The Minnesota Vikings, who had become one of the biggest chaos makers in the NFC, and quarterback Kirk Cousins, who is entering free agency this offseason, will both suffer greatly from the expectation that Cousins tore his Achilles tendon on Sunday. The Vikings will likely join the New York Jets in a peculiar purgatory where they will likely have to piece together an offense and survive without their franchise quarterback. (EDITOR’S UPDATE: The Vikings announced on Monday that Cousins had suffered a torn Achilles.)
The Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers dominated the NFC in the first month of the season, and it wasn’t even close. That might still turn out to be accurate by the time the
That has complicated the NFC playoff field, slowed down play, and maybe even affected trade deadline choices. Sunday was the most turbulent day of all. These are the NFC’s most influential agents of chaos, both good and bad, listed in order.
After being completely dominant for the first five weeks, the 49ers have now dropped three straight heading into their bye week. This can be attributed to several factors, including an offense that isn’t clicking without Deebo Samuel and Trent Williams, Brock Purdy’s recent tendency to throw interceptions, and a defense that has shown weaknesses in the last two weeks against elite quarterbacks. The 49ers are currently the sixth seed, so the Eagles have a comfortable lead over them in the early race for home-field advantage. This has unexpectedly put the NFC West back in play, with the Seahawks now leading. The 49ers’ health should improve after their bye week, but they will spend three of their next four games away from home, including back-to-back road games in Seattle and Philadelphia.
