so far this post-season has been shocking.
Thomas dealt with some drop issues this season—he had nine in 2015, tied for third-most in the league—but still led the Broncos in receptions (105), yards (1,304) and receiving TDs (six). However, Manning’s top target has been eerily quiet in the playoffs: despite being targeted 15 times by Manning, Thomas has just six catches for 52 yards and no touchdowns in the Broncos’ two post-season games.
His stock may be low now, but don’t be entirely surprised if Thomas breaks out in a big way in Super Bowl 50.
Patriots’ offensive line
One could make the case that the Patriots fell to the Broncos because of a missed extra-point, or maybe even because Bill Belichick gambled and lost on fourth down a couple of times in the fourth quarter instead of kicking field goals that might have put the team in a position to win the game.
What it really came down to, though, was the offensive line. Even the Patriots admit that much.
The Patriots offence struggled all season long in the trenches. Brady was sacked 38 times—third most in his career—and the Pats’ ground game was the worst it’s been in more than 15 years. Despite these struggles, New England won their first 10 games, but over the final six (during which the Pats went 2-4) Brady was sacked 16 times and hit 37.
Somehow, the Patriots held off the Chiefs’ pass rush, but they came unraveled against the Broncos. Brady was hit on 23 of his 60 drop backs on Sunday, and New England’s offence was completely handcuffed by its ineptitude on the offensive line.