Schrock's playoff takeaways: What Brady-Rodgers means for 49ers
Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen. It's no surprise these are the last four quarterbacks standing this season. They were four of the five highest-graded quarterbacks this season, per Pro Football Focus, with only Deshaun Watson (No. 3) not making it to the NFL's final four.The divisional round weekend gave us two Saturday snoozers. Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers did whatever they wanted against the NFL's No. 1 ranked defense in the Los Angeles Rams. The expected shootout between Allen and Lamar Jackson turned into the Sean McDermott-Leslie Frazier show, as the Buffalo Bills stymied Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens in Western New York.On Sunday, the Kansas City Chiefs edged the Cleveland Browns after Mahomes left the game with a concussion, and the third time was a charm for Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as they turned the New Orleans Saints over three times en route to a 30-20 win.Brady's win put him one step closer to one-upping his idol, Joe Montana, once again and set up an NFC Championship Game for the ages that should also inform how the 49ers attack their biggest offseason priority.The NFL's final four shouldn't surprise you, but there were a few things to glean from the divisional round that set up what should be a memorable Championship Sunday.
Lamar Jackson, at his best, is the most electric player in the NFL. He has the dynamic athleticism to make plays that few other players, if any, can.
But what was clear last season when Jackson won the MVP and the Ravens lost in the divisional round to the Tennessee Titans became even more evident Saturday when Baltimore was bounced from the playoffs by the Buffalo Bills.
Baltimore has to get Jackson more help or else the Ravens' ceiling will be limited. The Ravens rely too much on Jackson putting on his Superman cape and bailing them out with his otherwordly playmaking ability.
This season, Baltimore led the NFL in rushing and ranked last in passing. They are the first team since the 2006 Michael Vick-led Atlanta Falcons to have such a discrepancy.
The Ravens' passing game issues stem from a number of different issues. Baltimore's offensive line struggled this season after seeing future Hall of Famer Marshall Yanda retire in the offseason and losing Ronnie Stanley to injury midway through the campaign. Jackson was pressured more and, as a result, his accuracy dipped to 64.4 percent. The Ravens have to upgrade their interior offensive line this offseason in order to give Jackson more time to make plays from the pocket.
Making things more difficult for Jackson is that his receivers don't strike fear into the heart of defenses. Marquise Brown is a good receiver, but he's the only real receiving threat the Ravens have. Dez Bryant, Willie Snead, Myles Boykin and Devin Duvernay aren't keeping defensive coordinators up at night. Baltimore can hope tight end Mark Andrews finds his 2019 form again next season, but it was clear in Buffalo that the Ravens have work to do in the offseason.
Lamar won't always be able to save the day by himself.
When Tom Brady chose to leave the frigid cold of New England and the shadows of 1 Patriot Place for Tampa Bay last offseason, the parallels were obvious. Brady, like his idol Joe Montana before him, was choosing to end his career on his terms. Montana worked with the 49ers to orchestrate a trade to the Chiefs, ending an ugly quarterback controversy in San Francisco.
Brady's greatness has reached a level that sees him only chasing legends, competing only against ghosts. He still plays on Sundays, but his real opponents are those who came before him, mainly Montana.
Brady passed Montana in Super Bowl victories when he rallied the Patriots from a 28-3 deficit to beat the Atlanta Falcons. He added another ring two years later. Montana, of course, went 4-0 in the big game. Brady currently is 6-3, hoping another one is in his future after the Tampa Bay Buccaneers knocked off the New Orleans Saints, 30-20, to move to the NFC Championship Game.
Brady's move to Tampa gave him a chance to do something else Montana wasn't able to do: Lead two different franchises to the Super Bowl.
Montana played just two seasons for the Chiefs. He led them to the AFC Championship Game in his first season, where they lost to the Buffalo Bills. Coincidentally, the Chiefs and Bills will meet again next Sunday in the AFC Championship Game.
Brady has already passed Montana in just about every imaginable way. With a win Sunday over Aaron Rodgers and the Packers, he can eclipse his idol one last time and give himself a shot at ring No. 7.
Thirty-seven. That was the average age of the four NFC quarterbacks who took the field this past weekend in the divisional round. That number was only that low because Los Angeles Rams quarterback Jared Goff is 26. The other three -- Aaron Rodgers (37), Drew Brees (42) and Tom Brady (43) -- have an average age of 40.6.
That says two things about the state of the NFC power structure: 1. Rodgers and Brady will continue to be a factor atop the conference for the next few seasons. Brees reportedly will retire following Sunday's loss. 2. There is no clear long-term leader at the head of the NFC.
Rodgers still is fantastic and should take home the MVP this season. He's not going anywhere, but at 37, his best years aren't in front of him. Brady keeps throwing haymakers at Father Time, and while he's shown no clear signs that his abilities are diminishing, the end is drawing near for TB12.
That should show the 49ers that there is a clear opening to make sure the road to the Super Bowl travels through Santa Clara in the coming years, especially after Brady retires and as Rodgers becomes mortal.
For the 49ers to do that, they have to solve their quarterback issue. They have to take a swing, dream big and land a young, franchise quarterback who can make them the team to beat in the NFC for a decade.
Look past Rodgers and Brady and the NFC is a quarterback wasteland aside from Russell Wilson and the emerging Kyler Murray. Goff is a product of Sean McVay's system and his limitations are evident. Matthew Stafford and Matt Ryan are upper-tier quarterbacks without the supporting cast to make them true players for conference supremacy.
The state of the NFC's quarterbacks gives the 49ers, who have a roster that is Super Bowl ready if the appropriate tweaks are made, an opportunity to rise to the top and stay there.
Things are different in the AFC where Patrick Mahomes (25), Lamar Jackson (24), Josh Allen (25), Baker Mayfield (25), Deshaun Watson (25), Justin Herbert (22) and Joe Burrow (24) all reside. That's a murderer's row of talented young quarterbacks, led by an all-time great in Mahomes, that will shape the conference picture for more than a decade.
Once Brady exits, the NFC's marquee quarterbacks will be Rodgers, Wilson and Murray. That's the list.
This should make the 49ers' search for a true franchise quarterback, one who fits the mold of the modern NFL all the more pressing. Whether it's a trade for Deshaun Watson (unlikely) or a trade up to draft Justin Fields or Zach Wilson (more likely but not by much), the 49ers finding an elite talent at the quarterback position will put them on track to get back to the top of the NFC and be the conference's leading team for years to come.
Rodgers and Brady are legends. Wilson's greatness is unimpeachable, but the Seahawks can't get out of their own way. Murray is on his way to stardom but the Cardinals are flawed at the moment.
The NFC's ruling class is aging out. Even if Rodgers is on the Brady track (he probably is) and is borderline elite for another eight seasons, that gives the 49ers only two/three elite QBs to contend with each season for a Super Bowl berth.
As the AFC sets up for a decade-long bloodbath between a number of talented quarterbacks, the NFC has two legends guarding the throne with few other realistic challengers waiting in the wings.
Now appears to be the time for the 49ers to make a big swing and put themselves in the driver's seat much in the same way the Chiefs have in the AFC.
What that swing looks like, however, is anyone's guess.
