If your team is going to win a Super Bowl, at some point along that ride, your team will have to get at least one remarkable postseason performance from a player nobody saw coming. Yes, we all expect the big names to come up big in big moments in big games, and other attendant cliches, but somewhere along the line, you will need a Secret Superstar to get the job done.
If you expected Buffalo Bills receiver Gabe Davis to go off for four touchdown catches against the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2021 divisional round, you should probably be working for a team. Because, with all due respect to Davis, I don’t think even the Bills were expecting that.
The same could be said for Houston Oilers defensive back Vernon Perry in the divisional round of the 1979 playoffs against the San Diego Chargers of Don Coryell and Dan Fouts. The undrafted rookie from Jackson State picked off four of Fouts’ passes, and blocked a field goal for good measure. As the game ended 17-14 in Houston’s favor, that block was as important as any of the picks.
You get the idea. At some point in the wild-card round of the upcoming playoffs, there will be at least one player whose name you don’t know who will pop up on the screen, and grab your attention. Here are my most likely players to do just that on the offensive side of the ball; the defensive players on this week’s Secret Superstars team will be up shortly.
And here’s the wild-card schedule for all who are curious; I tried to focus on repeat matchups as much as possible.
NFL sets Super Wild-Card Weekend schedule: Times, days, and networks
[mm-video type=video id=01gpe6x1ntf8apd3n095 playlist_id=none player_id=01eqbvhghtkmz2182d image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01gpe6x1ntf8apd3n095/01gpe6x1ntf8apd3n095-5a613d3dbce0f48bdaa5643e7e138467.jpg]