- Nico Collins has broken down the secondary play-offs: The Texas stud has a postseason PFF grade of 91.4, tied for the best in PFF history
- Dre Greenlaw’s impact in January is undeniable: Greenlaw’s PFF coverage grade of 85.5 in the playoffs is the fourth-best at the position over the past two decades.
- Receive PFF+ with a 30% discount: Use promotional code HOLIDAY 30 to unlock the PFF Player Prop Tool, Premium Stats, fantasy dashboards, the PFF Mock Draft Simulator, industry-leading fantasy rankings and much more – everything you need to win your season.
Estimated reading time: 7 minutes
Some football players have a knack for showing up when the lights are brightest. Others see it simply as reaching their peak physical performance at the target time.
It can be difficult for us viewers to remember who is performing best in January, aside from the obvious answers like Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes. Historically, NFL statistics pay little attention to the events of the postseason.
Caleb, for example Williams will end the season 58 yards away to get the Chicago Bears’ first-ever 4,000-yard passer. But despite playing a pivotal role in Chicago’s playoff qualification, Williams (and everyone else) can’t reap the statistical rewards of the extra football games he earned.
It’s refreshing in a way: in January, individual performances are no longer relevant and all that matters is winning. However, when we look back on recent years, it’s easy to remember incredible regular seasons – while the ones that came out during the short sample size of the playoffs are easy to lose track of.
We’ve looked back over the years to see which players entering this postseason have proven they can dominate when everything is on the line.
WR Nico Collins, Houston Texans
Nico Collins enters his fifth career playoff game at age 26 and is looking to build on an excellent start to his postseason resume. Among the 170 players with more than 25 goals, Collins’ postseason PFF grade of 91.4 is tied for the highest in PFF history alongside Travis Kelce, and just a nose ahead of Julio Jones in third. Collins has 367 receiving yards in his four playoff games, along with two touchdowns, and his 20 receiving first downs are more than many playoff stalwarts like Chris Godwin, Donald Driver and Jimmy Graham.
In both previous playoff seasons, Collins entered the postseason hot with 92.4 and 91.3 PFF receiving grades in Week 18 of 2023 and 2024, respectively. That’s not quite the case this year. While Collins was given an extra week of rest ahead of the Texans’ wild-card trip to Pittsburghit will be over a month since he last posted a 100-yard receiving game (vs Kansas City on December 8).
QB Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams
Yes, Aaron Rodgers is the obvious choice when it comes to historically great playoff performers at quarterback. While Rodgers still has the highest grade in PFF history (91.8), I’d say he’s in the same category as Mahomes and Brady as a heralded legend of January football.
Stafford can easily find his name in those conversations too, but let’s not forget that in the first thirteen seasons of his professional career, Stafford only played three playoff games and lost them all. Stafford has played fewer than half of the dropbacks of Rodgers or Mahomes in his career, but he has done an excellent job of navigating what could easily have turned into an infamous legacy of playoff woes.
Stafford’s postseason PFF grade of 89.8 is the fifth highest among all quarterbacks with 25 or more dropbacks, and is only a cursory indication of his success in January. Stafford also has the fourth-highest passer rating in the playoffs over the past two decades, and only Mahomes and Russell Wilson have lower turnover-worthy play rates among quarterbacks with at least 10 postseason starts.
Protected by domes in both Detroit and now Los Angeles, it’s worth noting that Stafford will play only his fourth outdoor playoff game this weekend in Charlotte. His PFF grade for the three previous outdoor games is 69.8 – a far cry from his 91.6 grade when protected from the elements.
QB Jos All, Buffalo Bills (on site)
We are well aware of how dangerous Josh is All is up in the air in January, but if you think Allen will improve his rushing skills when the time comes, you’re right.
Allen is averaging over 50 rushing yards per game in the playoffs throughout his career, 13 yards above his regular season rate. He ranks fourth in total postseason rushing yards in the PFF era, ahead of names like Frank Gore, Saquon Barkley and Christian McCaffrey.
Likewise, Allen’s 49 rushing first downs in the playoffs are more than any other player in the last two decades, passing Marshawn Lynch (46) and surpassing Derrick Henry (44) last season. Average more yards after contact and force more missed tackles per carry than Josh’s regular season Allthe guy you meet in the playoffs is a completely different animal.
G Joe Thuney, Chicago Bears
Joe Thuney has not been able to book a holiday for January since entering the league in 2016. The nine-year veteran has not only made the playoffs every season; he has won his division all nine times.
His 1,462 playoff appearances are a distant second behind only Tom Brady in the PFF era. For Thuney, though, it’s not just about making the playoffs: he’s been more than impressive once he got there.
Pass protection has always been Thuney’s strong suit. He hasn’t allowed a sack in his last 750 pass-blocking snaps as a guard in the playoffs, dating all the way back to the Patriots’ iconic Super Bowl LI comeback versus the Falcons.
After the injury-plagued Chiefs had no choice but to start Thuney at left tackle for their playoff run last year, he finds himself back home in the Bears’ interior this season. Two of Thuney’s three highest marks of the season both came against the Packers last month, with only two combined pressures allowed in those games. These enemies will battle for the third time on Saturday evening.
LB Dre Greenlaw, Denver Broncos
Greenlaw has been plagued by injuries as of late, meaning his presence in the Broncos defense has gone under the radar for many. After injuring his hamstring against the Jaguars in Week 16, Greenlaw missed Denver’s final two regular-season games but will get an extra week to work his way back into the starting lineup for the AFC’s top seed.
The linebacker’s postseason career started with a bang when he posted a PFF defensive grade of 91.2 against the Vikings in 2019. Greenlaw started a total of twelve playoff games, all with the 49ers, before brutally tearing his Achilles tendon while taking the field in Super Bowl LVIII vs. Kansas City. The impact of his loss was palpable in that game: Before he went down, Greenlaw had already collected two interceptions during San Francisco’s crusade through the NFC.
Overall, Greenlaw’s post-season PFF coverage grade of 85.5 is the fourth-highest among all linebackers over the past two decades, behind three greats: Luke Kuechly, Thomas Davis Sr. and Brian Urlacher.
Not only is he one of the most proven players in the current field of remaining playoff teams, but he also has perhaps the best storyline of anyone involved. Greenlaw has played just 350 defensive snaps since tearing his Achilles tendon and has performed just as well as before. If Greenlaw can overcome one more injury hurdle, he could ultimately get a chance to right his setback from two years ago — in another Super Bowl, in the same stadium where his NFL story began with the 49ers.
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