The Divisional Round NFL All-Star Team

By Rhys Knott

The weather was the star of the show this week, unless you were lucky enough to be inside Ford Field. It even rained in parched California to make the field a skid pan for the 49ers and Packers. But, despite nature’s best efforts, there were still some stand-out performances to pick the All-Star team from.

All-Star Quarterback

Embed from Getty Images

For the first time this season the All-Star quarterback wasn’t picked for passing prowess. Lamar Jackson is the All-Star quarterback this week. And he only threw the ball 21 times. The other 7 quarterbacks on display this week passed more than that. Only 16 of Jackson’s passes were completed, but he did throw 2 touchdowns and had no interceptions. So, only one quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, had a better passer rating than Jackson this week. 

But that’s not why he’s the All-Star QB. Instead, he makes the cut because he rushed for 100 yards on 11 attempts and ran in 2 touchdowns to go with his 2 scoring passes. With his 26 touchdown passes and 7 rushing touchdowns Jackson has accounted for 62% of the Ravens touchdowns this season. And 38% of their total points! 

All-Star Running Back

Lamar Jackson was one of two players to rush for 100 yards this week, the other being Aaron Jones. Jones was fantastic in Santa Clara this week and it looked like he’d helped the Packers to an upset. But Anders Carlson’s boot had other ideas. Carlson’s missed field goal gave the 49ers and their crowd the boost they needed to march down the field and take the lead.  

And the All-Star running back this week is the guy who scored the TD that took the lead with 1:07 on the clock. Christian McCaffrey did a lot of the heavy lifting for San Francisco after Deebo Samuel was injured. Even though he only caught 7 of his 12 targets McCaffrey still had 24 touches. His most since Week 11 against the Bucs. CMC ended the game with 128 yards from scrimmage and 2 rushing touchdowns. How the extra workload impacts next week’s game will be interesting, David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs combined for 26 touches against the Buccaneers. They might be a bit fresher next week. 

All-Star Wide Receivers

Mike Evans was the most productive receiver this week, by a lot! He racked up a massive 147 yards on just 8 catches! That was 42% of Baker Mayfield’s passing yards. And Evans caught a touchdown. He could have had another if he hadn’t been touched and he slid along the turf toward the endzone. Evans now has 5 postseason touchdowns on just 45 postseason catches. 

Romeo Doubs has been some find for the Packers, the 4th round pick in the 2022 draft has caught 69 passes and hauled in 9 touchdowns this season. He only caught 4 passes in Santa Clara (although that was some achievement in that weather), but he racked up 83 yards at an average of 20.8 yards per catch! Doubs’s 83 yards was 43% of the Packers receiving yards. 

Amon-Ra St. Brown, the Sun God is back in the All-Star team. He only recorded 77 receiving yards on his 8 catches. But his 9-yard touchdowns reception opened the Lions’ lead to 14 points with 6:22 left to play and that was too much for the Bucs to overcome. 

All-Star Tight End

It’s George Kittle, when isn’t it? In fairness it could have been Travis Kelce who almost looked back to his unstoppable best in a cold Orchard Park. And if Sam LaPorta had two fully functioning knees, he would have been in with a shout too. But Kittle’s 81 yards plus a touchdown on just 4 catches saw him sneak past Kelce in the rankings. Kelce had 2 touchdowns, but he only had 75 yards on his 5 catches. 

Defense/Special Team

Well, the Texans did return a punt. But the Ravens were the only defense who held their opponent to fewer than 20 points, so it has to be them. No Raven defender made 2 interceptions like Dre Greenlaw did. They didn’t even sack CJ Stroud, but they did hold the Texans to a measly 38 rushing yards at 2.7 yards per attempt. And that was what won the game. Isiah Pacheco against that Baltimore run defense is going to be absolutely brutal next week. 

RHYS KNOTT

NFL/FANTASY FOOTBALL ANALYST

Rhys has been watching the NFL for 30 something years and still hasn’t managed to pick a team to support. When he’s not fixatED on pass rushers you can find him blithering on about most sports on Twitter @wrhys_writes

5/5