Super Bowl Domination

Chapter 332: Rookie Brilliance
The American League holds high the banner of defense, the National League blows the horn of offense, the 2017 playoffs...should be very interesting and worth looking forward to.

At this point, the playoff matchup situation is completely clear -

In the AFC, the New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers had byes in the first round; in the NFC, the Philadelphia Eagles and Minnesota Vikings had byes in the first round.

After a long and arduous season, a week of bye rest and adjustment is undoubtedly extremely valuable, ensuring that they can sit back and watch the fight between the two tigers, quietly waiting for their opponents to fight to the death, and then attack strongly after recuperating to gain some advantages for the playoffs.

The other teams were not so lucky. After the 17th week of the regular season, there was no rest as the wildcard round began immediately.

On January 6, the Kansas City Chiefs will host the Tennessee Titans, and the Los Angeles Rams will host the Atlanta Falcons.

On January 7, the Jacksonville Jaguars will host the Buffalo Bills at home, while the New Orleans Saints will meet the Carolina Panthers, a strong team in the same division, at home for the third time this season.

The drums of war have already sounded.

There is no adjustment time, no breathing space, you have to roll up your sleeves and take to the field. This is when the value of the Kansas City Chiefs' rotation in the last week is highlighted. It is not a rest but it is better than a rest, as it helps to accumulate energy for the main players.

However, before the playoffs officially begin, we can still take some time to return to the regular season. A series of summary data will be released. We should not only pay attention to the playoff situation, but also not forget other teams and players. After all, they also contributed to the wonderful 2017 season.

In the past, the quarterback deservedly became the absolute focus of everyone's attention.

This year is no exception.

In the quarterback passing yardage rankings, Brady narrowly beat Rivers' 4577 yards with 4516 yards, topping the season's passing yardage leader.

In the passing touchdowns ranking, Wilson was crowned with 34 passing touchdowns, narrowly beating Brady's 32 passing touchdowns.

In addition, the quarterback has another score, which is calculated using the same formula based on the pass success rate, passing yards, passing touchdowns and interceptions in each game, indicating the quarterback's performance. The full score is 158.3.

Rogers is considered one of the four elite quarterbacks at a young age simply because he is the No. 1 player in career quarterback rating so far.

This season, there has been a big change in the quarterback ratings rankings after Rogers was ruled out for the season due to injury. Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Smith topped the list with 104.7, narrowly beating rookie quarterback Watson's 103.0.

In fact, once the data is listed, the whole pattern is clear:
The passing yards king, passing touchdowns king, and quarterback rating king belong to different players. All of the statistics failed to create new records and were even far below the record level. There were no 5,000 passing yards, no 50 passing touchdowns, nothing.

Moreover, there have been a series of changes in the names of the top five players on each list, and no player appears on all lists at the same time; plus, a series of quarterbacks at the top of the list have not been able to lead their teams into the playoffs, and they do not have the demeanor of a "team leader" at all.

All kinds, all kinds.

This shows that this is a year of poor overall performance for quarterbacks. Although the spotlight is still on them and hot topics are still bustling, both professionals and fans are unable to praise them.

It is precisely because of this that the discussion of the regular season MVP has reached its peak since the millennium and is full of controversy. Names have been thrown out one after another, but it is still difficult to convince the public. Everyone is actively expressing their opinions, and their words are meaningful and well-founded, and the debate is at a stalemate.

To make matters worse, the same thing happened with the defense.

JJ Watt is out for the season, Khalil Mack's performance has declined significantly, Von Miller is plagued by injuries, and the defensive players who have performed dominantly in the past three seasons have all encountered difficulties.

Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald stepped up and shone around the league, but he was unable to spark more discussion alone.

So much so that at the end of all the regular season games, the media and fans were excited to discuss, but one by one they found that there was a lack of chemistry.

Down-hearted.

So?

As the saying goes, times make heroes.

The emergence of a hero is often not that simple. In addition to the hero's personal charm and ability, it also requires the right time, right place, and right people. None of these elements can be missing. Without any one of them, the effect may not be achieved. This year, before the start of the season, people did not expect the running back to become the focus; after the season ended, in fact, people still did not expect it, but it happened.

When the heated discussion failed to find topics to talk about the quarterback and the defensive team, the running back who had been ignored and neglected came into view.

Once you start, you can't stop -

Ranking in rushing yardage.

Levi, 1888.

Torrey, 1305 yards.

Bell, 1291 yards.

McCoy, 1138 yards.

Ingram, 1124 yards.

It is very regrettable that Peterson was ruled out for the season due to injury, Lynch did not seem to find his form after his comeback from retirement, and last season's rushing king Blount performed mediocrely, so that the entire list was completely reshuffled.

Levi reached the top with great momentum and was crowned the first regular season rushing yards king in his career.

On the running touchdown leaderboard.

Li Wei, 20 points.

Torley, 13 points.

Ingram, 12.

Unfortunately, the touchdown numbers of other running backs all failed to reach double digits.

Levi was undoubtedly crowned the season's touchdown king.

To reach the top is not just to reach the top, but to achieve a strong dominance with a sweeping attitude. This year's running backs should be divided into Levi and others. Levi broke the record of rookie running backs that had been dusted for 30 years in an incredible manner, and made all other running backs pale in comparison.

More importantly, the above data were all created by other players in sixteen games, while Levi only had fifteen games. He did not appear at all in the last week, but he still completely dominated the two lists.

This is not just ordinary strength.

However, running backs are slightly different from other positions in football. They are in contact all the time and must use their bodies to complete breakthroughs, so their statistics cannot be judged only by running yards and running touchdowns.

There are two very important key points in measuring running back ability:
1. Average advance yards.

2. Number of dropped balls.

Like wide receivers and tight ends, running backs have a relatively limited number of possessions, so their efficiency in advancing the ball and their control of mistakes each time they hold the ball are important statistics for measuring a running back's personal abilities.

A running back running for a thousand yards sounds like a very good statistic, but if he holds the ball four hundred times and averages 2.5 yards per run, that's a disaster. It's conceivable that the team's ground offense must be terrible.

Or, a running back performs well but frequently drops the ball. One mistake could ruin the entire team's efforts, which is even more frustrating.

Naturally, before the entire league is ready to put Levi on the throne, professionals and veteran fans still need to calm down -

Levi, your amazing performances in two teams, from the Alabama Crimson Tide to the Kansas City Chiefs, was it your personal ability or the team system that made you successful?
(End of this chapter)