These 10 NFL players need to step things up down the stretch
- Several NFL players are under pressure to improve their performance as their teams push for the playoffs.
- Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence needs to elevate his passing game to help his team contend.
Nothing has been decided in the NFL’s postseason outlook, but it sure looks as though the time has arrived to start regularly discussing the playoff picture.
As the league enters Week 12, a few teams have made the leap from playoff hopefuls to legitimate contenders. But with the entirety of the field still left to be determined, there’s plenty of time for players to take a bit of agency in determining the course of the final month-and-a-half of the regular season. Yet whether it’s due to subpar performances earlier in the year or the need to fill in for injured teammates, several players will be under pressure to elevate their play down the stretch.
Here are 10 players who need to step up for their teams in the playoff push:
Trevor Lawrence, QB, Jacksonville Jaguars
Good luck figuring out which version of Jacksonville is going to show up on any given week. The Jaguars followed up a fourth-quarter collapse against the Houston Texans in Week 10 with a dismantling of the Los Angeles Chargers, against whom they did not punt and allowed just 135 total yards. Yet for all the variety on display in Liam Coen’s first season as a head coach, there has yet to be an iteration of this year’s team in which Lawrence seizes control. The Jaguars are in the playoff hunt at 6-4 thanks in large part to a revitalized run game and opportunistic defense. The passing attack, however, has lagged behind significantly, with Lawrence tied for sixth in the NFL with six interceptions while posting a 59.8% completion rate that stands as his worst mark since his rookie campaign. A good bit of responsibility falls on the receiving corps that has been plagued by drops and injuries, with Travis Hunter Jr. now out for the season and Brian Thomas Jr. having missed the last two games. But Lawrence has also lowered the ceiling of this operation, particularly with his lackluster deep passing (8-of-34 on throws of 20 or more yards down the field, per Next Gen Stats). Coen has given Lawrence the green light to be more aggressive, and Jacksonville probably can’t cut it even as a wild-card contender without the quarterback rediscovering his 2022 Pro Bowl form.
Emeka Egubka, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Maybe this is unfair to the front-runner for NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, whose contributions have come far earlier and at a much grander scale than anyone outside of Tampa could have reasonably expected. But Egbuka has been held under 60 yards receiving – and without a touchdown – in four of his last five games, a stretch in which the NFC South-leading Buccaneers are just 2-3. Much of that can be attributed to the imbalance created by the extended absences of lead back Bucky Irving and fellow receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin Jr., leaving defenses free to clamp down on Egbuka. But the typically reliable pass catcher has also hauled in just 20 of his 47 targets in that span, illustrating a clear disconnect with Baker Mayfield. Getting Irving and Godwin back sometime in the near term might help open things up, but if Tampa Bay is to fend off the pesky Carolina Panthers for a fifth consecutive division crown, Egbuka probably needs to be an even bigger part of the picture.
Ricky Pearsall, WR, San Francisco 49ers
Brock Purdy enjoyed a smooth return to the 49ers’ lineup on Sunday, completing 19 of 26 passes for 200 yards and three touchdowns. Pearsall, however, didn’t experience the same seamless transition after missing five games with a right knee injury, as he caught just one of his two targets for 0 yards in the contest. For now, the 2024 first-round receiver doesn’t have to rush things, as the likes of George Kittle and Christian McCaffrey have proven more than capable of supporting Purdy and the passing attack. But with an injury-ravaged defense, the 49ers have to be prepared to engage in shootouts the rest of the way, and they need all the ammo at their disposal. Pearsall got off to a blazing pace with a team-high 327 yards in the first four games before his injury, and he’s a vital weapon for a receiving corps that still can’t count on a return on Brandon Aiyuk seeing the field anytime soon.
Fred Johnson, OT, Philadelphia Eagles
No one should be under the illusion that the Eagles can replace Lane Johnson. The six-time Pro Bowl right tackle is a singular source of stability up front, and his absence – potentially for the rest of the regular season – due to a Lisfranc injury will take a significant toll on an already shaky Philadelphia offense. But the decision to bring back Fred Johnson in August via trade might be one of the keys to the push for the NFC’s No. 1 seed. The backup has been here before, having started six games and logged a total of 481 snaps in the Eagles’ Super Bowl run last season. But Philadelphia will need him to be more reliable after he gave up eight sacks in 2024, according to Pro Football Focus, or a risk-averse offense could recede even further into its shell.
