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It's time for the playoffs to begin and . But before we officially move on to the next phase of the NFL calendar, let's just acknowledge the stranger than usual nature of the regular season we just witne sed. Look no further than this weekend's upcoming playoff matchups as evidence.The , who haven't made the playoffs since 1999, are facing the , who haven't made the playoffs since 2007. The survived until January, where they'll face the Chiefs, even though their quarterback threw more interceptions than touchdowns. The former of the is actually hosting a playoff game against the , the defending NFC champs. The Saints will somehow trot out a defense that's just as good as the Panthers'. The group of quarterbacks playing this weekend includes Blake freakin' Bortles. You get the point. It's been a weird year, and we haven't even addre sed all of the protests, the ongoing saga, and the fact that the willingly chose to start over -- that last thing seriously happened!Without further ado, Rodney McGruder Jersey to provide further evidence of the strangene s of the regular season, here are the 15 craziest statistics that define it: Rams running back accumulated one more carry in 2017 than he did in 2016, but he totaled 420 more rushing yards in 2017 than he did in 2016, Related: The Rams won the NFC West. The rushed for zero yards inside the 10-yard line, Finally, they have an excuse to always throw goal-line slants. Related: The Seahawks mi sed the playoffs for the first time since 2011. quarterback is 40 years old, but , led the NFL in pa sing yards, and finished third in touchdown pa ses and pa ser rating. Maybe avocado ice cream really does work. Related: He's Jaguars quarterback finished with one more pa sing touchdown than reigning MVP and two fewer than future Hall of Famer . quarterback led the NFL in pa ser rating (104.7), but nobody really cares because as Football Perspective's Chase Stuart pointed out, Smith also posted the league's best pa ser rating (131.4) on pa ses thrown at least 20 yards downfield, according to Pro Football Focus. That part matters.Chiefs receiver , who barely knew how to play receiver when he entered the league, finished with the best WR rating in football, according to PFF. WR rating is the quarterback's pa ser rating when a receiver is targeted.The ' -28 turnover differential was the worst (tied with the 2000 ) in the NFL history, Related: The Browns went 0-16 and were outscored by 176 points over the course of the season.Despite mi sing the final three games, quarterback finished one touchdown pa s behind for the most in football. quarterback pa ser rating under pre sure was 40.8, Patrick Beverley Jersey according to PFF. Only , , and were worse. Related: The Raiders finished 6-10 and running backs and became the first running back duo , according . Related: The Saints are playoff bound.Jaguars cornerback A.J. Bouye posted the league's lowest pa ser rating (31.6) in coverage among qualified cornerbacks, according to PFF. Related: The Jaguars' defenseThe went 5-0 with under center. pointed out, the 49ers are 3-24 in the past two seasons when anyone other than Garoppolo is their starter. running back finished with more receptions than receivers like , A.J. Green, , , and (and a whole lot more).Steelers receiver led the NFL in receiving yards despite mi sing two full games.There were 1,121 offensive touchdowns this season -- the lowest total since 2007, Crazy year. Now, let's turn the page and move onto the playoffs. Read on for five stats to know for Wild-Card Weekend. 1. vs. Jaguars D The Bills are finally back in the playoffs as the sixth seed and they drew one of the best matchups in the history of sixth seeds. On Sunday, the Bills will face the Jaguars, and they'll enter the game with the better of the two quarterbacks, though Tyrod Taylor's task will undoubtedly be more difficult than Blake Bortles'. For one, Taylor running back . And two, he's going up against the league's best defense. Montrezl Harrell Jersey The Jaguars enter the playoffs ranked first in defensive DVOA, second in yards allowed, second in points allowed, second in sacks, second in interceptions, and tied for third in forced fumbles. Let's focus on the takeaways, because it's going to be the most intriguing aspect of the game. The Jaguars have picked off opposing quarterbacks 21 times and forced 17 fumbles. But they might be hard-pre sed to force any turnovers against the Bills. If there's one area Taylor is truly elite in, it's limiting back-breaking mistakes. Since 2016, he's thrown 10 picks. If the Bills can limit their turnovers against an aggre sive defense, they'll have a chance to win the game, because on the other side of the field will be Bortles, who has thrown an NFL-high 64 interceptions since his rookie year (2014). The Bills are the worse overall team, but turnovers can bridge the gap. The Bills' defense ranks in the top-eight in both interceptions and forced fumbles. That's how the Avery Bradley Jersey Bills can pull off the upset: Take care of the ball and let Bortles Bortle the game away. It's not an impo sible recipe to follow. 2. Drew Brees vs. Carolina's blitz The have a problem. They're going up against the Saints for a third time this season and they lost their previous two meetings by a combined 31 points. Their problem is that they love blitzing and Saints quarterback Drew Brees is deadly against the blitz. According to PFF, the Panthers used the blitz 44.7 percent of the time in the regular season (league average was 29.4 percent). Brees' numbers against the blitz? A 70.5 completion percentage, 8.3 YPA, six touchdowns, three picks, and a 101.4 pa ser rating. The truth is, there just isn't a good way to attack Brees. And that's probably why the Panthers will come up short. The Saints have the better quarterback, running game, and receivers. And, they're at home. 3. creates big plays The Titans are against the Chiefs, so they'll need a few bounce to go their way to pull off the upset. Something that could help: Derrick Henry's knack for making big plays. With his 66-yard touchdown catch, Derrick Henry ( ) is the only player in the NFL with three scrimmage TD of 65+ yards this season. ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) And the Chiefs' defense is susceptible. They're Chris Paul Jersey ranked 4. Freeman and Gurley on one field is magic There are a ton of reasons to be excited about the Falcons-Rams matchup. Can the young, inexperienced, but better Rams handle the pre sure of the playoffs against a team that's been here before? Can Matt Ryan and the Falcons' offense finally hit their potential? Will doom them considering the Falcons have the reliable ? Among those reasons: We shouldn't forget how lucky we are to be able to watch and Todd Gurley on the same field. Devonta Freeman & Todd Gurley are only players in NFL with 3,000+ rushing yards and 30+ touchdowns over last 3 seasons. Gil Brandt (@Gil_Brandt) 5. The last time The last time the Rams hosted a playoff game, it was 198

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