Sean Rhyan, C, Green Bay Packers
The entire Packers’ offensive line looks to be on notice after injuries and inconsistent play have derailed the unit. But how Rhyan handles taking over for injured starter Elgton Jenkins for the rest of the season could help determine whether Green Bay can pull itself out of its current predicament. A left tackle at UCLA who has bounced around the interior in the pros, the fourth-year veteran now gets the chance to settle in as a pivot. He steps in for a front that has failed to create much of a push for Josh Jacobs, who is averaging just 3.8 yards per carry on the season. And though Jordan Love has proven himself more than capable of attacking vertically, the Packers’ line has seldom provided him with enough time to do so with any sense of comfort. Green Bay doesn’t have many viable options to continue reshuffling if Rhyan falters, so Matt LaFleur is counting on him to help the attack navigate a brutal finish stretch of the season.
Kwity Paye, DE, Indianapolis Colts
Lou Anarumo has unleashed a multifaceted pass rush that can create havoc from all angles, with 12 different players having recorded a sack for Indianapolis this season. But the Colts have also been propped up by sack leader Laiatu Latu, whose absence on certain plays this season has resulted in an 8.9% fall in pressure rate compared to when he’s on he field, according to Next Gen Stats. And with defensive tackle DeForest Buckner remaining on injured reserve until at least Week 15, generating heat won’t come easy for the AFC South front-runners. A first-round pick in 2021 who tallied 16 ½ sacks in the last two years, Paye trails only Latu on the team with 32 pressures, but more juice is required for a group that ranks just 30th in ESPN’s pass-rush win rate metric.
Patrick Queen, LB, Pittsburgh Steelers
The Steelers stirred up some consternation earlier this season when the league’s highest-paid defense lived up to neither its billing nor its bills. Though Pittsburgh proved capable of snagging turnovers and racking up sacks, the basics seemed to elude a group that was trampled for 142 rushing yards in a 33-31 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 7. Since then, things have settled down, with the defense having reined in NFL leading rusher Jonathan Taylor while cutting down on mistakes. But the league’s two most prolific rushing offenses are ahead in the next two weeks, with three more dates against top-six ground games after that. Queen, who has had a few rough outings this year, will be counted on to be more consistent and clean for a defense that ranks second in missed tackles on the season, according to Pro Football Reference.
Terrel Bernard, LB, Buffalo Bills
Buffalo’s shortcomings in the receiving corps have earned plenty of attention. But the defense’s inability to stop the run – only the Bengals surrender more yards per game on the ground than the Bills’ 153 – has proven to be just as pervasive of a problem. With standout defensive tackle Ed Oliver expected to be out at least through the regular season with a torn biceps, it’s clear there’s no cavalry coming to save the unit. Fellow linebacker Matt Milano has also underwhelmed this season as he has continued to deal with injuries, but Bernard’s downswing has been particularly disappointing for a player who signed a four-year, $50 million contract extension in March. Having seemingly moved on from the ankle injury that earlier sidelined and inhibited him, the fourth-year man in the middle has to be cleaner with his pursuit and tackling efforts if Buffalo is to catch up with the New England Patriots for the AFC East lead or stop the likes of the Colts or Broncos – the league’s third- and fourth-ranked rushing offenses – in the playoffs.
Jaylon Johnson, CB, Chicago Bears
Chicago’s defensive success has depended almost entirely on engineering 22 takeaways, the most for any team through 10 games since 2022. When the Bears can’t find the ball or ensure the pass rush gets home, however, things can get dicey. The unit has repeatedly been burned deep, with its explosive play rate (8%) ranking last in the NFL, according to Sharp Football, while its 7.8 yards allowed per attempt is the third-worst mark of any team. But the secondary has been particularly shorthanded amid the absences of Johnson, who only played in Week 2 this season before a groin injury sent him to injured reserve, and nickel Kyler Gordon. A two-time Pro Bowler, Johnson can provide far stickier coverage than what this Chicago defense has demonstrated, though it might take him some time to find his footing.
Riley Moss, CB, Denver Broncos
With the Broncos’ pass rush on pace to set the single-season team sack record, Denver’s secondary has been afforded a good bit of leeway. For most of a talented group in its own right, there has been no trouble in clearing the bar of ‘do no harm’ … except for Moss. The third-year cornerback leads the NFL with nine penalties for pass interference, and he was flagged three times in the showdown with the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday. The importance of playing more cleanly isn’t lost on Moss, who vowed this week to ‘put the boxing gloves on’ during practices to curb his handsy tendencies. He’ll have a couple of weeks of lightweight bouts for tune-ups, and the expected return of reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year Patrick Surtain II will change the complexion of the defense’s back end. But if the issue continues to bubble up, there will be a fair amount of unease about this weakness getting exploited sometime down the stretch or in the postseason.
